Chris Fernandez '18

Tax intern at EY

“As a tax intern, I was responsible for working with audit teams to determine whether tax accounts were appropriate for financial statements, handling a wide variety of tax compliance processes, and working on intracompany transfers of tangible and intangible property. I also worked on state and local tax forms for various EY clients in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have learned a wide variety about public accounting and the specifics about corporate tax. 

I applied for the internship position at EY because I wanted to see how the skills learned in school could be applied to the on-job work of an accountant. Along with this, I wanted to make sure that I did an internship with a global company, which would allow me more opportunities in the future. I found out about the internship through the on-campus recruiting here at the University of Portland. All of the ‘Big 4’ accounting firms do recruiting at the campus, where they hold interviews and office site visits. 

Internships are extremely important for undergraduate students because they give students the ability to see what they would or would not like to be doing in the years after graduation. I have participated in two internships, and I am so glad I did because I learned more about what I don’t want to be doing after graduation. Internships also students the opportunity to apply what they have learned in the classroom to ‘real world’ settings.”