Rider University's Louis Chebetar Gains Advantage Through Deloitte Spring Break Program

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From left to right: Dave Hugh Brown and Louis Chebetar

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ (06/13/2011)(readMedia)-- Rising junior Louis Chebetar of Hackensack, N.J., was one of the two Accounting majors from Rider University selected to participate in Deloitte's Maximum Impact 2011, a unique alternative spring break experience that blends community service and networking with recruiters from the "Big 4" accounting firm.

From March 12 through 18, Chebetar and Dave Hugh Brown of Ewing, N.J., worked side by side with professionals from Deloitte and United Way while supporting middle- and high-school students in at-risk communities in the Washington, D.C., area. In total, the program consisted of 50 students, 20 Deloitte professionals and 10 United Way leaders. In addition to the community service aspect of the Deloitte program, Chebetar and Brown also had a chance to participate in dinners, outings and other teambuilding activities.

During the spring break program, Chebetar was placed on a team that assisted in streamlining the process of a new college preparation program at Wheaton High School in Silver Spring, Md. The program, College Tracks, is designed to improve college access and success for public school students in surrounding Montgomery County by providing them services to identify academic and vocational interests, and navigate the application and financial aid process.

Each morning, from Monday through Thursday, the team met with College Track representatives and school administrators to discuss program implementation and provide consulting. Later, each college student was paired with a student from the high school's information technology academy. Chebetar would meet his student during lunch and after school to give him guidance.

Participating in community service activities is nothing new to Chebetar. As the president of Rider Runners, Chebetar coordinated the third annual Run Over Violence 5K on the Lawrenceville campus in April. The event's primary purpose is to raise awareness of domestic violence as well as gather donations for Womanspace, a Trenton-based organization that shelters and rehabilitates those who have been subjected to domestic violence.

In addition to the community service aspect of the Deloitte program, Chebetar and Brown also had a chance to participate in dinners, outings and other teambuilding activities. Through the program, they were able to learn about Deloitte's people, values, culture and careers.

Chebetar, who will begin a six month co-op with Johnson & Johnson in July, has already lined up an internship for next summer at Deloitte's Parsippany, N.J. office. He said the internship evolved from conversations that he had with Tara Large, a recruiter from the Parsippany office, during the spring break program. Large referred Chebetar to Michelle Mussawar, the office's auditing recruiter, and encouraged him to attend a Deloitte tax night. Chebetar attended the event in addition to several Deloitte networking events on-campus and kept in touch with the contacts he made through e-mail and Skype.