From Haiti to Nunavut: Adventures in Co-op

Third year Bachelor of Commerce student Dennis Weatherdon recently completed an eight-month co-op placement with KPMG. As an accounting student Dennis didn’t expect to travel through co-op, but during his placement he had the opportunity to work in both Haiti and Nunavut. We recently sat down with Dennis to chat about his extraordinary co-op experience.

Tell us about KPMG and the work they do.

KPMG is one of the four largest accounting firms in the world. They provide audit, tax and advisory services to companies of all sizes. KPMG’s Ottawa office performs audits of the non-governmental organizations that were established in Haiti following the disastrous earthquake that hit the country on January 10, 2010.

Can you describe a typical day at the office?

For a typical day in Ottawa, it depends on if I’m staying in the office to work or will be at a client’s location. In the office, all of the co-op students typically work in one boardroom. Since you are very rarely in the office during the busy season, there usually aren’t many other co-op students in the office with you at the same time. When you’re in the office, you usually help the senior accountants wrap up certain sections of a file or prepare a file for a new audit that will begin in the near future. If you’re not in the office, you arrive at the client’s location and proceed to work on the file there, as you will need to reference some of the documents that the company has onsite. You can also work with management to clarify any questions you might have.

Did you think travel would be a part of a career in accounting?

I was always hoping that one day I would be able to travel with my Accounting major since I absolutely love visiting new places and cultures however, I never expected to do so in my first co-op placement! I was thrilled when KPMG offered me this opportunity and I jumped on it.

Tell us about the work you did in Haiti.

Each morning when we were required to go to the client’s location to perform our audit work, we would be picked up at our hotel by a driver (hired by KPMG) to transport us safely to our destination. KPMG normally sends four employees down to Haiti and we work in teams of two at each client location.

Once we arrived at the organization we would set up our audit equipment, which included our laptops and portable scanners in order to scan any documents that we would need to bring back to Ottawa. Most of the locations were able to provide us with wireless internet, which surprised me, but proved to be extremely helpful in case we needed to get in contact with anyone back in Ottawa.

Once we were set up we would then begin our audit work, which consisted of reviewing documentation of their relief efforts immediately following the earthquake. Many of the organizations were established in order to assist families recovering from the damages caused by the earthquake by providing them with such things as food, water, shelter and schooling for children.

While at the client location, we were also in constant communication with the organization’s management in case we had any clarifying questions about the documentation we had received. The management usually only spoke French since it is one of the main languages used in the country. Therefore KPMG ensured that they were sending down employees that were able to speak it. Although I had performed all of my elementary schooling in French, I hadn’t used my French as much in the past few years. This trip was quite the test for my French but I was able to communicate relatively well with anyone that I needed to speak with.

At the end of our work day, we would be picked up once again by our driver and returned back to our hotel. For meals in the evening, we had the choice to stay at the hotel and eat at the restaurant or we could head into town to a local restaurant. If we wanted to go out again, the driver would take us.

What did you enjoy the most in Haiti?

Some of my favourite moments in Haiti took place over the weekends. We went sightseeing through the mountains that were a stone’s throw away from our hotel, swam under waterfalls in these same mountains and visited one of the local orphanages that was established by a Canadian woman from Montreal. 

KPMG is not directly involved with the orphanage.  However, the partner on these audits found out about it and suggested that we visit the children while we were in Haiti. This was probably one of the greatest experiences not only of this trip, but of my life.

On our way to the orphanage, we decided to stop by at the grocery store and buy plenty of toys, soccer balls and candy to hand out to the kids once we arrived. Seeing their faces light up when we handed out all of this stuff was amazing! We received a full tour of the orphanage from the staff, which included visiting the children’s classrooms that were located just steps away from the kitchen and their sleeping quarters. After our tour, a three hour-long soccer game broke out with the new balls we had brought them! If there is one thing I learned from this trip, it’s that I really need to work on my soccer skills because these kids were incredible!

You also had the opportunity to go to Nunavut. What was your work day like?

KPMG also presented me with the opportunity to go to Iqaluit, Nunavut for one week in March in order to perform an audit on one of our clients located up there.

When we arrived in Iqaluit, the client provided us with a car for the week as the temperatures were too cold to walk anywhere further than five minutes away.

Each morning we would all set out in this car in order to pick up some breakfast at one of the three Tim Horton’s in town. We would then proceed to the client’s location until lunch when we would head back to the hotel for a bite to eat.

Our work days were much longer here in Nunavut then on any other client I worked on during my placement. We would only take breaks for meals and would finish our work for the day around 11:00 p.m. each night. We were only in town for a week and would be unable to take any of the work back to Ottawa so making sure we got it all done was important. Although they were longer work days, I truly got a lot out of this experience and was able to travel to a location I never thought I would see in my lifetime.

Will you or do you want to travel for work again?

I would love to travel for work again and will jump on any opportunity I can get. With KPMG, it makes it easier to travel around or even go abroad and work in another KPMG office for an extended period of time as the company operates in 152 countries around the world. Haiti was a great opportunity for me to realize that I really enjoy traveling for work.

Your co-op term is finished and you’re back to the classroom. What path do you see your career taking in the next few years?

This was only my first co-op term with the firm and I will be returning there next summer for my final co-op term and then back for full-time work with the firm in January 2014.