With the fourth week of classes bearing down upon the students of Case Western Reserve University, many have their noses stuck in their books and eyes glued to PowerPoints in an attempt to soak up all the information they can before exams. This was not the case for many business majors on Monday, Sept. 18 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the annual Meet The Accountants Breakfast (MTAB).

The goal of this nearly three hour event was not only to score free breakfast, but also to network and connect with potential employers in hopes of gaining an internship or full-time job offer.

MTAB was co-sponsored by the Weatherhead School of Management Department of Accountancy, CWRU Career Center, and the professional accounting fraternity Beta Alpha Psi. Event planning begins in the spring, and continues up until the day of the event. This includes contacting firms and overseeing the event the day of.

In order to attend MTAB, it was required that students attend a mandatory preparation session before being granted the all-access-pass. During these sessions, certain firms who attended the event came out to provide students with advice for how to stand out from the crowd.

Likewise, students are also required to have their resume reviewed by the Career Center before attending. The hope behind all of these qualifications is that students will have a higher chance of at least getting an interview. Many employers planned to have on-campus interviews for their job offerings the following week, so making an impression was crucial in the fight to be selected for a one-on-one with a recruiter.

As the event was filled with employers in the business industry, the main goal of MTAB is helping students in business gain internships and full-time positions. The event is centered around underclassmen (first and second year students) because public accounting firms have been filling their talent pipelines and offering internships for younger and younger students. MTAB helped these students get in front of the recruiter and network to get their foot in the door for the highly competitive positions.

“After completing an early internship, young students often receive job offers for when they graduate, several years down the road.” explains Dr. Karen Braun, an accounting professor and adviser to Beta Alpha Psi at CWRU. “Early job offers not only give students peace of mind, but also help motivate their classroom learning, knowing that they will be acquiring knowledge that will make them valuable to their companies and clients.”

While three hours is a short amount of time to try and make an impression, over 20 employers attended, looking to fill positions for all seasons. That means a lot of hand shaking, smiling, and talking for every student attending in order to stand out.

“I was exhilarated,” stated Oliver Richman, a second-year student majoring in both accounting and business management. “Talking to employers gave me a hint of all the opportunities out there.”

Previously the event was intended only for accounting majors and those seeking jobs in the industry, but this year provided a change. Several new firms attended MTAB as well as representatives from two new professional associations, according to Dr. Bruan.

Hunter Lantzman, a second-year student majoring in finance and accounting, would have been an unconventional student for the  career fair in previous years, because he is looking for a job in financial services. Lantzman attended because there were a lot of firms that were looking for diverse groups of people, including those in finance.

While the event  provided ample opportunity for all business students, it was still mainly focused on those pursuing accounting. The longest lines were found at Deloitte, EY, and PwC, three of the acclaimed Big Four in the accounting industry.