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Name: Jacob Dodds ’22
Hometown: Denham Springs, Louisiana
Majors: Accounting and Finance
OWU Connection Outcome: Full-time job after graduation as an assurance associate with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
“Several of the programs and resources OWU offers have been invaluable to my success in obtaining and succeeding in my internships. The Economic Management Fellows (EMF) and Accounting Fellows programs have provided me with several opportunities to network and gain exposure to a variety of professionals and careers.
“This allowed me to narrow my targeted path early on. Based on this, I knew I wanted to go into accounting (either tax or audit).”
“I was able to secure an internship with the Louisiana Department of Revenue over summer break ’20 and the following winter break.
“While at the Department of Revenue, I was an intern in the excise tax team of the taxpayer compliance department. Primarily, I was responsible for verifying the accuracy of reported motor fuel imports into the State of Louisiana on company’s state tax returns.
“While here, I was able to develop a more efficient system to streamline this verification process and write the new Standard Operating Procedure for the team. Although this was a great learning experience, I was able to determine that I was not interested in government work or taxes fairly early.”
“The Career Connection, specifically Carolyn Lammert, the Economics and Business Department’s internship coordinator, assisted me in getting an internship at Worthington Industries as the financial reporting intern this past summer and current fall.
“At Worthington, I am on the team that is the primary group for SEC reporting of our annual report. One of my largest projects here related to XBRL (extensible business reporting language) tagging in our annual report.
“I was the primary contact for improving our XBRL reporting, which led to a 30% reduction in custom tags. ... While I have been here, the team has successfully filed our 10-K annual report and our Q1 10-Q Quarterly report. This internship has and continues to prepare me for audit work as I have experienced the client-side of the audit through the 10-K filing process.”
“The experience from Worthington Industries and the help of Carolyn once again assisted me in securing a full-time audit internship this spring with the Columbus office of the Pittsburgh-based CPA firm, Schneider Downs. Here I will experience the other side of the audit process and gain exposure to several different clients.
“This internship was made possible by the flexibility offered by the professors in the Economics and Business Department. They were able to allow me to take several courses over the summer that normally are not offered during that time as well as take a course next semester during my internship asynchronously to avoid time conflicts with the full-time internship.”
“Through the EMF program, I was given an alumni mentor, Doug Dean, Class of ‘92, who is a retired PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) partner from the Pittsburgh office. His advice and help in the interviewing process assisted me in receiving two offers, one from EY (Ernst & Young) in NYC and one from PwC in Pittsburgh.
“All of the mentors, advisors, and staff who helped me through the entire process of my college career assisted me in ultimately choosing to accept my PwC offer.”
“One of my favorite memories was organizing and executing the Chi Phi Faculty & Staff Charity Dinner. This process came down to me and one other member researching, discussing, and organizing across several departments at the University in order to make sure everything was in order for a successful event.
“It was a great experience to meet with faculty and staff from across the University that I hadn’t met before, all while raising money for a great scholarship at the same time.”
“When I started my college search, I had a list of around 10 Universities I wanted to apply to. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a $1,000+ to pay for application fees. From there, I searched for universities that didn’t have application fees. This is how I initially found OWU.
“I applied and was accepted shortly afterward. At that point, I was deciding between Tulane and OWU. Dr. Alice Simon (now retired) sent me an email about the Economics Management Fellows program, telling me she thought I would be a good fit for it. I applied for the program and interviewed for it when I came to tour the University. Once I was accepted, I decided to attend and submit my enrollment deposit.”