Industry & Insights - Nick Ferguson from Baker Tilly

Summary

In this engaging conversation, Eric Van Djk interviews Nick Ferguson from Baker Tilly, a top 10 accounting firm with a strong presence in Michigan. They discuss Baker Tilly's unique approach to accounting and consulting services, as well as their on-campus recruitment efforts at Walsh College. Eric, a Walsh alumnus and current master's student, shares his positive experiences at the college and the opportunities it provided. He emphasizes the importance of networking and relationship-building early in one's career. Nick highlights the qualities Baker Tilly seeks in new recruits, such as engagement and adaptability, and reflects on the social aspects of the accounting industry that foster lasting connections.

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Q & A

What is Baker Tilly's position in the accounting industry?

Baker Tilly is a top 10 accounting firm, particularly strong in Michigan, offering traditional accounting services as well as consulting and business advisory services.

What services does Baker Tilly offer besides traditional accounting?

Besides traditional accounting services, Baker Tilly also offers consulting, business advisory services, and takes pride in being different from other accounting firms.

Why is Baker Tilly on campus at Walsh College?

Baker Tilly is on campus at Walsh College for recruitment purposes, aiming to meet students and connect with them through career services to find potential future employees.

How has Walsh College impacted Eric Van Djk's career?

Walsh College has had a significant impact on Eric Van Djk's career by providing experiences and opportunities that carried him through the past eight years in his profession.

What advice does Eric have for students looking to enter the professional industry?

Eric advises students to focus on building relationships and networking, attending events, and utilizing the resources available to understand the industry and gauge their interests and abilities early on in their careers.

What qualities does Baker Tilly look for in new student interns or entry-level hires?

Baker Tilly looks for engaged individuals who are proactive in following up on opportunities and flexible in connecting with the employer. They also value those who have goals aligned with the firm's objectives and a willingness to learn and grow.

What is Eric's favorite aspect of working in the accounting industry?

Eric's favorite aspect of working in the accounting industry is the social opportunity it provides to connect with people, help clients, and assist staff or interns in growing and learning.

How has the accounting industry changed since Eric started his career?

The accounting industry has become more relationship-based and less about individuals working in isolation. There's a greater emphasis on teamwork and lasting connections.

What was the turning point in Eric's career that he attributes to his time at Walsh College?

The turning point in Eric's career was the opportunities and experiences he had at Walsh College, which he leans back on and credits for carrying him through his eight years in the profession.

How does Eric describe the work environment at Baker Tilly?

Eric describes the work environment at Baker Tilly as very social, with opportunities to connect with people, help clients, and assist in the growth and learning of staff and interns, rather than being a solitary experience.

What is the main takeaway from Eric's advice for students?

The main takeaway from Eric's advice is the importance of building relationships, networking, and utilizing available resources early in one's career to understand the industry and one's own interests and abilities.

Outlines

00:00

🤝 Introductions and Baker Tilly's Presence

The paragraph introduces Eric Van Djk and Nick Ferguson, who are present at Walsh College for a recruitment event. Eric, a Walsh alumnus, is now with Baker Tilly, a top 10 accounting firm with a strong presence in Michigan. They discuss the firm's traditional services, consulting, and business advisory roles. Nick emphasizes Baker Tilly's difference from other accounting firms and their pride in offering diverse services. The purpose of their visit is to recruit students and connect with career services to offer opportunities for students.

05:00

🎓 Eric's Experience as a Walsh Student

Eric reflects on his time at Walsh College, highlighting the impact it had on his career over the past eight years. He mentions the importance of the opportunities and experiences provided by Walsh, which he considers a turning point in his professional journey. Eric also discusses the value of the relationships he built during his time as a student, the pride he feels in his undergraduate achievements, and the ongoing relevance of his Walsh experiences.

