Firms across Australia have been running accounting internships for generations, opening up new opportunities for a younger generation of professional.
While some practices enjoy a higher success rate than others integrating graduates and making that transition from the classroom to the workplace, there is a widespread acceptance that companies and the interns get the best of both worlds through these programs.
Here we will outline why these initiatives are becoming more widespread and accessible to young candidates, offering a tangible pathway to a viable career in the accounting industry.
Acquiring New Talent
Young candidates who become involved in accounting internships are living breathing examples of firms acquiring new talent. While there will be practitioners who bring their own skills to the table, the next generation is likely to have a diverse mixture of candidates who have excelled at university and are keen to obtain that first-hand experience. It is a natural process that ensures the business is looking out for its best interests, providing necessary pressure on current employees to maintain their performance levels while offering a pathway for new professionals who will fill positions of those retiring or leaving the practice for other opportunities.
Taking Onboard New Perspectives
What feels like business as usual can be important in some cases, but for others it can be an indication of a stale business model that is slowly but surely falling behind its competitors. Accounting internships allow younger candidates to bring their digital and social media skills to the table, incorporating new software models and modes of communication that can save businesses time and money. Many employees and managers like to stick to what they know with commercial practices, but sometimes a disturbance of these activities can be healthy for an organisation to naturally progress and remain up to date.
Improving Employee Leadership Skills
There is no doubt that the involvement of accounting internships as a practice helps those current full-time employees find their niche, placing them in key leadership roles to guide the newcomers and make them feel welcome. Interns are often advised to find mentors and leaders in the business, giving them a reliable sounding board to guide them on their actions and offer tutorials and lessons along the way. If interns need to learn on the job, then so to do employees who will commonly be new to the leadership position.
Lowering Some Long-Term Costs
There will be some measures that have to be adopted to ensure an accountancy practice remains viable, covering key costs while only taking on as many clients according to the resources they have. Accounting internships do offer an opportunity for enterprises in this industry to lower some of their long-term costs, offering paid roles for young candidates to perform some key tasks without being contracted for a full-time role. These programs will commonly have short lifespans and limited windows though, ensuring that a business does not substitute full-time work for part-time interns.
Alleviating The Pressures & Daily Workload
Accounting internships allow companies to strike a better workplace balance, particularly for those firms who do struggle with meeting client demands from January through to December. From basic printing tasks to proof reading papers and reports or helping with financial analysis activities, there are challenges that can pile up if they are left to a handful of participants over the span of a working year. By incorporating some young and eager candidates to the environment, these matters can be swiftly dealt with while passing on their intellectual property in the process. That benefit is only possible when accounting internships are more accessible for young candidates.
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