Alumni Spotlight: Aditya Yerramilli

Introduction

For this edition of Alumni Spotlight we cover Aditya Yerramilli, my QUEST Alumni Mentor. A member of Cohort 14, Aditya graduated from the University of Maryland in 2009 with a Dual Degree in Accounting & Finance. It has been awesome having Aditya as a mentor, I’ve learned so much and had a lot of good laughs. So with no further adieu I give you Aditya Yerramilli.

Can you tell us a little bit about your current position?

I am currently a Senior Associate in Forensic Services at PwC LLP, in Tyson’s Corner. I assist clients with issues ranging from fraud risk management, crisis management, and fraud investigation to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, international arms trade, regulatory compliance, and disputes/arbitration.

Why did you choose to major in accounting?

I have enjoyed accounting ever since high school. I was part of a pre-collegiate program focused on preparing student for careers in accounting/finance. I chose accounting, because no matter what the industry, size, or composition of a business, it must communicate its performance internally and externally through the language of accounting. Being able to understand accounting provides the ability to understand any business, and makes me flexible and versatile when it comes to solving various problems.

How did you discover forensic accounting was for you?

I kind of stumbled into my role as a forensic accountant. I took a forensic accounting class at UMD in my senior year. Although I was familiar with forensic accounting prior to, I never thought about it as a career path until I took this course. One class session, two forensic accountants, a partner & manager, from PwC came in to speak about their forensic services team. After hearing their stories, I was instantly sold, and knew what I wanted to do. I realized, after interning in audit, that I was not cut out to be an auditor. However, the ability to use my accounting background for the greater good of assisting companies and organizations mitigate fraud risk and minimize their exposure to corruption internationally, was a worthwhile and noble cause to pursue.

How would you describe your job as a Forensic Accountant?

I would say that there are many different attributes to my job. A typical day involves working on a few different projects throughout the day, and coordinating/managing a few teams to accomplish various analyses and tasks. My role with PwC allows me the opportunity to interact with C-Suite personnel from fortune 500 companies, in order to understand their company’s situation, needs, and what they are looking to accomplish while working with PwC. Additionally, my role involves a decent amount of travel, both domestic and international, in order to visit key client sites of operation. My job also involves a lot of excel, analyzing accounting/financial information at the transactional level to identify how fraud was committed, or what level of fraud risk a company has.  In addition to this, my job also exposes me to clients that require assistance as they sell and export government controlled technology for foreign civilian and military use. All in all, I am exposed to a wide range of issues/areas, across many industries, to help our clients operate successfully in the global economy. A few of my memorable projects have taken me to Africa, South Asia, and Europe.

For those of us looking to pursue a career in accounting, what are some key lessons you’ve learned about the accounting industry that you wish you knew as an undergraduate?

A few tips I would share for aspiring accountants:

1. Plan to get your CPA, no matter what you do with accounting. Whether you go into audit, tax, or consulting, or a completely different career path, the only way to be considered a credible accounting professional is to be a CPA. I would encourage accounting majors to plan to be CPA eligible as they move towards graduation.
2. More importantly than accounting knowledge, is having a familiarity and understanding of how accounting relates to other areas of business (i.e. finance, marketing, sales, manufacturing, R&D, etc…); it is in understanding these relationships that the true value of accounting is shown.
3. Never forget the importance of soft skills. More often than not, having strong soft skills will put opportunities in front of you, which you would otherwise not have.
4. Lastly, don’t lose the innovative/out of box mentality that you learn in QUEST. It is perhaps one of the aspects of QUESTees that makes us stand apart amongst others in the industry.

What value do you see forensic accounting skills bringing to the table, and accounting skills in general?

Forensic accountants are very analytical, and have to often break bigger problems down into smaller areas of focus. Additionally, a forensic accountant’s knowledge of accounting and transactional level information is of great value to companies who are exposed to corruption and fraud, because understanding this granular level of detail allows us to identify weak points within a client’s system such that they can plug up the holes to tighten up their anti-fraud controls. Forensic accountants are also quick on their feet, and very flexible, as a lot of times we come into the situation after the fact, and have to figure out what happened in a very short time. As for general accounting skills, understanding accounting always allows a person to better understand a company, since every company communicates through the language of accounting.

What are some of your best memories of QUEST?

My best memories from QUEST really stem from the insightful and extremely valuable information provided during Dr. Suarez’s courses. The tips, skills, and thought process I learned during these courses (such as 190 and systems thinking) were invaluable, and provided for a very fun and enjoyable experience.

How have you enjoyed the QUEST Mentor Program? Have I annoyed you enough?

