Santa Clara University

Internship and Externship Programs

The SCU Accounting Association and the Accounting Department organize career fairs for students interested in accounting careers.

Internship Program

Internships are designed to give students real world experience while completing their coursework. Though accounting internships can occur any quarter, most accounting internships occur in the Winter quarter (for tax season) and during summer between the junior and senior year. On-Campus interviews for summer internships occur during February. Students who are interested in on-campus interviews for internships must submit their resume through InterviewTRAK. Both the Career Center and the SCU Accounting Association have workshops in either January or early February where students can have their resumes critiqued by professional interviewers and CPA professionals. In addition, the Accounting Department organizes a Winter Meet-The-Firms Night as an opportunity for students to network with prospective employers before the interviews take place.

Employers frequently post listings for internships on BroncoLink throughout the year. For example, winter internships for tax positions may be posted in November and December before the tax season. Students are encouraged to periodically browse BroncoLink for internship postings.

Internships provide students with a competitive advantage in landing a job after graduation. Employers often offer full-time positions to their interns after successfully completing an internship program. Students who accept these offers do not participate in the on-campus interview process as seniors.

Internship Statistics

Most SCU accounting majors obtain summer internships at the end of their junior year. These internships are full-time (40-hour per week) jobs that usually last about 8-10 weeks with students earning about $20-25 per hour (plus overtime). In these internships, students perform the same work as other entry-level accountants. The following table provides some statistics on the internship placement of SCU junior accounting majors. Most of these internships led to full-time jobs.

	CPA Firms
	Internships at Big Four CPA Firms	Internship at Other Accounting Firms	Internships in Industry
Summer 2008	59 (48.0%)	16 (13.0%)	13 (10.6%)
Summer 2007	74 (50.7%)	13 (8.2%)	7 (4.8%)
Summer 2006	51 (68.0%)	12 (16.0%)	3 (4.0%)
Summer 2005	56 (51.9%)	9 (8.3%)	12 (11.1%)
Summer 2004	39 (48.1%)	3 (3.7%)	7 (8.6%)

The statistics indicate that about half of our accounting majors have summer internships at Big Four accounting firms and that an increasing percentage of our students are obtaining summer internships at other accounting and CPA firms. This trend indicates that more accounting and CPA firms are implementing internship programs to attract job candidates.

Internship Credit

Students often obtain college credit for their internship experience. To obtain college credit, students must register for an internship course. Information on internship credit requirements can be obtained from Professor Wendy Donohoe in the Accounting Department.

Summer Externships Programs

An increasing number of companies organize summer externship programs for sophomore and (sometimes) junior accounting students. The design of these externship programs vary by employer. Some companies organize conferences that may last 1-3 days while other companies organize weekly meetings to discuss and work on group projects. The conferences often involve leadership and team-building events. While most programs bring students from different universities together at their regional office, some programs may involve all-expense paid trips to conferences at locations around the country. These programs provide companies with an opportunity to identify job candidates early in their university career.

The Career Center posts externship positions in the same place, BroncoLink, as they do internships. Students can learn about these programs through the SCU Accounting Association, which will discuss externship opportunities for accounting students in the winter quarter. The Chair of the Accounting Department also emails all sophomore business students about these summer opportunities.