Essay Instructions: I''ve already done the interview, it is 8 pages long and it included below. I only need a 2 page conclusion to equal 10 pages in total and the teacher''s task for the cinclusion is also included below, above my paper.
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q) Summarize YOUR interview content and what YOU learned about the way in which the organization will be affected by this upcoming decade.
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR PAPER AND WILL LARGELY DETERMINE ITS GRADE. YOU SHOULD PINPOINT ONE MAJOR ISSUE FACING THE INTERVIEWEE?S COMPANY AT THIS TIME AND EXPLAIN HOW IT RELATES TO OUR PRESENT COURSE IN THE PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT. THIS EXPLANATION MUST DRAW SOME COMPARISONS WITH THE COURSE MATERIAL AS WELL AS SOME CONCLUSIONS/ RECOMMENDATIONS ON YOUR PART.
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Background.
The person I chose to speak with is Jonathan Nus, a Certified Public Accountant that works for Deloitte & Touche, one of the Big Five Accounting Firms, where he manages two of the firm''s leading engagements in the Japanese Services Group. Deloitte and Touche, is a professional service firm, which provides assurance and advisory, tax, and management consulting services. They consist of about 36,000 people in more than 100 U.S. cities, and more than 90,000 people in over 130 countries. In addition, Deloitte & Touche has been recognized as one of the ?100 Best Companies to Work For? in America by Fortune? magazine for four consecutive years.
Jonathan, who is currently 26 years old, immigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union, when he was only five years old. After graduating Brooklyn College summa cum laude, he accepted his offer from Deloitte and Touche. Being that Deloitte and Touche is a very competitive firm, he was the only one from his graduating class to receive an offer from them, or from any of the other ?Big 5? accounting firms. He has been with Deloitte and Touche for the last four and a half years.
Here is a list of some of the Mr. Nus?s credentials:
? Passed CPA exam from the first time
? Recipient of Deloitte & Touche Service Award
? Managed two global "Office of the Chairman" engagements: Sumitomo Corporation of
America and Toshiba America, Inc., involving up to 6 staff members of various levels and the coordination of over 32 participating firm offices and 5 countries as a senior level-one accountant
? Currently, top rated senior accountant in group
? Consistently ranked in the top 3 amongst accountants of same level in group, beginning from assistant level. Currently top of class
? Selected by Deloitte & Touche senior partners to participate in Deloitte & Touche "Management Advisory Committee", whereby new creative ideas and solutions will be contemplated and implemented
? Instructed experienced hires at higher levels of Deloitte & Touche on various technical matters, including overall firm approach and "real world" experiences
? Instructed seniors, semi-seniors, and assistants at lower levels of Deloitte & Touche on various technical matters, including overall firm approach, research, guidance, and "real world" experiences
? Continuous involvement in Deloitte & Touche''s recruitment process, both on-campus activities, as well as various other scheduled events through recruitment office
? Active Involvement (team leader) in Deloitte & Touche''s mentoring program for both active employees, firm interns, and potential candidates still attending college
? Active Participant on Deloitte & Touche recruiting panel for candidates who received offers from several competing Big 5 accounting firms and other non-public firms. Panel member of "Day in the Life" at Deloitte & Touche
? Participant in various firm sponsored charity events, including United Way of America
? Selected by Deloitte & Touche engagement partners to lead new initiative for client''s expectation''s and enhance internal knowledge of selected client''s strategies, business objectives, and operations.
? Wrote in direct collaboration with parent company management, a thorough accounting manual and procedures guide for subsidiary company
? Performed consultative engagements with Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group, outside of normal assurance and attestation functions
? Graduated Summa Cum Laude
? Member American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants
Interview.
Mr. Nus, I know your time is valuable, so I won?t take up to much of it. If you may, can you please tell me a little bit about your firm, and your job here as a manager. Here is a list of some of the particular topics that are of interest. I will record your answers and then transcribe them later to paper.
A professional services firm is inseparable from the people who deliver its services. Our clients value our intellectual capital and our ability to deliver it effectively. Our challenge is to continue to provide an exciting and diverse workplace that offers its people opportunities for development, variety and professional fulfillment.
Our vision ? in the United States and around the World ? is to be recognized as the best professional services firm. Our strategy is to win the war for talent and be the employer of choice. We seek to attract, develop and retain the best people in the world. Our organization is centered on aligning ourselves in a manner that would allow us to make smart choice ? around markets, services and initiatives. We have an opportunity to be the best, execute fearlessly and become dominant in priority market segments in our economy.
We seek to attract a diverse culture that reflects the diversity of our client workforces and the market place in general. The typical background of our entry level people are four-year college graduates in Accounting or Business, who have the necessary requirements to meet the qualifications to sit for the Certified Public Accountancy examination. Since most candidates for entry-level positions are just out of college, they are approximately 21-22 years old. We do not seek any specific pre-requisite requirements, but candidates with previous part-time accounting or professional services experience are preferable.
As we need to develop future leaders of our firm and to hire quality individuals to grow and carry on the legacy of our firm, there are certain characteristics that we look for in individuals. We have certain pillars that we use as a benchmark in our profession in order to judge the performance of our people.
The first is Serving Clients. Since we are a professional service firm, we need to ensure that our people place clients first. That means that not only do they need to demonstrate an understanding of the client business, but they also need to make an effort to build, broaden and strengthen existing client relationships that we have already. We also seek people that can demonstrate creativity in looking for ways to simplify and improve preexisting processes of an organization and ones that can identify issues, offer solutions, and work to resolve issues on a timely basis. In essence, we value individuals that operate in a proactive rather than a reactive mentality.
