Meet the Firms: Building Accounting Career Connections

What does it look like to start building an accounting career while still earning your graduate degree?

At the 14th annual Meet the Firms, UC Davis Master of Professional Accountancy students got a real answer. More than 24 firms—Big Four, regional players and boutique practices—showed up for a morning of conversations, connections and career exploration.

Fresh off the MPAc Career Builder Bootcamp, students put their elevator pitches to work, learning firsthand what it takes to break into audit, tax, assurance, accounting information systems, strategy, transactions and consulting.

Hear from students, recruiters and MPAc alumni about making connections, exploring career paths, and preparing to enter the profession.

Video Transcript

Kari Heidrick, MPAc Assistant Director

Hi! We are at our annual Meet the Firms event, where our Master of Professional Accountancy program gets to meet more than 24 firms and network. And firms get to see the quality students coming out of UC Davis.

Ava Qureshi MPAc 27

Attending these events is a great way to not only network with professionals and get great professional advice, but it’s also a great chance to get to know your cohort better. These are people that you’re going to be working with throughout the entire MPAc program.

Making those connections and understanding the people that you work with is really important to not only your success as a professional, but your success as a student as well.

Ian Hansberger MPAc 27

I think the firms get to meet some of the new talent that’s coming out. They have such a strong relationship with the MPAc program, so I think they know that the graduates coming from here are really ready to step into the field.

They’re getting that really great experience and getting that chance to meet people who are, what I hope is, the kind of core talent that’s going to be coming out of the California area.

Keva Anderson MPAc 24, Tax Associate at PwC Sacramento

Coming to Meet the Firms for students means getting the opportunity to connect one-on-one with other people who are in the profession they’re looking to go into. They also get to talk to people who were previously in their shoes.

I graduated from MPAc in 2024. So on the other side, this is an opportunity for me and for PwC to reach out to students and recruit talent, but also to speak to people who may not have otherwise had a chance to understand the morals of the firm and what they’re looking for.

Brenda Razo MPAc 25, Tax Associate at CLA Walnut Creek
Betzabet Noriega MPAc 23, Senior Tax Associate CLA Roseville

Our expectations are just meeting people, and we have these expectations of students to be open to learning new things, such as tax or audit. It doesn’t necessarily have to lean one way.

It’s important for students to attend events like this because you never know where you can find an opportunity. It’s important to come to events where there are multiple firms present. We always encourage students to participate in these events.

Harena Habte, Campus Recruiting Specialist at Deloitte

Ultimately, we’re looking for students who are really just ready to jump-start their professional careers. They come in with an idea of what they want to pursue, whether that’s audit or tax.

We’re looking for individuals who have that passion for accounting, but who are also well-rounded — people who come from different backgrounds, who have different interests and who are really looking to further themselves in their careers.

That’s ultimately what we’re looking for when it comes to opportunities.