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It Figures: The CRI Podcast

It Figures Podcast: S3:E9 – Shape Your Future: Internships

An all-inclusive, comprehensive internship can be invaluable to the development of a young professional. In recent years, we’ve seen a fundamental shift in the dynamics of what individuals look for in intern programs and careers. Tune in to this “Conversations that Count” episode of It Figures and hear from CRI Human Capital Partner Sandi Guy, Senior Accountant Megan Treiber, and Staff Accountant Kevin Rivera as they discuss how the experience gleaned from an internship can help shape your career.

Intro:

From Carr, Riggs & Ingram, this is It Figures: The CRI podcast, an accounting advisory and industry focused podcast for business and organization leaders, entrepreneurs, and anyone who is looking to go beyond the status quo.

Sandi Guy:

Welcome, everyone, to another episode of It Figures podcast. My name is Sandi Guy, and I oversee the human capital strategies at the firm. Today, it’s National Intern Day. As we celebrate National Intern Day, I thought it would be fun to explore internships a bit more.

Internships have long been a part of public accounting, a sort of rite of passage, if you will. A step that most CPAs took along the way while they were finishing up school, looking at firms, considering different aspects of their career. It’s been interesting to see how these programs have or haven’t evolved, especially over the last couple of years with the pandemic. But their purpose is still there. It’s just going to be kind of interesting to see what the students are looking for, how that changes, and if at all the content of them changes. I can’t imagine it won’t, as every other aspect of both our profession as well as most professions have changed.

I’m thrilled today to have two individuals joining us. Both of them have interned. But I’m going to take a second and let them introduce themselves. First, Megan, can I get you to introduce yourself?

Megan Treiber:

My name is Megan Treiber. I am a senior auditor in our Tampa office. I have been with CRI for almost three years now. I interned back in 2018, and I started full time in 2020 once I had completed grad school.

Sandi Guy:

Very nice. And Kevin.

Kevin Rivera:

Hello, my name is Kevin Rivera, and I am an audit staff at the Houston office in Texas. I went to University of Houston-Downtown, and I interned in January 2021. Prior to interning, I had a 10 year career in optics, so it’s pretty interesting to kind of give that shift.

Sandi Guy:

So I’ll start with you because I want to start looking at what or how students choose to do an internship. So Kevin, where’d you go to school?

Kevin Rivera:

I went to the University of Houston-Downtown.

Sandi Guy:

So did UH-Downtown have internships built into their accounting program? And if not, how did you decide to do one and how did you find ours?

Kevin Rivera:

Well, they do not have it built into the program itself. However, a lot of my peers were currently talking about their internships, their experiences, and I was a little curious myself. I wanted to make sure to kind of get a little bit of experience or a taste of what it would be to audit. So I went ahead and I took it upon myself to kind of do a little bit of research. I looked up firms in Houston and I’d seen quite a few, but I think the main reason I chose CRI was because I got a little curious, I went on the website and I was actually pleased to see that I felt represented within the partner group, manager group, and supervisor group. When I started, I mean, it was there. I felt included.

Sandi Guy:

That’s awesome. That’s also a nice little commercial for our It Figures episode about inclusion. So if you haven’t listened to that, be sure to check that out. But I love that, because most schools or most firms will go onto a campus and actively recruit on campus, or interns. So I love that you went and sought us out. So what about you, Megan? Where did you go to school and how did you come about your internship?

Megan Treiber:

I went to the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, and I was exactly what you just said, Sandi. I was at a recruiting event on campus, a big career fair solely for accounting. The accounting program’s pretty large at USF. I did a little bit of research on some of the firms going in, had looked at Carr, Riggs & Ingram. I specifically liked the locations the offices were in. I’m not from Florida. My family’s in Maryland. So if I had thought, “Well, maybe I want to intern and look into another city after the fact,” I felt like CRI was a great fit for just the locations that we’re in. I spoke with a few people. I emailed them after, asked how I could apply and I got the link, and it worked out really nicely.

