Michael Lebron – Accounting

“I chose Eastern Connecticut State University, because its Accounting program has a good reputation.  In fact, Eastern has the highest turnout rate for people passing the CPA program” says senior Michael Lebron.  Lebron, a Business Management with Accounting major, wants to be an auditor for a major insurance company, or the Federal Government, after he receives his Masters Degree and CPA license.   

In hopes of applying for a summer job after the semester ended, Lebron went to the Office of Career Services, to get help updating his resume.  Lebron’s Career Counselor encouraged him to apply for an internship. 
“I really had no intention of applying for an internship, because I knew that I wanted to do something where I was going to be paid. Then my career counselor told me that I can apply for a paid internship or Co-op” says Lebron. “After some serious thought I decided to take my counselors advice.”

After spending several weeks searching for a paid internship/ co-op that didn’t conflict with school, and receiving no luck, Lebron was ready to give up.  “My counselor kept encouraging me to keep trying even though I was getting rejected” admits Lebron. “My counselor also insisted that I use my networking skills.”

Utilizing his networking skills certainly paid off.  Lebron has been offered a paid summer internship working with Scully and Wolf, the largest provider of municipal audit services in the State of Connecticut.

Lebron attributes his success in obtaining an internship to the Office of Career Services.   Michael says, “Without Career Services I wouldn’t have thought about getting an internship.  All students should take advantage of what Career Services have to offer, or in the end they will be at a disadvantage.” 

Yvon N’Chonon – Business Information Systems

“I like computers, but business makes you marketable” says junior Yvon N’Chonon, a Business Information Systems Major and Computer Science Minor at Eastern Connecticut State University.

N’Chonon, currently a resident of Woodstock, Connecticut aspires to work in the Information Technology field some day, but in the mean time N’Chonon is a Student Webmaster at Eastern in which he maintains the Financial Aid Office’s web site.  N’Chonon is an active member of Eastern’s Business Club, and he also volunteers at a local church, creating and maintaining the church’s web site.

In hopes of gaining further IT experience, N’Chonon registered with e-recruiting in the Office of Career Services, with the expectation of being directed to a suitable internship. “Although I was actively registered with e-recruiting, it was a banner promoting Career Services capabilities that made me strive to get an internship” says N’Chonon. “In fact, Career Services hosted a Career Fair that I had decided to attend.”

Apparently attending the Career Fair hosted by Career Services paid off for N’Chonon.  He used his impeccable networking skills in order to earn a summer internship working for XL Insurance.  N’Chonon will intern in the software development department, as a Software Engineer.

Value of Eastern Department of Business Administration Education:

“Eastern business students are very well prepared. They tend to be more independent and self-directed. When we get an Eastern student we know we can give them ore responsibility and they will run with it.”
Lora Obsen, Director of Volunteer resources, American Red Cross

"I've really enjoyed my time spent at Eastern and am grateful for the advice and counsel on school related matters and any potential problems. All of this contributes to how I go around praising ECSU and the BIS program when I get asked what my major is."
Jonathan Wilson, BIS Graduate, December 2005, BIS Club President 2005

“The interns who have worked with us over the years have helped us challenge the way we think. They bring a fresh perspective and approach to the projects they work on and very often come up with idea or suggestion we might have missed.”
Linda Riquier, Owner, L&R Marketing, LLC

Veronika Popel ’97 worked as in intern at The Savings Institute, and was hired as a marketing assistant when she obtained her degree.

“Thanks to the training and skills that Veronika received as a Business Student at Eastern we were able to effectively develop Power Point Presentations. We have found them to be more professional and better received. We had never used Power Point before. Veronika started to train others and now employees are taking classes.”
Rheo Brouillard, President, The Savings Institute

Our recent graduates are working all over the state of Connecticut and throughout the country. Here is a sampling of the career paths taken by Business, Accounting and BIS majors:

Gary M. Gilday ’90, Special Agent, US Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service

Linda Morris-Keenan ’93, CPA, Goldbalt, Bokoff & Co.

Noelle C. Cormier ’94, CPA, Mariene & Company

Patty Covaleski, ’00, Advest, Hartford

Paul Blaha, 03, IS Manager