Accounting Students Shine at Speed Networking

A larger than expected group of Fanshawe College accounting students did some speed networking on November 27, 2008, with accountants, industry people and government representatives.

"It was really good, busy," said Shauna Roch, an instructor at the Lawrence Kinlin School of Business who organized the event along with students in the newly formed Fanshawe Accounting Association. "We didn't anticipate the turnout we were going to get, so our format for the evening was what we call speed networking, like speed dating." There were 12 tables set up for professionals who attended and the 120 students were divided into 12 groups of 10 students each. The student groups were structured partly to make it easier for students to get to know each other.

"Because we had such a turnout," Roch said, "it ended up only being about five minutes at each table which, in hindsight, was not enough time." With the time they had, she said, students asked great questions and conducted themselves very professionally.

"They were all dressed really well. We sent out this little networking etiquette book ahead of time and they followed it," Roch said. "I sat in at a couple of tables and was really amazed at the questions they came up with. The industry was really impressed by our students and they thought it was a really great event and they would definitely come back."

Roch said the Fanshawe Accounting Association is expected to mature over the winter and summer. "We're going to use this winter semester to really promote it," she said, possibly by holding a couple of lunch-and-learn events. "Over the summer, I'm going to look for more sponsorships and then in September we are going to become an official club with a student executive. I'll just be the faculty advisor," Roch said. She estimates there are about 400 students studying accounting at Fanshawe and expects to draw association members from that group.

The industry people included auditors from the Canada Revenue Agency, accountants both from industry and those with their own businesses and representatives from a recruitment company. The Certified General Accountants of Ontario paid for the event held at the James A. Colvin Atrium at Fanshawe's London campus.