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Success Stories
Name:
Bill Gill
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Residence:
Indianapolis, Indiana
Graduation Year:
1998
Major:
Accounting-Finance
Why did you choose SJC?
I heard about SJC through some soccer friends I
had grown up with, and when I was a senior in high school, I made a trip
to Rensselaer to visit them. Everyone on campus was very friendly, and I
was intrigued enough to learn more about the school. As I came to know SJC
better, I realized it was a great school with strong programs, and I liked
the idea of starting my major right away. I knew I wanted to go into accounting,
but I wanted to figure out as soon as possible if it was a career I truly
wanted to pursue. I also loved the atmosphere surrounding the athletic teams
at SJC, and I wanted to continue to play soccer in college. One point that also played a factor in my decision to attend Saint Joseph's College was the fact that my late grandfather was an SJC graduate (Class of 1942), something I never knew about until I told my grandmother about the different colleges I was interested in. She told me some awesome stories about my grandfather's college days, and I loved having that unique connection with him.
As a student, what were you involved in?
Soccer was my life, and I did anything and everything
I could to stay involved with the team and my teammates. We organized youth
soccer camps during the summer months, and in the fall and spring seasons,
we refereed soccer games for kids on Saturday mornings. I was also a student
worker for the Recreation Center, and involved with Students In Free Enterprise
(SIFE). I also completed an internship during the second semester of my senior year with K.B. Parrish & Co., an accounting firm located in Indianapolis, Indiana. I performed audit and tax work for automobile dealerships, which included filing business tax returns and personal income tax returns for the automobile companies' owners. The company offered me a job after graduation, and I worked there for about a year and a half.
What are you doing now?
I am the SOx 404 Compliance Manager in the Financial Reporting Department at Simon Property Group in Indianapolis, Indiana. Simon is the largest publicly traded retail Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in North America and the world's largest owner, developer, and manager of high-quality retail real estate. My job consists of ensuring that our company complies with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Section 404, which states that all significant financial processes and controls must be identified and documented. Then, all significant or "key" internal controls over financial reporting must be tested to ensure they function as intended and designed. Any issues noted during testing must be resolved, enabling our company to file our financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with a "clean opinion" from our external audit firm.
How did SJC prepare you for the "real world"?
The liberal arts education I received at SJC taught me how to think
outside the box, be confident in a variety of situations, and "hold my own" in front of
the highest levels of management within my organization. The Core Program's emphasis on
reading, writing, and discussion also helped me to express myself and understand issues from
a number of viewpoints, and because of the range of projects, classes, and assignments I had,
I gained skills that I use in my job today.
Also, the openness of the faculty on campus showed me how important communication is in the world and between people in order to succeed. If I missed a class, which was rare, they called me at my residence hall to find out why. Sometimes I called them the night before a test in order to receive extra help. I formed many friendships with my professors, and I still keep in touch with them today.