Sandi Guy:

I’d have to agree. I think it did work out nicely. So that’s interesting that sort of how y’all came about us were two kind of different ways. I love that you said that, “Hey, I wanted something here, but I wanted a firm that if I enjoyed it there, I could go somewhere geographically after.” Because that is a great aspect is while you’re in school interning somewhere that’s sort of either right there in that footprint where you’re attending school. I know a lot of people will pursue internships based in the city where they hope to work and live when they graduate.

So I’m curious, and we’ll stick with you, Megan, and then I’m curious your thoughts as well, Kevin. So when you said, “Okay, I’m going to intern,” what were you hoping to accomplish? Was it, “I can make some money while I’m in school,” or, “I can learn a little bit more about public accounting.”? Or I’ve heard some students tell me, “I thought I kind of had to do that to get a job.” So I’m curious what were you hoping to accomplish through an internship.

Megan Treiber:

I mean, you kind of summed it up. All of the above. I worked almost all of college, so I knew that I needed to keep working, be able to stay in Tampa. And then I wanted to do a job where I felt like it was helping further my career. If I wanted to do public accounting, you hear a lot about it, and I think all the horror stories of, “The busy season’s this,” and all the craziness that comes from it. So I wanted to see it for myself. I felt like an internship would be perfect.

That’s also, I mean, another reason why I was drawn to CRI. I was a full-time student when I interned. So for me, not all firms will welcome you in when you’re doing four or five classes. So I was able to do the internship class, USF, not a part of our curriculum, but you’re allowed to do it if you have an internship. Did my classes, got to work at CRI, make some money. And my end goal was absolutely to hopefully get a job offer and then… Or find out if auditing wasn’t for me. Another case of an internship, you might find out that you think that this sounds interesting, you like your classes, and it’s going to be different from the classroom.

Sandi Guy:

It’s very different from the classroom. And I love where you said horror stories. Listen, every industry has its own horror stories and they became a story for a reason. But it is interesting, the things that they don’t tell you when you’re pursuing a career in public accounting. And anytime I’m speaking in front of professors or somewhere where professors are in earshot, I’m like, “Look, I get you’re teaching them debits and credits and financials. All that’s great. But the life of a public accountant is wonderful and fantastic and stressful and a lot going on,” and I feel like nobody really articulates sort of what that’s like. And I’m wondering if they do the same for like ER surgeons and those other type of professions. Are you also teaching them what the life is like?

So I think internships are great because it’s a cool test drive. Whether you’re testing, “Do I like audit or not? Do I like tax?” I’ve known plenty of people who have done an audit internship and a tax internship. But also what it’s like. I will say at CRI and at most firms, your internship, you’re doing the exact same things that a first year associate’s doing, so it’s no different.

Kevin, you had… I hate to call it a second career, because you’re so young, but you had had a full career. This is kind a second career for you. So I wonder, were your ideas of what you wanted to accomplish any different?

Kevin Rivera:

When I actually was in optics for around nine to 10 years, I think my interest began whenever I got into management and we were so focused on the processes more than the optical section. And I did a little research to see where exactly what career path would actually match to what I was starting to get interested in, and sure in school, I was hearing peers with internships.

So my main reason I interned to accomplish is kind of, like Megan said, I wanted to see if audit was going to be exactly what I wanted to do or that’s what was kind of driving me in my previous career. I just wanted to kind of gain knowledge and just understand everything. And sure enough, a lot of the research I did and talking to peers, they said the cool thing about auditors is because we’re going into the field and you’ve got to know that business exactly like the owners, the CEOs, the CFOs. So my main accomplishment was kind of to test it out and to basically just gain knowledge and get some experience.

Main goal was, like Megan said, to get an offer, because once I started interning, I really, really enjoyed the atmosphere. I really liked what I was doing, so then I was like “Now I need the offer.”

Sandi Guy:

I hear you. But what’s interesting about you, and correct me if I’m wrong, your internship was in the middle of the pandemic, I think. Right?