10:01

💼 Career Advice and Qualities Sought

The conversation shifts to career advice, with Eric sharing his insights on what he would suggest to students new to the professional world. He emphasizes the importance of networking and building relationships, as these connections can lead to job opportunities. Eric also discusses the qualities that Baker Tilly looks for in new recruits, such as engagement and a willingness to learn and grow. He stresses that these attributes are crucial for success in the firm and the accounting industry as a whole.

🌟 The Joy of Relationships in Accounting

Eric shares his favorite aspect of working in the accounting industry, which is the relationships he has built over the years. He explains that while the technical work, such as tax returns and financial statements, is important, it's the social aspect and the chance to help clients and colleagues that truly drives him. Eric highlights that the industry has evolved to become more relationship-focused, and he encourages students to understand the value of these connections in their future careers.

Keywords

💡Accounting firm

An accounting firm is a business that provides accounting, financial, and tax-related services to its clients. In the context of the video, Baker Tilly is described as a top 10 accounting firm, emphasizing their status and the range of traditional and consulting services they offer.

💡Recruiting

Recruiting refers to the process of attracting, identifying, and hiring suitable candidates for a company. In the video, Baker Tilly is on campus for recruiting purposes, aiming to meet students and connect with them to fill positions for the next year.

💡Career services

Career services are programs and resources provided by educational institutions or organizations to assist individuals in their career development, job search, and professional growth. In the video, career services at Walsh College are mentioned as a partner in connecting students with Baker Tilly for potential employment opportunities.

💡Networking

Networking refers to the act of building and maintaining professional relationships, which can lead to career opportunities, advice, and support. In the video, the importance of networking is emphasized as a key strategy for students to make connections in the professional world.

💡Professional growth

Professional growth encompasses the development of skills, knowledge, and experience that contribute to an individual's career advancement. The video discusses how students can leverage their time at Walsh College to foster professional growth through networking, internships, and engagement with career services.

💡Accounting profession

The accounting profession involves the practice of accounting, which includes the analysis, preparation, and communication of financial information. It is a field that requires specialized knowledge and skills, and in the video, it is portrayed as a dynamic area with opportunities for relationship-building and diverse experiences.

💡Walsh College

Walsh College is an educational institution that offers various programs, including a master's program. In the video, it is portrayed as a place that provides students with opportunities for professional networking, career development, and academic achievement.

💡Student experience

Student experience refers to the overall journey and development of a student during their time at an educational institution. It encompasses academic, social, and personal growth. In the video, Eric shares his positive student experience at Walsh College, highlighting the impact it had on his career.

💡Engagement

Engagement, in a professional context, refers to the level of enthusiasm, interest, and active participation an individual shows towards their work or opportunities. In the video, engagement is highlighted as a critical quality that Baker Tilly looks for in potential hires.

💡Career fairs

Career fairs are events where employers meet with job seekers, often students or recent graduates, to discuss potential employment opportunities. In the video, career fairs are recommended as a valuable resource for students to connect with companies like Baker Tilly and learn more about the industry.

💡Relationship building

Relationship building is the process of establishing and nurturing connections with others, which can lead to mutual benefits and opportunities. In the video, it is presented as a significant aspect of the accounting industry, where personal relationships play a crucial role in career development and client interactions.

Highlights

Eric Van Djk and Nick Ferguson discuss Baker Tilly's presence at Walsh College for on-campus recruiting.

Baker Tilly is a top 10 accounting firm with a strong presence in Michigan, offering traditional services as well as consulting and business advisory.

Baker Tilly prides itself on being different from other accounting firms by doing a variety of work and maintaining close relationships with clients.

The purpose of the visit is to recruit students for positions starting next year and to connect directly with them.

Eric shares his experience as a Walsh student and alumnus, emphasizing the impact of the opportunities provided by the college.

Walsh College offers a supportive environment where students are not competing against each other but are encouraged to succeed.

Eric suggests that students should focus on building relationships and networking as these connections can lead to job opportunities.

Engagement is a key quality that Baker Tilly looks for in new recruits, as it indicates a proactive attitude and willingness to connect.

