Why is it that the sequel to a movie is always worse than the original? What is it the movie makers can’t seem to understand the second time around? Steven Spielberg may not know the answers, but the partners at Tate & Tryon do. This is my second year going through the internship program at Tate and Tryon and my experience was even better than last year. One event that stood out for me this year was being able to sit down with both Charlie Tate and Mike Tryon for lunch. The insight you get talking to the people who started the firm is extremely helpful. You get a sense here that people care about your future and not just the work you produce, and that’s the sense that I get from Charlie Tate and Mike Tryon especially.
Something else that changed up from last year is the amount of time spend at the office. Last year my time was spent getting used to the work that is done in the office, mostly related to epace, the audit filing software. That was extremely helpful, and this year got I got to take a taste of being at many different places such as the tech department of T & T known as T3 Information Systems. My degree at Virginia Tech is in accounting and information systems, so it was a great experience for me to see that part of the firm. T3 at the 1919 Penn. Building and was a nice change up. They work with Microsoft Dynamics GP and I pretty much became an expert at one of the program futures, Microsoft FRx. FRx is a software program that creates financial report catalogs. It was very gratifying to become proficient in software like that in a matter of weeks, and I enjoyed the time I spent out there. You could say I really got the T3 ball rolling at the end.
The great opportunities that I had on several engagements this year is something that I will keep forever. I will not only value the many technical skills I picked up on audits, but also the professional skills I learned from client interaction. The technical skills are what keep the standards board happy, but the professional skills are what keep a firm growing. I feel so much more confident in an audit setting now, and I would like to thank everyone and T & T for it.
Tim Tishman
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
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