Recruiting Profiles

Anthony J. Pasternak, CPA
Level:	Senior Accountant
Office:	Omaha
School:	University of Nebraska – Lincoln, 2003, BSBA in accounting and 2004, Masters of Professional Accountancy
Hobbies:	Golfing, watching Husker football, traveling and cooking

Anthony Pasternak chose public accounting because it’s a challenging profession with excellent career opportunities. He enjoys encountering different challenges each day and working with bright business people to provide solutions to client problems.

He chose BKD because of the people who work at the firm. In fact, when he first met BKDers at a job fair, he says, “I could tell immediately that BKD was a high-quality firm because of the type of people who represented it.”

What type? Hard-working and community oriented people. Anthony and his Omaha office peers have worked with the YMCA and Home Depot to build a playground for children in the town of Valley, and participated in a Snack Pack project for Campfire USA to assemble food bags for underprivileged children to take home from school for the weekend.

In the Omaha office, Anthony trains new staff members and assists with recruiting. He shares this advice with accounting majors: “There are constantly new things to learn and ways to improve as a professional. You should consider the challenge as a sign you have chosen a career where you will be respected for your knowledge, creativity and technical ability.”

Anthony appreciates how hard his colleagues work, and yet they still take time to laugh and have fun. Sometimes the accountants will partake in a golf outing together, which Anthony enjoys even though he says, “I am still learning, but I love to golf every chance I get.”

He’s also learning how to cook in an attempt to transform his steady diet of TV dinners and pizza into something more sophisticated. “I’ve realized I’m quite the grill master,” he says. “You can throw just about anything on the grill. The real adventure is eating what you have prepared.”

When he’s not solving client problems in the office or cooking at home, Anthony travels to visit his dad in Arizona or with friends on excursions to Cancun, Las Vegas or Colorado.

Jennifer L. Williams, CPA
Level:	Supervisor
Office:	Louisville
School:	University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, 2003, B.S. degree in accounting
Niche:	Health care and not-for-profit
Hobbies:	Reading and playing or watching sports
Family:	Husband Jim

When it was time to launch her career, Jennifer Williams chose BKD in much the same way she picked college.  She attended the University of Southern Indiana because it was smaller than the University of Indiana, and the environment had more opportunities for her to get involved academically and with campus life.  Upon graduation, she chose BKD because it was smaller than the Big Four, but still in the top 10.

“I liked the people a lot, and I knew I would get more opportunities on more jobs and be exposed to more situations. This has definitely been the case since I started with BKD.”

Jennifer describes the atmosphere in her office as laid-back and friendly.  “Since we are a smaller group, we really get to know everyone and become friends.”

She advises accounting majors to gain experience as an intern at a public firm or private company.  “This will help you gain some experience and knowledge before graduation,” she says.  “It helps guide you on the path you want to take once you graduate, and it may reveal what type of work you like to do best.”

During her career at BKD, she discovered a preference for working with not-for-profit and health care clients.  “I enjoy working on the larger clients, which when I started at BKD, were more not-for-profit and health care clients.  As I continued to work with these clients, I also focused on A-133 and HUD audits.  I enjoy this niche because it is challenging.”

Jennifer also likes a challenge on the tennis court.  She and her Louisville office co-workers meet up for weekly tennis games.  Off the court, she’s hooked on Guitar Hero on Xbox.