Kevin Rivera:

Correct. The world was shifting. Things were changing. So right in the middle of the pandemic is when my internship started. So I will say that it’s kind of similar to school whenever I was going on courses, and all of a sudden to have it shifted over to fully online.

Having an internship during a pandemic, I will say, is interesting because in my experience, was not similar to my classmates’. But I will say that while interning, they did a phenomenal job on kind of transitioning, because they utilized Teams, Zoom, anything possible. And of course, when you have that interaction with clients, they made sure that any kind of emails or any kind of communication, to kind of filter in and to kind of see.

So overall as a pandemic intern, it seems that it was a great experience. It was a little bit of a learning curve to having to ask for reports that I’ve never seen through an email instead of walking into an office. But overall, I think it was pretty good. It was a great learning experience overall.

Sandi Guy:

Cool. Megan, I’m curious, because your internship was before the pandemic, if I’m doing my math well. But you were working with us during the pandemic, so I’m curious… And you’re still with us now. So what things do you think were most different for interns during the pandemic that we kept and is still different now versus when you interned? Or is anything different? Did we just kind of go back to like 2019, 2018 internship model?

Megan Treiber:

I would say it’s partly CRI’s changed and then partly a change on clients we have. Because while we were adapting, so were our clients. So when I interned in 2018, my first three months of my internship, I don’t think I went to the office once. Every day, I was at the client, our clients. A lot of the clients I interned on were pretty paper-based as well. A few of them. So I was out there testing support on site. I was with a manager, senior. And maybe the last month of my internship, I was in the office a little bit more with some of the more remote clients not in the Tampa area.

I started in 2020. My first two and a half months, you hear everyone talking about the pandemic, “When’s it going to maybe come over here? Who’s to say?” And then I believe it was March 13th, I was told, “Hey, we might start working from home. Feel free to do so,” and then we worked from home. Me and new staff, new interns, we all kind of switched. And I would say I think that CRI did a great job of helping us, okay, get equipment home, make sure we’re staying safe.

And then since then, I’ve watched a lot of the clients shift where a lot of us were going back to the office more, but we can do so much more remotely now. I think that that’s the biggest shift that I didn’t see as an intern, I got to see as I started working as a staff. And definitely now as a senior, me and my staff, whatever client we’re on, good amount of them… Not that they don’t want us out there, but they don’t need us out there anymore with how much we can do with Teams, Zoom. Are they getting to an electronic format? Are they going paperless? A lot of them are.

Sandi Guy:

It’s interesting that… It just occurred to me. I always tell people, whether they’re in school or they’re a senior manager, partner, anywhere in between, that public accounting is a really small world. May not seem like it, but it is a really small world. And you’ll run into former classmates, you’ll build relationships, and you’ll run into people all throughout, whether it’s you interned together at different firms and you come back together at a new firm, whatever it is. So I’m curious, a lot of those relationships begin to form during internships. Did you find that the pandemic made it harder, easier, or… I don’t know. I don’t have anything to base it on. To build some of those relationships that’ll probably carry you through. To either one of you.

Kevin Rivera:

I will say that I don’t think it affected it as much, just for the sole reason that in our office, and I’m pretty sure in most of the offices as well, when I started as an intern, we had a buddy system. So in our buddy system, it’s kind of like the career advisor, but we’re assigned someone that’s staff to the interns. And I feel that when I started within the pandemic, I technically didn’t have that face-to-face with many of my peers, management, supervisors, but I will say that buddy system kind of made me feel welcomed. He did a great job at making sure that I was okay if I have any questions, and kind of just checking up on if I had any issues and how to address them. Also, in charges, managers, partners were messaging me all the time as well.

So I will say the face-to-face was probably not there, but communication-wise and kind of having that welcome and that networking and feeling part of the firm, I don’t believe I had that issue as an intern. It was different, but the communication was still there.

