JAMIE
ELBERT amie Elbert ’13 didn’t need to adjust to the workforce after graduating from Simpson. She had been a part of it for two years. Elbert is a tax associate/accountant at KPMG in Des Moines. She hopes to become a Certified Public Accountant this summer. Landing the job, she believes, was a direct result of two internships she obtained as a Simpson student. She worked four months for Shull & Co. in Indianola, then worked full-time for 14 months at Aviva Investors.
IT’s SO EASY TO NETWORK AT SIMPSON. WE HAVE A REALLY GOOD REPUTATION IN THE DES MOINES AREA.”
“It wasn’t the kind of internship where you get coffee and make copies,” she says. “I was really doing beneficial work. They counted on me.” Elbert grew up in Indianola and was attracted to Simpson because of the success of the women’s basketball team. The first internship came after a basketball practice when she struck up a conversation with Doug Shull, a supporter of the program. “It’s so easy to network at Simpson,” Elbert says. “We have a really good reputation in the Des Moines area. I didn’t realize how good the College’s reputation is until I got out into the business world.” Elbert says her professors worked with her to make sure she could hold the full-time Aviva internship and still get her classwork done. She quickly noticed a connection between her schoolwork and her professional work. “Everything is reviewed by a manager and the partner at the firm. You’re going to be held accountable. You’re also held accountable for your work at Simpson. Professors know who you are. You can’t slide through the cracks. You have to get it done well, not just get it done.” And how’s the job going? “Ask me after April 15,” Elbert says, laughing. “I’ll love it then.”
THE M AG AZIN E | SPR I N G 2 0 1 4
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