Internship Spotlight: Katarina Ruiz, Moss Adams

Katarina Ruiz is an Accounting major graduating in the spring of 2022.  This summer she interned with Moss Adams as an Assurance Intern in San Francisco, California.

What was the process for getting this internship, job, or summer experience?

I attended Meet the Firms during the spring semester of 2020 and networked with a Moss Adams partner. He took my resume and asked me to apply online and if my application went through, I would be scheduled for an interview. I went through two rounds of interviews and got the internship.

What was a typical day like?

A typical day usually started with partner kickoffs on zoom and some intern networking calls since my internship was virtual this summer. During the weeks where I was assigned client work I would perform testing on different clients I was assigned to. I mainly worked on single audits and tested their accounts payable, cash management, grants payable, etc.

What was your favorite part of the experience?

My favorite part was getting to do an in-person office tour in San Francisco and getting to meet other interns who were in my cohort. It was a great experience and we got to bond with each other while working in the office for a day.

If you worked on a big project, please describe it below:

During the internship we were tasked with an innovation project and we were given different topics to choose from. My group chose to pitch Moss Adams to a new client as if we wanted to get their business. We made a 5 minute video based on the show Shark Tank and my group actually won first place for our video out of all the interns!

What did you find most challenging?

It was difficult to perform some of the audit tasks as an intern because I did not know anything. It was nerve wracking getting thrown into the deep end and not wanting to mess up on a real client's audit, but everyone on my engagement team was understanding and always available to answer questions.

What did you learn?

I learned that it is always better to have a curious mindset and it’s not about how much you know, but how much you are willing to learn and how eager you are. This helped me throughout my internship and really showed that I cared about gaining the most from this experience.