Baylor Accounting Career and Professional Development
The more our students interact and engage with business professionals, the more we see their soft skills mature. Giving our Accounting students the opportunity to network and build relationships with professionals would be impossible without our 24 corporate partners and countless department supporters. Professionals from roughly 50 different employers engaged with our students during the year through our career and professional development events and activities: career fairs, company presentations, networking lunches, mock interviews, résumé reviews, panel discussions and the typical recruiting happenings associated with obtaining an internship and/or full-time employment.
Based on student responses for the 2022 academic year, 100 percent of our advanced degree students reported a job offer within 20 days of graduation. Furthermore, nearly 100 percent of students participating in spring public accounting recruiting for a 2023 internship communicated they received an offer. The only student not placed via recruiting later earned an offer in the fall.
It was our third year offering our accounting majors a career management seminar during the fall semester. Each week, 185 Accounting students learned from Baylor professors and several outside guest speakers. Topics discussed throughout the fall included career discovery, company introductions, technology (Data and Analytics), recruiting, interviewing, professional communication, faith and work, and the value of professional certifications and graduate degrees. This course directly contributed to networking between students and professionals, which resulted in meaningful student professional development, relationships and future employment opportunities.
Last, but certainly not least, I am happy to share that the accounting major at Baylor has continued to attract a significant number of business students. Our faculty and department supporters are instrumental in helping students appreciate the value of earning an accounting degree. To help do this, our department administers the “Accounting Extravaganza” each year—an event dedicated to recruiting undeclared business students into the Accounting major. This fall, we saw more than 670 students participate, which is more than double the number of students joining last year. Once again, this event as with other department efforts couldn’t be made possible without our corporate partners. Thank you!
