This summer GreenStone is pleased to welcome the 29 bright interns who have joined our various departments. All summer, interns will have the opportunity to work alongside industry professionals and gain valuable experience through farm visits, group projects, and real-world work to help prepare them for their future career.
In our accounting department, Alicia Shatrau is the accounting and finance intern. Alicia graduated from Michigan Technological University with a bachelor's degree in finance and is currently attending an accelerated master's program to obtain her master's in accounting. Some interns have the opportunity to extend their internship throughout the year or return the following summer to gain a new experience. Alicia is one of those, having previously interned in GreenStone’s credit department last summer. Alicia has now gained experience in both credit and finance.
Transitioning from fully remote last summer to fully in person this year, Alicia has welcomed the change of work environment. “I now have more opportunity to be able to talk with people, understand the tasks that I'm doing, and be face to face rather than always emailing or chatting through Teams,” Alicia said.
Alicia has been able to take charge of tasks that general ledger accountants usually handle for internal control purposes, like verifying wire transfers and reviewing accounts payable invoices. She has also been working with branches on balancing issues. In addition, she has already made a huge impact on the department through her work with W-9’s.
“She organized all of the W-9's into one location and created a standard naming procedure for the electronic files. She has also created a process within our accounts payable software to indicate we have a W-9, which allows us to provide external reporting outside our department,” explained Mark Koester, VP of finance and accounting.
Each one of these daily roles builds and prepares Alicia for any career that she may pursue in Finance or Accounting.
Her favorite part of the internship is the two accounts she does for daily balancing. “I think it's just a satisfying part of the job when everything equals zero, then I know everything's right; but if it doesn't equal zero, then there's something wrong. Whether I made a mistake, or the system made a mistake, I can figure out where it went wrong,” Alicia explained.
Every day is a learning experience, but the biggest thing Alicia has learned is how important the verification process is. Each task has three or four steps of verification to make sure all the information is accurate. These experiences are better than reading textbooks in college. Through experiences like day-to-day business activities and having a mentor through different real-world scenarios, Alicia feels more prepared for her future.
“I think it's been super beneficial just to understand day to day activities. I would really suggest this internship, especially being able to learn the corporate world and everything that corporate accounting involves,” Alicia said.
Not only do our interns benefit from the experience, but interns are a crucial part of each department. “The interns create fresh energy, and I have been very impressed with their intelligence along with their eagerness to learn during their time here at GreenStone,” Mark said.
If you or someone you know are interested in jumpstarting their career by interning with GreenStone visit greenstonefcs.com/careers. Recruitment for the summer of 2023 begins this fall!
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