RSM Richter Chamberland Summer Interns

James Papanastasiou: Jumping into my first Audit

After two weeks of training to familiarize ourselves with RSM Richter Chamberland’s standards, I was one of the lucky summer students who was immediately assigned to an audit mandate. I won’t lie, I was very nervous! During the whole weekend preceding the audit, I was visualizing all the worst-case scenarios hoping none were going to materialize. Luckily, none did! In fact, it was the complete opposite. Just like during our 2 week training, the RSM Richter Chamberland professionals were very helpful and patient with me. They made me feel part of the team and answered all my questions promptly and professionally. I loved my experience and I am looking forward to many more!

Abdullah Husen: Butterflies for my first audit mandate!

So after two weeks of intense training and team building activities, this week I finally got to do my first audit mandate. Despite all the training and preparation, the first day was very intimidating and I couldn’t make heads or tails from the numbers in the client’s records. However, I was lucky to be assigned with very patient and supportive seniors who answered all my questions without making me feel stupid. By the second day on the job, it was smooth sailing. Today, I still need to ask a lot of questions but at least I don’t feel lost, thanks to the mentorship of my colleagues.

Ali Kobeissi : Week 1 summarized in 1 paragraph

It`s hard to summarize everything we learnt in our first week, but here goes. The excursion in the North was really special. The outing helped us get closer and make new friends, because most activities were done in teams. When I compare the week right before the excursion with the following week, I can feel the chemistry that developed between us, as well as the positive energy among the group. It was an unforgettable experience because we learned to identify our strengths and weaknesses. Also, let’s not forget to mention that it was really fun!

James Boucher-Hill: Developing chemistry

The two-day trip in the Laurentians was really appreciated. It was filled with sports and role-playing exercises to help us get to know each other as colleagues, build our confidence and promote a sense of belonging to the group in order to form a solid team. Thanks to the numerous activities organized by the Camp, we effectively connected because we learned to work as a team to solve different situations and practice many sports. We also had the chance to watch the Montreal Canadians playing against the Pittsburgh Penguins, which was a lot of fun. On the last day of Camp, we had lunch with some RSM Richter Chamberland employees, including some partners, and competed in a relay race with them. This allowed us to get to know the firm’s managers and work as a team with them, which we enjoyed and appreciated.

 

The trip was really a great way to get to know each other and develop a group chemistry, which will certainly help us work more effectively in the future.

Rebecca Narrea-Normand: a warm welcome

When I came in on the first day, I was really nervous and I didn’t know what to expect. The employees of RSM Richter Chamberland gave us a really warm welcome and did everything to reassure us right away. My first two weeks were mostly spent in trainings which provided us with the fundamentals of the work and a preview of what we will be doing during our summer. We felt that we each had a place in this firm and that we would get a lot of support, which is reassuring. Also, I have to mention our two-day trip in the Laurentians. That experience helped break the ice between the summer interns and helped us get to know each other while having fun. I’m really happy with this first experience and I’m sure that my summer internship in RSM Richter Chamberland will be very rewarding.

Jessica Nardelli: A telling bus ride

The Maromac retreat has to be one of the greatest work experiences I’ve ever had. Throughout the retreat we kept laughing and referred to every activity as another chance to “bond”, but that’s exactly what we were doing without even realizing it. I don’t think we could have gotten a better chance to get to know each other. We all learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses and created what is vital for every team to be successful: synergy.

 

The best way to sum up the entire experience was the bus ride. The ride to Maramac was a little quieter and most of us tended to stay with those we had gotten closer to in the office. However, our drive back to Montreal was completely different. We laughed and shared our experiences from the past 2 days as a group. I believe this retreat has brought us all closer together and has reinforced our individual unique skills enabling us to build a stronger team!

Alexandra Batelli: My dunk in the water at Maromac Camp

The Laurentides excursion was an amusing outing for all the summer interns, especially the swimming in freezing water part ;). Overall, we all got a chance to get to know each other and become friends, which made it all worthwhile. The food was tasty, the people were friendly, and the activities were interactive.

 

Anxious at first, I quickly became comfortable at the Maromac Camp.  My inner “outdoorsy” personality surfaced during those two days. Who knew I even had it in me? J

Salam Komaira: Week 1 of my internship

My first week at RSM Richter Chamberland was exciting and filled with information. It didn’t go as I expected; I thought it would be stressful and much more difficult, but with help from everyone at the firm, things went really smoothly.

The courses during the first week were well structured and taught; the trainers treated us as friends, not as anonymous students. We never felt that we were “rookies” and we were welcomed with open arms.

I am so proud to be one of the 19 interns for the summer 2010. The team-building trip was amazing; we learned lots of new skills, like to do more than our best, to trust and help each other out as a team. Before the team-building, we were all colleagues, but this helped us become close friends.

It is great to be a part of this experience and I am looking forward to my second week where I will surely learn many more skills. I’ll keep you posted!

Julia Godolphin: So our first week is done and we had a great time!

The first part of the week was spent learning about various programs and tools used here… It was overwhelming to see all the things we have to know but exciting to see everything we have to look forward to!   Still waiting to see what assignments we’re going to have for the next month… Independence and Ethics was fun as we learnt that we should NEVER EVER, NO MATTER WHAT, leave our laptops in our car and finally Information Systems (McGill course) came in handy as we realized that Excel would be important.  Overall, the courses were informative and entertaining, especially with the lively group of instructors we had.

 

For the second part of week we headed off to Maromac for some team building.  It came at the perfect time because we had a few days to get to know each other and get over the ‘embarrassing’ moments so we could just enjoy ourselves!  And that we did… We bonded as we did the “Adventure series” and watched the Habs game.  Thank goodness Vincent and Riccardo switched seats in the last period so the Habs could come back for a win! We built rafts, floating them in 5 degree weather, and did a relay race.  All in all, the trip was full of laughs and we really did form an excellent team!

 

Thanks to everyone who contributed to our fun first week!