A record number of students attended this fall’s Meet the Firms event, Driehaus’ signature, biannual career fair for students pursuing careers in accounting.
Five hundred and fifty-eight students spent the afternoon at Chicago’s Palmer House hotel, where they mingled with representatives from 66 companies.
For many students attending, the fair yielded concrete opportunities.
“Meet The Firms gave me a great opportunity to increase my confidence and network in the accounting world,” said DePaul student Summer Placher. “I received two internship offers and multiple interview opportunities because of the event. As a transfer student, this event allowed me to catch up to my DePaul peers and jumpstart my accounting career. “
For others, the event offered something less tangible, but equally meaningful: the chance to envision the next step in their career.
"Meet the Firms was such an eye-opening experience,” said student Amanda Corral. “I was able to learn a lot about the work environments at different firms. Attending this event empowered me with so much knowledge!”
Hearing from students early on in their college careers also left an impression on employers.
“After attending other university career fairs, I am certain Meet the Firms is one of the best organized and well attended,” said Ahmed Abdul-Jaleel, an assistant director at the Securities and Exchange Commission and DePaul alumnus. “Our SEC team enjoyed the opportunity to meet and speak with such a diverse, enthusiastic, and talented group of students. In particular, I appreciated talking to freshmen and sophomores who were getting a head start on career exploration and networking.”
Accounting is a particularly promising field for new college graduates; 91% of firms surveyed by the AICPA in a 2023 report said they expected to hire the same or more new graduates into accounting roles in the coming year. This growing demand makes the accounting profession a powerful force for social mobility, said Hui Lin, director of DePaul’s School of Accountancy and Management Information Systems (SOAMIS).
“Accounting offers a clear path forward in terms of training and certification,” she added. “It offers students flexibility in where they live and work. So I’m especially proud of the work we’re doing at DePaul to make these opportunities accessible to first-generation college students and transfer students.”
For SOAMIS Senior Program Administrator Brian Maj, the best part of organizing the fair is seeing that path unfold in front of students.
“You get to see students make the connection in real time between what they’re doing in the classroom and what their lives can looks like five, even ten years down the line,” he said. “That is the special part of our work as educators.”