Baker Tilly values candidates who are open to learning and growing within the firm.

Eric's favorite aspect of the accounting industry is the social opportunity it provides to connect with people and build lasting relationships.

Accounting is not just about the numbers but also about the people you work with and the experiences you share.

Baker Tilly and Walsh College have a long-standing partnership, and the firm is eager to continue engaging with students.

Students are encouraged to attend career fairs to understand the opportunities available and to gauge their interests.

The accounting industry has evolved to become more relationship-based, requiring professionals to understand and work with different personalities.

Eric emphasizes the importance of early career networking, as it can lead to long-term professional connections.

Baker Tilly seeks individuals who are not only knowledgeable but also engaged and willing to contribute to the firm's culture.

The accounting profession offers a variety of experiences and opportunities for growth, contrary to the common perception of a solitary job.

Eric shares his journey from being a student to a current master's program participant at Walsh, highlighting the continuous learning aspect.

The importance of taking advantage of the opportunities provided by educational institutions to kickstart a successful career is emphasized.

Transcripts

hi everyone my name is Eric Van djk here

at Walsh College I am joined here today

with Nick Ferguson over at Baker Tilly

Nick thank you so much for being here

thanks for having me you bet you bet so

can you tell us and tell our audience a

little bit about Baker Tilly as a whole

yeah so we're a top 10 accounting firm

um really heavy here in Michigan um the

traditional services that you think of

but also a lot of Consulting a lot of

you know business advisory stuff so we

really pride ourselves in that of being

a little different than other accounting

firms um but but do a lot of different

things and and work a lot closely with

Walsh awesome awesome and uh why are you

guys here on campus today what brings

you in the door so we did on campus

recruiting okay um trying to meet

students and working with some of the

career services folks to connect

directly with students and and things of

that nature you know we're recruiting

you know it's a busy busy time of year

for us right we're we're recruiting for

next year though but um that was our

goal today was to you know really

recruit meet students um you know that's

how I came out I'm a wal Shalom that's

how I came out here right you know doing

the same things that I used to do so um

so yeah really just a chance to connect

with students tell them a little more

about Baker Tilly give them a chance to

really learn more about us I mean

there's a lot of options out there right

sure um for careers and and paths right

so um doing a lot of things of that

nature awesome awesome well thank you

guys we appreciate you being here um you

mentioned you're a wall Shalom and also

a current student I am heard in our

master's program so that's awesome um as

a Walsh student in Alum can you can you

talk a little bit about your experience

as a student here and kind of what

that's meant to you yeah I mean I you

know we just all of a sudden you look

back and you're like okay it's been 78

years since I

graduated um you know you look back at

the things that made a difference right

you know Walsh is a big thing for me you

know we've met before we we see each

other at stuff and I'm like I bring it

up all the time you know opportunities

here that um carried me the past eight

years in being in the profession that I

look back on and it's like wow that was

a change that was a turning point right

there were there were experiences here

opportunities that were provided that I

really lean back on um and I look at

that as caring me through that

profession right the past eight years

even now as a current you know I take a

lot of pride in the undergrad that was

that was the big achievement to get into

it you know kind of what you need to do

first The Graduate degrees you know on

the side not as I'm not as intense into

it um don't tell any of our our

professors that right um but you know I

look back on that on fondly and look at

the things that you know the people I

got to meet the sure the events that

Walsh sponsored and you know when I was

a student and I think it still is this

case it was hey we have this opportunity

you know you weren't competing

necessarily to go to it right it wasn't

an exclusive thing it was we want you to

succeed we want to connect you here's

your chance do you want to take it um so

I look back on that really fondly of hey

it was a great great Kickstart to the

career um and great great things came

from it that's great that's what we love

to hear yeah um what would you suggest

so just to kind of change gears here

what would you suggest to a student you

know who's either fresh out of school or

or trying to get into the profession of

of maybe something or some things they

could focus on early on in their career

that helped you or

that yeah I would say you know looking

back now um we've you know everything's

