Kayla Nguyen
Interview 11/13- Judy Jandera
What is your job title? Where do you
work? (If appropriate)
Can you give me a description of
your job duties?
What prompted you to choose your
field of study?
What coursework or preparation do
you feel was the most helpful in
preparing for your job?
● What was your major?
● What classes did you take that
benefited you in accounting?
How was your CPA exam
experience?
● How many hours did you
have to study?
● How did you prepare?
● What different exams did you
take? What type of exams are
there?
What was the start of your accounting
career like?
● Were you anxious about
anything?
● What did you do on the first
day of the job?
How similar or diverse are your
workdays?
What is the atmosphere of your work
Director of Accounting Advisory at KPMG
Go into companies and help them with accounting
related, adopting new standards, reporting, bankruptcy
procedures, integration accounting, financial help for
selling, etc
Project based
Mom was in accounting, go into the courses and got
into the consulting side of it and less of the reporting
side of it
Accounting, CPA license requires 150+ hours
Accounting, auditing, tax, financial accounting, cost
accounting
Gave up life for 6 months studying for it and took
CPA books while at NASCAR race
CPA books
Took all four parts at once
Started in audit and made sure nothing was misstated,
long hours, exposure is so much greater
Everyone starts from the bottom up, don’t expect
people to know everything, someone will know
something you don’t, wants the willingness to research
and learn and find answers to support conclusion
A lot of making coffee and getting lunches, sometimes
it seems like a small task but you are taking off the
workload that people cannot fulfill alone
Varies depending on the deadline, team, and project
Depends on the team, location, and engagement
environment like?
How do you balance work and family
life?
● Do you have a comfortable
amount of leisure time?
● How do you handle stress?
What do you see as the most
rewarding parts of your job? most
challenging?
What skills do you feel are
particularly important in doing your
job?
How did you get into corporate
and/or private practice?
Over the years, in what ways have
you seen accounting change? Or what everything is done differently
changes have you noticed that affect
the way things are done?
With the financial sector growing and Never worked private, does not know profitability
the need for accountants increasing,
is it more profitable to work in
corporate or a private firm?
Is your company specialized in
anything/ does it have a primary
focus (taxation, forensic, auditing)?
● What do clients typically
(travel, office, home)
Tries best to get to daughters activities and sits with
computers, so mobile and can work anywhere, online
or offline
Depends on project
Drive, find things that make you not stressed out and
relax
Most rewarding part is the challenge, get something
different with each project, the approach is always
different because there is a different project every time
Same approach/outcome, but the task is handled
differently because you have to tailor to client based
off what you learn
Data analysis and analytical skills
Started at KPMG and stayed with it; internships help
with the bigger companies and stay involved with
recruiting/career office so you can get involved with
big companies; research who you want to work for and
what you want to do
Lots of people go private to have power and control,
not so much for the money; takes a lot of time because
of the need for a client base
New standards every time and they change the way
Diverse in offerings
Audit, Tax, Advisory-anything that business needs
 come to you for?
What programs do you use to
perform your tasks?
What advice do you have for
someone just getting started in this
field?
Have you worked in other related
areas to accounting? If so, can you
share some experiences?
Microsoft Office programs and internal developed
software to provide for clients
You really have to enjoy accounting in order to be in
accounting because the work hours and workload can
drive a lot of people away; can think about accounting
day in and day out and think about other companies
accounting habits
Have the passion for high pay, high hours, and high
stress
Enron scandal changed our field, anything related to
Enron is a good read