Nicolaus Simon, ’13, started his career off strong with two internships in his last year of college. He interned with Ernst & Young in Houston during the summer of 2012 and Darnall, Sikes, & Frederick in Lafayette for the fall and spring semesters of his senior year.
Each firm offered Nicolaus a full-time position upon graduation. He chose to stay in Lafayette and take the full-time accountant position with Darnall, Sikes, & Frederick, where he still works today as a supervisor.
“I manage clients – accounting, audit, and tax – during the year and make sure that all of their work and requests are completed efficiently and accurately,” he said. “That includes managing staff to help complete some of the workload and reviewing their work. Upon completion, we present the work as a final product to the partner for sign-off and delivery.”
In 2014, Nicolaus obtained his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license.
“My general career plan is to be managing partner at a CPA firm or eventually transition into private industry as a Chief Financial Officer (CFO),” he said.
Nicolaus’s success grew from the strong foundation he built in the Department of Accounting at UL Lafayette.
“My time spent at UL Lafayette was unforgettable,” he said. “The accounting program provided a great foundation to pass the CPA exam and to start my career in public accounting.
“I learned … how to be organized and how to prioritize my workload,” he said. “During my time in the accounting program, you always had something due and multiple tests on the same day or in the same week.
“Learning how to keep track of everything and what to prioritize first helped me succeed in college and helps me every day,” he said.
Nicolaus’s favorite part of his college experience was the professors in the accounting program.
“They were all extremely helpful inside and outside of class,” he said. “Most had real life experiences and had worked in the field before teaching, so the parallels they could draw on between concept and application were beneficial.”
Nicolaus was involved with Beta Alpha Psi , the accounting honors society on campus.
“The organization gave us the opportunity to work with other accounting majors, whether that be with volunteering or with projects,” he said. “We also were able to tour local accounting firms to see how they operated and what working for one of these firms would like upon graduation.”
Between hearing about his older brother’s experience and the hometown feel, the choice to attend UL Lafayette was an obvious one for Nicolaus.
“I didn’t want to attend anywhere else,” he said.