Learning & Development

Moss Adams has not been immune to the years-long nationwide decline in students and new talent seeking employment in accounting.

“One of the issues is the stigma about the industry,” said Rose Martinez, campus recruiting senior manager. “Students believe it’s boring, but that’s far from the truth. Our people are advisors who work with and help their clients in so many different projects. Helping students understand that early on is a great opportunity to attract more candidates.”

Rose and her colleagues imagined a program to help junior college students in the Northern California region understand that accounting may be a career option once they graduate or a potential major when they transfer to a four-year university.

Initially, the first year of the program’s three-year strategy would be measured by the growth of the firm’s relationships with junior colleges in the Bay Area. Within eight months, the program had already exceeded expectations.

Making It Count

Rose collaborated with her colleagues over several years to build the foundation of the junior college program, for which she would remain in a strategic management role. Given her background, Rose’s work was personal.

“I spent two years at a junior college,” Rose shared. “I couldn’t go straight to a four-year university while working full-time. Students like me may not be on the traditional path. Our circumstances are a little different.”

Once the budget was approved, Ava Parashis was hired to execute the program’s needs, which meant hitting the ground running and developing organic relationships with junior colleges, each of which was identified by university partners in the region. The selections were based on junior colleges with a pipeline of students who transfer into one or more of the firm’s core universities in the Northern California region.

Ava was eager to start, and her previous recruiting role made her an excellent fit to drive the program.

“Working at the career center at my university helped me find my love for recruiting,” she said. “That’s why I get so excited about connecting students to their future. I love hosting events where students have a lightbulb moment that changes their perspective or career journey.”

Vision Becomes Reality

Once her tenure as a campus recruiter began in January 2023, Ava reached out to career centers, business and accounting faculty, and student organizations to build relationships and coordinate campus events. Though growing the program came with challenges, such as unresponsive contacts, Ava pivoted quickly to maintain momentum, eventually securing relationships at 14 junior colleges in the Bay Area.

In the beginning, most students Ava met knew nothing about the accounting industry, let alone Moss Adams. She invited tax and assurance team members at all levels to speak with students at career fairs, business club presentations, or classroom visits facilitated by faculty. Ava also coordinated and hosted office visits, bringing students to network with Moss Adams professionals.

“I hoped to make the experiences more engaging,” Ava said. “Many of the students were business majors with no clue what pathway they wanted to take, so we want to give them the right information from people who can talk about what a day in the life looks like in their role.”

It took only a few months before Ava saw the impact of her efforts. Halfway through the year, a student from one of the junior colleges earned a 2023 Ignite Scholarship from the firm. By the end of the year, more than 40 intern applications were submitted from junior college students in the region—eight were hired, including a few Ava met at campus events. They began internships in June 2024.

Greater Opportunities Ahead

As of June 2024, nearly a year and a half after the program’s launch, Ava and the team have supported 65 events and hosted approximately 600 students during office visits. Word of mouth about the program’s success has generated excitement at Moss Adams and beyond, leading to the organic growth of the firm’s reputation and two more junior college students recently awarded 2024 Ignite Scholarships.

“So many students are bringing their friends to meet us because they enjoyed our office visits,” Ava said. “I’ve met more accounting majors than before, and they’ve done their research to chat with us instead of asking who we are. It’s so exciting, and now other junior colleges are asking us to host a campus event.”

The results have inspired an expansion. Though the plan is still in development, Rose and Ava hope the rollout might achieve similar outcomes for the firm’s other regions.

“Junior colleges have a high percentage of diverse students who miss opportunities on campus because they’re commuting,” Rose said. “Those students may not be in the campus clubs or attend the career fairs, but that could be because they have to go to work or get home. When organizations focus only on traditional students or four-year universities, we miss an enthusiastic group of talent.”

Rose is also looking forward to other initiatives to expand and diversify the pipeline of talent entering the accounting profession. She believes addressing the student pipeline crisis will require collaboration with other firms, organizations, and stakeholders across the industry to reach students as early as possible, which will eventually reach out to high school students.

“My fourteen-year-old son thought accounting was boring,” she said, “but now that he’s seen what my colleagues do, he’s realized it’s not at all what he thought. It’s so important to keep educating young students, and there’s so much opportunity out there. We’ve barely scratched the surface.”

Empowering the Next Generation

Moss Adams is committed to cultivating the next generation of talent in our industry. We’re working hard to invest in our future by strengthening our talent pipeline, including finding people with diverse backgrounds and experiences that reflect our communities and the clients we serve.

Learn more about opportunities at Moss Adams on our careers page.

Go Beyond the Desk

At Moss Adams, we believe in the power of possible to empower our clients and people to pursue success however they define it. Explore stories about our professionals, including their personal achievements, at our Beyond the Desk page.