Sandi Guy:

You both touched on a little bit working with clients, and I’m curious, Megan, when you were getting ready to intern, did you realize that you would be interacting with clients to the level that you did, or, “I didn’t think about it.”? I just ask because it’s interesting sometimes the response that you’ll get from interns. But were you expecting that high level of client interaction?

Megan Treiber:

Not at all. I knew I was going to be on client site. Especially, I think, 2018, everyone that I… You just talked about the connections you make. All of my friends, we were all interning together at the same time, different firms. We all knew we were going with the expectation of being on site, working a normal… You were a full-time staff. You’re not treated like an intern whatsoever. It’s you’re a staff.

I had no idea that within, I think, three weeks, I was talking to a CFO to help him set up… Confirmation.com is something we use, and he didn’t know where the authorization was, and my senior was like, “It’s pretty simple. Do you mind going?” And I was like, “Of course not,” and I was dying on the inside. But it was fine. I think it was so great getting that exposure.

I will say at CRI, I feel like I got a little bit more than some of my colleagues and my friends, because I was trusted to talk to a CFO. I was trusted to go into a payroll room and walk through their process with them. So it was definitely shocking, I think, the first few weeks, but very helpful, especially now where I am one of the main ones talking to the clients. So helpful, jarring.

Sandi Guy:

That’s great. Another thing, professors, that you should be preparing them for. So Kevin, we’re used to dealing with higher levels in an organization and dealing certainly with clients, but was it a surprise to you as well, or were you expecting that?

Kevin Rivera:

It was a surprise. Even with years of customer service, I don’t think there’s enough to prepare you to talk to a CFO and CEO of a company. But I will say this though, like Megan said, the amount of knowledge and experience I received as a CRI intern, I feel like, has shaped the way to transition into my position as staff.

 

The reason I say that is because I talked to some of my classmates, and when I was just letting them know like, “Yeah, whenever I need something, I go and I ask.” And interesting, they’re like, “Really? As an intern?” And I was like, “Yes.”

But it helps because it helps you get prepared for being staff and asking the questions you need. It helps you prepare for when eventually becoming a senior, supervisor, because you’re no longer having that fear of, “I’m going to go talk to someone,” or anything. Now it feels like second nature when someone says, “Yeah, do you need something?” Just go ask them. And I’m like, “Okay, not a problem,” and I get up.

So I felt like there was going to be some communication. I just didn’t know it was going to be that quick.

Sandi Guy:

Yeah, the word that comes to mind for me is confidence. You start getting confidence to go talk to people. It’s always so funny if somebody even needs to go ask a partner a question, and they come to you and go, “I don’t know what to do.” And I’m like, “Go ask that partner.” They’re like, “It’s a partner.” They’re a person just like you and I are. Just go ask them a question. They’re not going to care. But I’ve been working 30 years.

But it is interesting and I love that we do that. I think it, again, prepares them. Because as a staff and a senior, you are interacting with a client, but it gives you some of that confidence not just in yourself and your knowledge, but to be able to go talk to the CFO.

So as we kind of finish winding up talking about the pandemic, so much about the workplace has changed and so much of it has stayed the same in so many ways. It’s still important to build relations and have open communications and self-manage, time management, all that kind of stuff. But I’m curious, as we as firms start looking at our intern programs, I always think, “Gosh, there’s probably a way they need to adapt that I’m just not seeing because I’m so far removed from being an intern.” But if you reflect back, are there any thoughts on things that firms should be doing, and I’ll selfishly say, or CRI should be doing to adapt their intern program to sort of this new way of working that we’re in?

Megan Treiber:

I don’t know if I would say there’s a need to adapt, but I think that the biggest thing that I’ve seen from the pandemic is just how much you can do remotely. And I think that when you’re an intern, even though you’re going to be doing staff work, you still come in with only having school knowledge. And it doesn’t necessarily translate when you’re doing an audit. You’re not taught in school the testing you’re going to be doing. It’s high level in school. It’s very different on the job. So I think it’s all about bridging the gap of helping get the training up front, helping build the relationship with the people in the office as you can, but then being able to trust maybe a hybrid type schedule. I think that that’s a big thing. Everyone wants to be able to hopefully get to the client, hopefully have some client time.

