On September 13, 2018, the Student Accounting Association hosted its first meeting of the semester with PNC Bank. The guest speaker was PNC campus recruiter Brenden Taylor, who has been the lead recruiter for two years.
Taylor graduated from La Roche College in 2014, where he majored in accounting and business management. After working in the human resources area for Target for six years, Taylor joined PNC in 2016 due to the positive and supportive atmosphere that the company provides. Anna Skidmore, PNC independent risk management associate, and Allison Buchanan, PNC finance specialist and 2017 IUP finance alumna, also participated in the PNC presentation.
PNC is headquartered in Pittsburgh and operates in all 50 states, but most of their financial work is done on the east coast. PNC provides multiple internship programs and has a two-day intern Summer Summit at their headquarters for those who are freshmen or sophomores. The bank also provides a mentorship program for both interns and associates. PNC is dedicated to informal networking and social events for interns and provides many training opportunities to get their interns ready for a full-time position.
There are three main development programs for accounting and finance majors. The first is the Information Risk Development Program, where associates rotate through roles such as program management, executive sponsor, and being a rotation manager. Another PNC development program is the Independent Risk Management program. In this program, associates rotate through various roles, such as the front line unit, independent risk management, and internal audit. Finally, there is the Finance and Accounting Development Program, where associates rotate through jobs in shared services, risk management, and corporate and institutional banking.
All of these programs aim to allow new employees to experience many different lines of work and choose a position at the end that is most suited for what they enjoy doing.
Last year, PNC hired four IUP finance majors into one of their development programs, which was the most IUP finance majors hired by any single company. In addition, three accounting majors completed summer internships with PNC in 2018 and received offers for full-time jobs at the conclusion of the internships.
The SAA’s next meeting is scheduled for October 1 in Eberly 311 with representatives from KPMG’s Pittsburgh office. KPMG is one of the Big 4 public accounting firms, with offices located in major cities throughout the world. According to their website, KPMG is one of the world’s leading professional services firms, providing innovative business solutions and audit, tax, and advisory services to many of the world’s largest and most prestigious organizations. The two KPMG speakers who will present at this meeting include Alicia Fulmer, a senior audit associate, and Sarah Zbur, an experienced audit associate. Both Fulmer and Zbur graduated from IUP with majors in accounting. Fulmer graduated in 2015, and Zbur graduated in 2017.
Written by Katie Williams