A signatory to the program, the chartered accountancy firm in North Parramatta has so far taken on two interns from UWS – and been so impressed by their diligence, creativity and work ethic that they ultimately hired them both.
“We found it a really good experience, very easy to go through the process and some very high quality candidates were offered to us,” said Pears partner Anthony Ciarroni.
“On both occasions we’ve offered cadetships to the applicants because they were very good in their internship roles.”
A three-partner chartered accountancy firm employing 12 staff members, Pears works primarily with small and medium enterprises with a focus on clients’ individual needs and high quality service.
Ciarroni, who is in charge of Human Resources at the firm, said the UWS candidates matched Pears’ wishes perfectly.
“The beauty of the UWS Internship Program is that we gave very specific criteria (to the university) saying, ‘this is what we want’, and we were pretty much saying, ‘good grades, really bright students, good communication skills’ … so they put it on their career hub and then narrowed down the numbers for us,” said Ciarroni.
“We then interviewed those candidates and selected someone from that process.”
Under the internship program UWS charges the industry partner and pays the student. Ciarroni said this is ideal for all parties involved.
“It’s risk free, you can try it out – there’s no obligation on either part,” said Ciarroni.
“They get a feel, hands-on, for what they would be doing, and from our point of view we get a really good idea of whether the candidate is suitable to the role.”
Over the course of the internship – which can span from four to 12 weeks –interns at Pears are given a full crash course in the world of chartered accounting.
In the first fortnight they are acquainted with the company’s software systems and procedures, before moving on to complete individual tax return files, conduct tax research and prepare accounts and record business transactions.
Ciarroni says his two UWS interns have been different, but equally impressive. Pears’ first intern, Jacob Muller, is business-oriented, creative and innovative, whereas Pears’ second intern, Deepal Kumar, is driven and intelligent.
Ultimately Ciarroni says that Pears’ experience with the UWS Intern Program has been entirely positive, and he would have no qualms about using the program again in the future.
“I’d recommend it to any future employers,” he said. “You’ll be very surprised as to the quality of the candidates that come along.”