Have office time, I think, is super important. I think if you’re not in the office, collaborating with your team… It helps so much just for morale too. It’s so nice seeing your coworkers. But I think everyone now wants the bit of that hybrid life, which I feel like… I mean, especially in the… I can speak for the Tampa office. I feel like we definitely have that flexibility. I’m spending a few months, before my lease starts, with my family in Maryland, because the timing on it. So I think having that.

And it’s hard when you’re an intern. You’re so new. But giving them that opportunity to try it, because that could be exactly what their job’s like. I don’t know… I can’t speak for Kevin with the Houston office, but for us, I think that we did a really great job with helping our interns get in, get acquainted, and then giving that trust, I would say.

Kevin Rivera:

I will say I would have to agree with you, Megan. I think it’s one of those things where I think it already adapts to depending on how time your training are and just how the environment is going. Because I will say that also we participate in hybrid schedules, but at the same time, we make events to go ahead and still communicate with one another and make sure that it’s kind of more of an open communication environment.

I remember as an intern even during the pandemic, that there were quite a few events where I got to meet not only the audit department, the partners, and managers, and just tax department as well, but it helped with asking questions and getting training done for us and even for the new staff. So I think it’s already adapting to depending on how courses are going. So they do a really good job.

Megan Treiber:

I think that’s also hand in hand with what Sandi said about… I think CRI is so different. We mentioned the partners. When I talk to my friends sometimes and I’m like, “Yeah, I messaged my partner that I’m on the job with,” sometimes they’re shocked that the amount of one-on-one time I have with a partner. We have career advisors that are partners that we meet with quarterly. That’s not, I would say, the status quo necessarily for all firms. So I think that those events in office help break the barriers of you can go to a partner for advice, they’re there for you as well.

Sandi Guy:

I mean, it always cracks me up in knowing some of your partners, Megan, down there in Tampa. I mean, how can you not… They’re just so easy to talk to and there’s not this… I am very proud of the fact that there’s not this hierarchy of, well, if you’re an intern, you can only talk to the staff or the senior. And if you’re a senior, only the manager. That it’s, “Hey who’s ever in proximity or has the answer, go ask them.”

So in looking back, I would say what was most rewarding or beneficial to you about your internship? So if you think back to when you interned, what was something about it that was really helpful to you as you were deciding, “Is this what I want to do?” Or even if it was preparing you for that life as a full-time staff.

Kevin Rivera:

I think the most rewarding when it came to being an intern or just benefiting from being an intern, it’s just the experience. Also, I was able to kind of have a feel for what it was, what was the expectation for me when I did become a staff. But also kind of get to know how the firm works or if it was something that I would really want to pursue further.

For example, I know that there are people that will go into audit and then be like, “You know what?” Audit intern. And they’re like, “You know what? Let me try tax.” And for me, I am happy that I ended up really liking my audit internship and staying in audit. But I will say the most rewarding was the experience and knowing the expectations and also knowing that if I wanted to transition over to tax or any other field, this would be the appropriate time.

Sandi Guy:

What about you, Megan? Anything that stands out?

Megan Treiber:

I think so. I think the biggest stand out for me was being able to see the firm’s culture. Being able to see who I’d be working with and did I feel like I fit in, did I feel like I got along with my employees in that match. Because when you’re interning, I feel like there’s so much pressure of, “I hope they like me. I hope I’m doing a good job.” But it’s just as much as you getting the feel for the firm itself. You only get that with an internship. You’re not going to be able to go to a career fair or a meetup on campus, which we also have, I feel like, less of. USF, I don’t think they’ve done an in-person career fair since the pandemic. It’s all virtual. So you’re missing out on that anyways. But having an internship, especially when you would be going to the client or just the office, getting the feel of the firm itself, that’s the biggest takeaway.