changed right in some way but then at

some point you kind of step back and you

say some things never change right sure

so you know as a student now yeah you

know there's all these different you

know we're in when I was a student there

wasn't a podcast facility I don't know

you know Studio facook yeah exactly it

was a bookstore right and and so you

know these all these things are changing

right but at the same time there's some

things that never change you know like I

said when I was a when I was a undergrad

student you know you took the

opportunities to network and meet people

right relationships carry um you know I

got connected at Baker Tilly through a

relationship from recruiting years ago

um and it got rekindled I think there's

things that you know everybody's looking

to do something different and try

something new and do all these things

which is great

but when you go back to it there's

things that never change right yeah

there's things that um you know if

you're a student you

know you know putting in the time to

meet to meet people in the profession

right putting in the time to go to

things and and kind of get that

connectivity that's always going to be

there because our whole you know our

industry our business in business

professional industry all these things

they're carried by those relationships

so you know when you step back and look

at it yeah I graduated at a time we were

here 6: to 10 you know Monday Tuesday

Wednesday Thursday depending on the

class right sure I think at my time at

Walsh I had one class that wasn't from

6:00 to

10: well that's a little different now

right yeah but what's not different is

you know your connection with the

professor might get you a job right

right you know if you can connect with

the student you know another student

you'll run into them down the road you

guys hear you know the the folks you

know managing the career services you

know those are all people that you know

if you spend the time and get to know

them I think those things carry you

right um and I think that's something

that you know I don't want to say is

lost now but you know everybody wants to

be a podcast host and I I I have high

hopes for you Eric but uh um I know I'm

not going to be a podcaster right right

I'll join a few when you guys want me to

but sure but you know you step back re

and uh there's these you know there's

these things though but doing this stuff

right I mean coming on and talking to

you and and those things build

relationships and I would say any

student you know from from two

perspectives one to build the

relationships and and hopefully find an

opportunity but also to find what you're

not interested in right you look back at

that and you'll meet somebody that

you're like oh I don't ever want to work

for that person not in a bad way not you

know sometimes in a bad way but but

because you don't you don't click with

them but sometimes in a way that no I'm

just not going to be good in that

setting so why would I put myself

through that versus doing it blindly and

then having to live through it right

yeah so those are all chances for

students to really gauge their abilities

early on without being at a job per se

and gauge their opportunities right yeah

I think that's what I would say is the

biggest thing I would encourage because

looking back that paid a lot of that set

up a lot of pass right and a lot of

things to think about and kind of hone

in on what I was really interested in

build your sounds a lot like building

your network right TR to make you get

those folks in order and and utilizing

the the resources that are available to

you and especially right at such a early

time in in a

career to to build that and understand

what's out there right yeah it's great

later on too there's other reasons to do

it things like that but early on to

really understand everything I don't

think you know when I my first day at

Walsh I didn't have a clue you know and

I say say that in a in a in a way to you

know I didn't have a clue what was out

there fully I kind of maybe a little bit

I had a direction right yeah but I

didn't have a clue of all the

opportunities out there so you know

you're not going to be able to Google

you know this exact you know what what

your exact path is sure um so yeah

that's that's what I would give to

students awesome man so students if

you're out there make sure you attend

Career Fairs yeah exactly come see I

mean I will trust me those are super

helpful I will talk your ear off so

you'll you'll find out really quick if

you want to be around somebody that

talks your off or doesn't talk to you at

all you'll get a good you'll get a good

flavor for one of them that's funny

that's funny um what are some important

qualities that you guys look for um at

Baker Tilly and New Student interns or

entry-level folks that you guys bring on

yeah I think um a couple things right

you know the biggest thing I found is is

looking for people that are engaged you

know you can't coach that you can't

teach that so so people that are engaged

you know what does that mean that means

following up on you know the opportunity

itself trying to connect trying to make

sure that you're flexible to you know