The second is technical skills, learning and adapting. It is important that individuals in our organization have the ability to continually develop and expand on their technical skills. We value individuals that can demonstrate that they not only can adapt to the current technology and software that we use on a daily basis in our business, but also they can listen effectively to superiors and seek and accept advice and feedback.
Third, leading people. Key to our business is to have individuals that out poised and self-confident since much of our work is directly in front of our harshest critics ? our clients. It is imperative that individuals build trust and credibility not only with our clients but also with the rest of the people that they are working in collaborations with from our organization. Individuals are also encouraged to train and guide others and to delegate appropriately. This is an important trait that we look for since a key strategic theme of our firm is to create an environment that encourages our people to work in teams, mentor others, innovate, embrace diversity and continuously improve.
Last, but not least, we seek individuals who have the ability to manage the practice. We seek individuals who have the ability to present ideas and facts persuasively and confidently through verbal and written communication. We also seek individuals that demonstrate a willingness to take on new challenges and responsibilities.
Overall, the candidate that I value most are the ones who exude confidence and assertiveness, but in a subtle manner. More specifically I want to see that the individual is hard-working, independent, and doesn?t need to be led by the hand.
During the interview process, since we realize that people are only starting out their careers and that their real life experience is only limited at best, we try to assess their how well they will ?fit? within the structure and strategic themes of our firm. We usually start off asking questions that are fairly easy to answer, as a way to put the candidates at ease. These questions are also meant for us to get to know the candidates on a personal scale. Subsequently, the questions, become more behavioral in nature, and we will usually provide the candidate certain situations that they have encountered in their academic or professional career that is meant to elicit a response that denotes the candidate?s personality and work style.
What I like is someone who will answer my question. What I mean by that is that they will give me an answer that is right on point to the question that I asked. Likewise, I don?t like people who don?t answer my question directly. This is because every question that I ask is meant to elicit a candid response, which I then use to judge the competency of the candidate.
I also like people that act professionally, and appear that way as well. They should know when business is business, rather than think we are casually hanging out like buddies having a beer and a casual conversation.
In addition, I like people who smile, because the simplicity of a smile tells you a lot more about an individual than words alone can. It is also important that the person is personable and can hold a conversation. I like to feel comfortable knowing that if this person will end up working in my group, I will enjoy working with them, especially during the busy season when we work 14-hours a day. Likewise, I don?t like people that are egotistical and like to show off. This behavior shows me that they would not be able to work effectively in a team environment.
The first questions that I will ask will have to do with something that interests me on their resume, such as their hobbies and activities, something about them that sticks out.
A more unusual question would have to do with current events, such as the current economic climate in Asia, since I work in the Japanese Service Group.
Candidates that can exhibit certain qualities that we seek in our pillars discussed above are ones that we invite for second and third interviews. We believe these individuals have a career in our firm and our investment in them will eventually help us be the best professional services firm in the United States and the World.
My career at Deloitte & Touche has been very prosperous. During the relatively short period of time that I have been working here, my career has been filled with a great deal of growth and development, in an environment that is both challenging and intellectually stimulating. Having never worked in an accounting position prior to the start of my career, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to prove myself in this firm. In September of 1996, I started along a path that has brought me here today. I walked through the front door with the only tools I had, a constructive attitude and a passion to learn and succeed. Deloitte & Touche has since provided me with a foundation, with the tools and knowledge that have helped shape the person that I have become today. Four and a half years later, I feel privileged and fortunate to have the opportunity to share and address some of my most significant accomplishments and areas where I have demonstrated the greatest amount of professional growth.
Deloitte & Touche had, to my advantage, assigned me two Office of the Chairman clients, Sumitomo Corporation of America and Toshiba America, Inc. as my first two clients at the firm. During the course of my career at this firm, I have demonstrated my competency, reliability, and my willingness to make personal sacrifices in order to please the clients. When I was a first year senior, I operated as a lead senior, on both of these engagements. An opportunity, such as this, hasn''t been granted to anyone in the last 19 years, not since the lead client service partner himself had the opportunity. These global engagements involve the supervision of up to twelve people and the coordination of over 22 participating offices in five countries around the world. It is with great pride that I lead these engagements during a period of strenuous deadlines and arduous demands in order to meet the needs of these clients. During this time, I have learned to balance the demands of our clients with my own demands for personal growth. I managed to do this through creative solutions and my ability to motivate the team in order to increase productivity. This has given me the opportunity to dedicate some of my time to other areas of firm, where my services are needed. I am actively participating in various firm sponsored programs, which I have been selected for by senior partners, including a newly formed "Management Advisory Committee" and another program called "Business Outlook Process." I have shared some of my knowledge, obtained through my experience at the firm, by teaching technical and non-technical training courses, to both experienced D&T staff and staff newly hired by the firm. I get a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction in engaging in activities where I could teach or mold the younger generation in our profession. I am actively involved with the firm-recruiting department and various firm sponsored events. This past summer I served as a team leader for the firm''s summer mentorship program, which proved to be a tremendous success. I recently gave a presentation, called "A day in the life at Deloitte & Touche" to over 150 students who had outstanding offers from Deloitte & Touche, as well as from other top firms in the industry. By the enthusiasm shown to me by the students after the presentation I knew that my message, informing them of the potential for significant accomplishment and growth that I have obtained from Deloitte & Touche, was relayed successfully.
My overall commitment and personal sacrifice to the firm has not gone unnoticed. I have been fortunate and privileged to be consistently ranked in the top three amongst people of my level in my group.