Also, I was like, “Okay, I like what I do. Realistically, an audit’s going to be very similar wherever firm you’re at. The clients will change, the sizes will change, but who you’re working with, that’s so unique to the firm.” So that was the biggest takeaway for me.

Sandi Guy:

I would agree with that. I don’t present it this way, because I think it could turn people off, but really, an internship is an interview. Yeah, it’s a three month long interview. But not just an interview of you, but where you should be interviewing that prospective employer as well. Because you are spot on that audit work or tax work, it’s all the same work, whichever firm you’re at. It’s just a matter of finding the firm where the culture, the style, where it just resonates with you. I think there’s no better way to do that than during an internship.

And again, because an internship is short term, if you’re interning with a firm and you’re like, “Okay, it was great work and I like them, but it’s just not my vibe. I’m going to pursue a permanent role, a staff role somewhere else,” it doesn’t look like you changed jobs. It’s kind of like a free trial if you want to look at it that way.

So I always encourage people that if you’re in an accounting program that perhaps doesn’t require an internship, still try to find a way to make it happen, because it does give you an idea of what it’s like, but it does give you a chance to really interview with the culture, so to speak, of where you’re going to look to go.

So as we wind down on this National Intern Day, I always like to get advice from people who have done it before, so I’m going to ask y’all for some advice. So Kevin, any advice for somebody considering doing an internship?

Kevin Rivera:

I’d say to go for it, for one. And then while you’re in your internship, I will advise ask questions. Ask as many questions as possible. I know sometimes it could be a little scary, just because you’re coming in from school and you feel like they expect you to know everything. And I can promise you, they expect you to ask questions.

There is a tax partner, and I will forever remember because this happened in one of my internship virtual meetups, and he said, “Ask questions. Don’t suffer in silence.” That is one of the best key points that I felt that has actually helped me not only as an intern and as a staff. Because if you don’t ask questions, you’re going to sit and you’re going to just be there and you’re just not going to learn. Versus asking questions, this is the opportunity, this is the time to do it. And you’re going to be so happy you asked that question, because the next intern’s going to come in and is going to ask you the question, you’re going to have the answer. Ask questions, grow.

Sandi Guy:

I think that is the best piece of advice for anybody working professionally, whether you are an intern or a partner or anywhere in between. Ask questions. Not just simply out of curiosity or compliance, but seek first to understand and build these relationships. I think that’s fantastic advice. Megan, any advice for pursuing an internship or somebody currently interning?

Megan Treiber:

Absolutely. I think this ties in what I said earlier, really to be yourself. You want to show the person who you are, like how are you in the workplace, finding, again, the mesh. Do you work well with the people around you?

I would also say, and this goes also a little bit hand in hand with the asking questions, it is okay… You are treated as a staff. You are going to have staff work. But the expectation is still that you have much to learn. I never expect an intern that’s working with me to understand how to do our testing, to understand how to get an audit through and through. You’re learning along the way, and the key is to asking questions, the key is to just taking notes. I feel like that’s another one where if I’m telling someone some advice, it’s absolutely okay to jot them down or jot them down on your laptop just to have them in mind later. Just being present and helping take in as much as you can, because you will be learning so much and very quickly. It’s pretty fast from going from training to potentially being with a client. So just taking it all in and being yourself along the way. At the end of the day, if it’s a good match, you want it to be with them, with you, et cetera.

Sandi Guy:

It’s interesting you say take notes. Years ago, I was with a partner, speaking, I think it was a Beta Alpha Psi, and we were closing up, he was giving advice. One of his pieces of advice was keep your textbooks. I don’t know how many textbooks… Back in my day, there weren’t computers, so everything was textbook. And you couldn’t wait to sell your textbooks back at the end of the year, because it was kind of like a little cash flow at the end of the year. And he said, “Keep your textbooks, don’t sell them back, because you’ll refer back to them. You have notes in them. Keep them.” And I always thought, “That’s really interesting advice.”

So lastly, because you both do this, any advice for those who are supervising interns?

