Halpin Partners is pleased to welcome four Graduate Accountants to the team following our first summer internship.
Mantej Dhother, Danielle Bradley, Sugandh Goindani and Ashveen Brar are the newest members of the Halpin Partners team, hailing from JCU, CQU, UQ and USQ, respectively.
Graduate Coordinator Hugh Sanson says the family-style business offers a very different experience for graduates compared to large capital city firms.
“Major corporations have thousands of accountants nationally and take on hundreds of graduates each year,” he says.
“They probably still get really great training, but for the most part, they just get put at some desk and are told, ‘Add up A and B and get to C,’ and it seems like that’s all they are ever going to be doing.
“We want to show the graduates the exciting work that they’re going to be doing and try to get them involved in doing it as much as possible.”
Managing Director Darren Halpin says fostering talent early is equally important for businesses and graduates alike.
“We believe that supporting graduates is critical to the success of our profession and we appreciate the challenges of trying to gain on-the-job work experience,” says Darren.
“There are so many talented graduates in FNQ and if we can keep them in the local community then it benefits everyone.
“This next generation is instrumental to the future of Cairns, so it’s important to provide these opportunities and give them a good reason to stay in FNQ.”
Danielle Bradley spent the past two and a half years working for another local accounting firm, but says she was drawn to Halpin Partners by the opportunity to receive ongoing training.
“I think education is so important and I wanted to continue to learn, but I also wanted to be somewhere where they have the family and work life balance, because that was really important to me too,” Danielle says.
“This opportunity has been so great, because even though I’ve got a lot of experience in one aspect of accounting, this is very different.
“I’ve had the opportunity to continue to learn and grow.”
Sugandh Goindani had been applying for jobs for two years before the internship, but was constantly met with requirements for experience, even for graduate positions.
She says it was a refreshing change to find a company who focused on her willingness to learn rather than on her lack of experience.
“It did boost my confidence a lot, and it makes you realise that you are capable of something when every rejection makes you feel like you’re extremely incapable,” she says.
The four graduates will now complete a two-year Graduate Training Program before the company looks at launching their next summer internship.
