Bachelor of Business Administration - Accounting

Erin Reimer

knows her stuff.

Name of your program and graduating class:

• Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) - Accounting, Spring 2010
• Business Management Diploma, 2004

Plans after graduating:

Articling with Deloitte & Touche starting September, 2010 with the goal of getting my CA (Chartered Accountant) designation.

Career goals:

I hope to branch out into the business advisory field of accounting once I have some experience. But  there are so many options once I have my designation that I don't want to set any plans in stone.

My role model is:

My main role model throughout my education has been Charmaine Schmidt. She is the controller of my Dad's companies and has been such an inspiration to me. She has encouraged me and pushed me to do the best I can do. I think she is one of the most intelligent, driven people I know and to be even half as talented as her would be fantastic!

A logical choice

I had completed a Business Management Diploma in 2004 (the year before the degree program started) and really enjoyed my experience. The calibre of education at douglas is high - we have instructors who have worked in the field and genuinely care about their students.

Good word of mouth

Douglas has a great reputation in the business community. While researching a number of projects throughout the diploma program, I met with several managers to interview them and ask questions. Most of them had heard of Douglas and spoke highly of the faculty members and the program.

Getting hands-on

In today's market, it is not easy to get a job. There are a lot of talented people out there competing for jobs and not many jobs available. Most employers want someone with experience - Douglas gives their students the opportunity to gain this experience prior to beginning their career. My work experience was a pivotal reason I was able to land an articling position at Deloitte for next year.

Bringing my future employer up to speed

Because our program is relatively new, many people are not even aware that Douglas offers a BBA program. The most important thing I stressed was the applied portion of the degree. The exit requirement for the degree is 500 hours of work experience that meets certain criteria - and that proves Douglas College grads know their stuff.

Power in smaller numbers

The small class sizes are advantageous to students – you get so much more out of class than if you were attending lectures with 200 other students. Those instructors would never know your name or be able to provide a glowing reference for you when you apply for the first job of your career!

Competitive courses

A number of our classes rival those of other institutions, namely Advanced Managerial Accounting, Tax I and II, and Business Strategy. These are high-level classes that take everything we have learned for the past four years and apply that knowledge to real-life situations. I have a number of friends who have attended other institutions throughout the Lower Mainland and it seems the curriculums of these upper-level courses at Douglas are much more advanced and beneficial to students.

Best instructors, part 1

Glen Stanger has taught a number of my classes throughout my experience at Douglas and in each class I learned so much and had fun doing it. He was very helpful throughout the application process for my articling position. Seeing his excitement when I received my offers made me realize how proud he is of all our grads – he is personally invested in this program and that’s what makes our program at Douglas great!

Best instructors, part 2

Another favorite instructor is Bill Archibald. I took his Business Strategy class last year and had a great time – I learned a lot and was very inspired by the course. He is the reason I’m very interested in business advisory. Bill is very approachable and encourages all his students to work hard and always do their best. Like Glen, he has a wonderful sense of humor and can laugh at a joke as well as at himself!

Links:

Information sessions
Bachelor of Business Administration
Deloitte & Touche
More feature stories

 

Published December 3, 2009