Megan Treiber:

I think that the biggest one I could give, and I think it’s something that… I don’t know if it’s maybe obvious, but you have to adapt sometimes to an intern’s learning style. We’re all not the same. We don’t learn the same. We don’t take in new information the same ways.

I’m a big… I like lists. I like a list of things to do. Absolutely I want bolded out what’s expected of me and I like a quick walkthrough and then I can dissect and I go back to them when I have questions. Not everyone works that way, and I feel like I learned that very quickly with supervising. And that’s okay. We’re not all supposed to be the same. So being able to adapt to how your intern learns.

And also asking them. Now, when I’m working with someone, I always try to make sure that I’m asking like, “How do you like to receive work?” Especially maybe they’re a staff now. Like, “Do you like lists? Do you like to have a powwow in the morning? Do you want to have a weekly touch-in?” Learning how they work, and yes, they’ll kind of adapt as well to your style, but making sure that you’re helping them learn the best is the most important thing, because otherwise, they’re not going to learn well, they’re not going to fit, and it might ruin their intern experience, and that would be unfortunate.

Sandi Guy:

Agreed. Shout out to all the list makers out there, because I’m one of them. I have a list to make a list. Love lists.

Megan Treiber:

Absolutely. I have-

Sandi Guy:

And then the serotonin of checking something off the list, for sure.

Megan Treiber:

Nothing feels better.

Sandi Guy:

How about you, Kevin? Any advice for someone supervising interns?

Kevin Rivera:

I will say that everything that Megan said, I agree a hundred percent. When it comes to kind of adapting your managing or training style over to the interns, because everyone learns different, and I think that goes a long way.

And then also just kind of asking… If you have that little spidey sense in the back of your neck like, “My intern’s been a little quiet for a little bit too long,” to just be like, “Hey, how’s it going?”

And I promise you, this is one of the main reasons I used to work well with my career advisor. I remember being on a job and she was so observant. So I would start focusing on something. I was like, “Well, the answer has to be here.” And she would just turn around and I started timing it, and it’s like every 30 minutes, “How’s it going over there?” And it kind of gave me that boost to be like, “Okay, so she kind of sees that I have a question.”

So just making sure you adapt to your learning style, and then just check up on them. Sometimes I know we’re all busy and we can be focused, but you can see the signs when someone’s focused in. And doing just a little quick check-in within every hour, every 30 minutes, or just however you see fit, just asking, “How’s it going over there?” And I promise you, there will be one question. So I think that’s the best I can give advice.

Sandi Guy:

I love the spidey sense. I have so many people when we talk about that hybrid environment and when people are remote, and they’re like, “You can’t build relationships. You can’t manage people remote.” And I have to remind them, I have a relationship with you and I have been fully remote for seven years. It is possible.

But that spidey sense works over video too. There has been countless times I’ve either been on group meetings or one-on-one. Or I think we’ve probably all been in a Zoom and somebody has their video on, and I’m like, “They look like they’re having a bad day,” and you send them the little private chat in Zoom, just going, “Hey, everything okay?” Or, “You’re kind of quiet. You’re not speaking up on this point. Is everything going good?” So I agree with you, that spidey sense is everything.

And my spidey sense is telling me it’s time to wrap it up, because I have taken a lot of your time, but it’s been great. I want to thank y’all so much for taking the time today and being on the podcast. I really appreciate it.

And for those of you listening, again, celebrate National Intern Day. If you have interns who haven’t started yet, reach out to them, tell them happy Intern Day. I know we have a lot going on in the firm for our interns today. And if you are an intern or looking to intern somewhere, whether we’re on your campus or, intern. I personally think it’s one of the best things that you can do through your career. So Kevin, Megan, thank you for joining me. And everybody, thanks for listening to the podcast.

Outro:

If you want more CRI insights or are interested in learning about our firm, please visit our website at cricpa.com. Thanks for listening to this episode of It Figures, the CRI podcast. You can subscribe to It Figures on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you prefer to listen to your podcasts. If you liked what you heard today, please leave us a review.

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