I’ve been very happy with my experience here…
I spoke with over 17 firms while looking for a full time position and from my very first impressions, I thought SSF had a group of incredibly smart, polite and fun professionals. I was very clear when interviewing that I wanted to join a firm that was committed to developing its people not just as solid accountants and auditors, but us as business professionals. I want to be a well-rounded, fluid professional, and I’ve found that SSF provides the structure for that development.

The focus on education and leadership at SSF really stands out for me…
I get up everyday and feel good about what I’m trying to do – I feel morally grounded. With our focus on education added to the hands-on experience we receive, I feel confident about our quality of work and my own professional growth. I also like that at only a year in to my career, I’ve already been asked to help with new hire training, which is helping me develop my presentation skills – not always a strength of accounting professionals!

What makes me want to come to work everyday…
is that that I work on a fun team – everyone is polite, supportive and eager to help me learn and grow. The people in supervisory and management positions have already proven that they can perform the tasks at hand and they consciously resist the temptation to do it all themselves, and step aside and take the time to mentor me so that I can get there, too. My seniors do a great job of providing me with new and challenging tasks; I’m always learning and growing professionally.

My best experience thus far…
was prompted by what could easily have been a negative situation: A Sr. Manager and I had been working for weeks to prepare a highly anticipated new pronouncements training. On the morning of the training, the Senior Manager had to step out for a personal matter. As our entire department was gathering for the day-long session, it was unclear how the training was going to proceed. Thinking on their feet, our A&A partners mobilized a new training team, phoned me out at a client site and pulled me in to an impromptu session to go over how the materials were presented, terminology used, etc., and, as they say, “the show went on”. I ended up spending the day at the side of the new trainer, contributing details and examples I had picked up in my research. It was a little scary and unexpected, but a hugely positive experience. It boosted my confidence in my ability to contribute to the team and I was impressed with how our firm mobilized and handled an uncertain situation on the fly. We turned a potential huge waste of time in to a productive, meaningful day for everyone.

This firm is like my second family…
I joined SSF as an international transfer – my then-firm in Sydney, Australia and SSF are members of the same international affiliation, KS International. I had the opportunity to come to SSF on an 18-month transfer, and never left.

My situation is unique…
when I came here, I had no one – no family, no friends in this area. So when I started working, I needed more than co-workers, I almost needed to build that second family, and I’ve been so fortunate, I’ve had mentors here that have been supportive of both my personal and professional situations and who have always been there for me.

What makes me want to come to work everyday…
is the people – we have such a fun, smart team here. Above and beyond everything else, to me, is the teamwork. What I experienced as my career developed was that opportunities to learn from more senior team members always exist, and doors are always open – I know everyone says that, but our culture really lives it. We’re co-workers and good friends, and we can work through anything together.

This continues to be a great place for me…
because our firm strategy has provided the structure to allow me to continue to develop my skills as a world-class professional. Our niche strategy has really helped support job satisfaction as we really get to find and pursue our professional passions. At the same time, I feel like we’re all learning together – there’s always an abundance of new tax law to absorb and apply, and there’s a lot of pride in knowing that many of the issues I’m working on are adopted and utilized for the benefit of our clients. What was supposed to be an 18-month trip to the US is now at 10 years and counting!

Even in the interview process, I could tell that SSF was different…
First of all, the process seemed more tailored – there wasn’t a group interview like I experienced elsewhere, and I felt like they really wanted to get to know me, not just where I went to school and what clubs I had been in. Secondly, the people were very warm and genuine – I felt like I knew what I was getting in to and could rely on what I learned, saw and felt during the interview process.

I’ve really enjoyed working at SSF…
I’m a mom, and my family is important to me. Public accounting is a demanding profession, and it’s not always easy to make that whole “work life balance” thing balance! But the firm allows us to be pretty creative about ways to make it work while delivering excellent service to our clients and not negatively impacting our teammates – we want to make sure it works for everyone. I really like that newer Associates can see that we are able to make it work, and I think this lets people know that even if you have big commitments outside of work, whether a family or something else, SSF is a place that you can develop that career while juggling everything else as well.

We’re focused on my career development and goals…
and we always lay out next steps – what skills or tasks should I be working on to develop the technical and professional skills necessary to move to the next level. My performance manager – or really, she’s my mentor – has helped me work through a lot of both my balance and schedule concerns and with my career pathing and planning. I feel like she’s just as invested in my success as I am.

I think SSF brings a really unique culture to the public accounting mix…
We’re a firm that really believes in getting to know everyone — not just how good of an auditor or tax professional or consultant they are, but what they’re about, what makes them tick, we often get to know each other’s families, and we’re really a part of each other’s lives. Maybe that’s not what everyone is looking for, but I really like that our relationships with each other are a blend of personal and professional. I think it allows us to work as a better team — we know where and when to support each other, and where and when we can let go of the strings.

I also like that SSF is so committed to education…
We recognize how important it is to surround ourselves with smart people and to continue to keep both the spirit and the activity of learning and utilizing knowledge alive. That knowledge also allows each one of us to make an educated choice about the area of specialization that we want to pursue — I’ve really enjoyed and appreciated that I had the ability to choose my own career path at SSF, and without the broader exposure and training that I was provided earlier in my career, my decision — making may not have been quite so clear.”

SSF is an incredibly dynamic place, and I have no doubt that our leadership is going to continue to push us to build our knowledge base and improve our methodology while developing even more innovative ways to deliver value to our clients.