I think that the QUEST Mentor Program is a great initiative! I strongly believe that one of the best ways to learn and grow is to interact with people who have graduated from QUEST and gone on to use the knowledge and skills from the program in the real word. I have thoroughly enjoyed the mentor program, because it provides me a window into the how QUEST is changing and continuously improving…for lack of a better phraseJ. I also think that my QUEST mentee is awesome!!

What is one piece of advice you’d give to QUEST students today?

I would tell QUEST students to truly cherish the program and community they are a part of, regardless of their level of involvement in the program. I would also confirm with them that the skills and abilities I learned through QUEST truly have been valuable in the real world. Additionally, I would encourage QUEST students to continue to reach out to Alumni, as the relationship between current and former QUESTees is a big part of what will keep the program going strong!

Article by Kathryn Weiland (QUEST GA)

Jessica Danyluk is a prime example of a world traveler. Having grown up in Easton, Pennsylvania, Jessica has launched herself far from her small-town roots in order to embrace a life of international travel. Her exciting career path, accompanied by her zest for embracing the unknown, makes her the ideal candidate for this month’s alumni profile.

Jessica joined QUEST (known then as IBM/TQ) as an international business and French major and a member of Cohort 4. One of her first memories of QUEST relates to her first day in BMGT190, which was held in a large teaching theater with computers at each station. “Before my first QUEST class, I didn’t know how to use Microsoft Windows, and here I am sitting at a computer station and I had no idea what to do,” Jessica remembers. “The classmate I was sitting next to, Barry Kaplan, noticed that I was struggling and helped me get through that first class. It was very humbling to have come out of high school thinking I know what I’m doing and realizing I still have a lot to learn.” Since that day, Barry and Jessica became good friends and stayed that way throughout college. Jessica also made another life-long friend in QUEST, Saquib Chowdhury, which allowed her the unique opportunity to visit his home country of Bangladesh after college.

Another way in which QUEST helped Jessica was through her participation in the BMGT490 capstone project. Her role on that project was to work as the liaison between her team and their corporate partner. During a career fair in the spring before graduation, Jessica had a mini-interview with some representatives from the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). Coincidentally, the prospective job involved working as a liaison, and once Jessica mentioned her experiences in QUEST to the interviewers, the meeting took on a whole new life. “My experiences with the QUEST capstone project was the thing that got them interested in me,” says Jessica. She accepted a full-time job with the SEC following her graduation in May 1999, where she worked as a liaison for the Washington, DC and San Francisco, CA offices.

After spending six and a half years at the SEC, Jessica was ready for a change, but wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. Up to that point, she had been living in Annapolis, Maryland with a roommate who had just relocated to Sydney, Australia. Shortly after the move, Jessica flew to Sydney to visit her friend and had an unexpected revelation: she fell in love with Sydney, and soon was packing her things to relocate permanently to Australia. “I was there for several months, traveling around the country and having a great time, when finally I started to interview for jobs,” Jessica says. She accepted a position at Goldman Sachs working in Compliance covering Australia and New Zealand, and remained there for approximately five years. Although she still loved Sydney, Jessica felt herself itching for another change. After considering several possible locations, she found herself relocating to Winchester, England in June 2011. Each day, Jessica rides the train about an hour into the city to her job at Macquarie Group, a firm specializing in international banking and finance. Although she only has two months in her current role under her belt, she reflects on her experiences thus far: “I’m really enjoying it, but it’s definitely the hardest job I’ve ever had, aside from the fact that I’m new and still learning the ropes. I work in investment banking compliance, covering Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, so it can be high-risk work with a lot more responsibility than my previous roles.”

When asked if she had any advice for current QUEST students, Jessica pauses for a while to figure out what to say. Finally, she realizes that her own experiences provide the best advice. “Don’t be afraid to move overseas. It’s really a wonderful experience. Your family might not appreciate it at first, but once they realize how exciting it can be, they will be supportive. When I lived in Annapolis, I was very settled; I owned a house, and I had my responsibilities there, but once I realized that I wanted to move to Sydney, I was able to just pick up and go. It is so easy to stay in the house you have always lived in, in the town you are comfortable in, but it’s really worth going and seeing the world.” When asked if she would like to relocate elsewhere in the near future, Jessica says that she is happy where she is now. Although she doesn’t have any plans to move back to the states, she is leaving her options open and seeing what opportunities may come her way.

When Jessica is not busy working, she enjoys running, and obviously, traveling. She also sailed frequently while in Australia, but hasn’t had the opportunity to enjoy that hobby since moving to England. True to her friendly nature, Jessica ends our conversation by making a very generous offer: “If anyone decides to travel to England in the near future, please get in touch with me! I would be happy to make travel recommendations and even show them around.” And considering her connection with QUEST, her knowledge of international travel, and her warm personality, walking the streets of London with Jessica for a day sounds like it would be time well-spent.