with an employer to make sure that

you're you know connecting with them and

and working you know to to put that best

foot forward I think when people are

engaged in something you know no

different than you know this am I

engaged here you can tell right yeah you

can tell if somebody's engaged so that's

the biggest thing I look for first then

comes some other things like you know do

their goals with what we're looking for

right yeah you know we're a accounting

firm it's really built on learning you

know it's kind of an apprenticeship in

some

ways do those you know is this somebody

that will want to learn is this somebody

that wants to grow obviously a lot of

wall students are already doing that so

we we know that's that's you know the

the not really a concern you know if

you're here learning you know we kind of

know that but I'd say those are the two

big things um that I really that we

really look for as a whole of saying hey

is this person gonna you know succeed

here right because that's what we're

looking for is people who can really

succeed and um those are the big things

now especially and it got hard got a

little hard during Co to monitor that

right but now it's like okay you've

found ways to to kind of scope that out

and see see where people are at so sure

well that's great that's great uh last

one here uh thank you again for being

here appreciate um what do you like the

most about working in the accounting

industry your favorite thing oh I

mean accounting journal entries right I

mean I mean gosh tax returns I mean you

know Financial I mean it just blows my

mind that people don't love this stuff

right I would say for me it you know I

don't want to keep saying the same thing

so I'll kind of dig into it a little

different way but like relationships

right you know I look at when I started

you know everybody thinks you're coming

in and like like I said doing those

things tax returns financial statements

there's a few people out there that

really truly truly love that work right

and more power to them um but I think a

lot of people you know in the uh in the

space and this is again a thing I didn't

realize coming in from day one was it's

a very social opportunity in some ways

to connect with people um especially as

your progresses but even from day one

you know we have a group of interns

right now that are all connecting and

getting to know each other and you know

they don't have to be friends but

they'll carry those relationships for a

long time because they're going through

something together that um you know is

challenging right it's a new job it's a

new new experience um might be a little

scared or inated about it right you know

100% And and I think that's where yes

there's the scary part of it right but

there's also the huge reward that

sometimes people forget about of having

somebody that you know those you'll be

able to go back 10 years later and say

oh yeah like we you know it's been a few

years maybe but we both did that

together and remember that one time Nick

drove us nuts you know on that one

project and you know you you know you

laugh but you can probably think of it

too right you know you can remember that

you know some that bonding experience

right so looking you know stepping back

now a little bit and and really thinking

about it that's the part that's kept me

in it you know it's it's not the tax

returns it's it's not the it's not

reading the the code sections um it's

the people right it's the chance to

connect it's the chance to be with

people that you know want to help a

client want to help a staff person or an

intern grow and learn that's what draws

draws me to it because the work is what

the work is and we do all kinds of

different things every day the work's

never the same sure it's it's really

connecting with people you know wherever

that form may be um that that keeps I

think a lot of people into it and I

think a lot of people um

especially students that are listening

don't realize you know they think it's a

you know I'm in a cube by myself not

talking anybody right and I'd say even

in the even when I started it wasn't

like that but in the time that I've done

this it's changed even more so or it's

so far away from that now um it's kind

of wild to see yeah um awesome it's

become a true you know relationship

based kind of field almost of you know

you have to work with people right you

have to learn people's you know ticks

you have to learn these things but again

on the flip side of that is there's this

huge opportunity for you know lasting

connections yeah so that's great there's

still some tax there's still some yeah

there's still some I mean no matter how

hard I try uh they you know they still

make me do some tax returns so that's

funny well it sounds like a great place

to work AB yeah we certainly appreciate

the partnership bakertilly has been

involved with Walsh for many many years

and hopefully many more years to to come

here so and and come you know students

that are listening to come see us at the

career fears come connect with us we

have a great team so awesome um yeah for

sure happy to do it yeah well thank you

so much we appreciate it thanks for

having me you bet thank

you