Reiter shared: “BEACON created the foundation for my professional career. It taught me business etiquette and attire, how to work in an office and client communication.” Reiter worked in teams under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Guy, associate director, and Dr. Memo Diriker, director. Reiter said: “Although I was a student, I was not treated as one. I was treated as an employee and given responsibilities administratively in the office as well as client work that I was held accountable for. It was a great learning environment with the support of Sarah and Memo who said ‘It’s okay to make a mistake, but don’t make the same mistake twice.’”
Reiter’s work at BEACON was project-based and focused on helping businesses in the community make decisions and solve problems. The majority of her work involved collecting and analyzing large data sets to present in a user-friendly way to help the client make decisions. Reiter has taken those skills and applied it to her current job where she acts as a first choice advisor for her audit clients. Reiter elaborated: “BEACON gave me first-hand experience in juggling multiple clients and working with them to build relationships and understand their business. At RSM, I strive to understand my clients’ businesses so I can not only identify problems, but offer them solutions.”
The last and most important aspect Reiter learned from her time at BEACON was the importance of finding a company with strong values and ethics. Reiter said, “I always felt like my voice was heard and it gave me the confidence to speak up and share my thoughts.” One saying at BEACON was self/family first, then school, then BEACON. Reiter shared: “One of the things that drew me to RSM was the similar values and strong ethics I came to expect from my time at BEACON. RSM’s values are respect, integrity, teamwork, excellence and stewardship. They also focus on ‘The 5 Cs,’ which are caring, curious, collaborative, courageous and critical thinker. RSM sees beyond the employee to the individual which is similar to how I felt at BEACON.”
Looking back on her time at BEACON, Reiter remarked: “I am so grateful for Sarah, Memo and all the BEACONites I worked with. I am still in touch with many of them and continually reach out to them for business advice and life advice. Once a BEACONite, always a BEACONite!” |