Opinion: On the State of the Orfalea College of Business

November 18, 2019 by Anjana Melvin

A letter to club leadership, faculty, administration and students of the Orfalea College of Business:

I consider myself very fortunate to attend a university that invests so much in my growth. The Orfalea College of Business (OCOB), whether through its classes, clubs, recruiting events or people, is a large part of why I feel prepared for life after college. I am surrounded by students who work hard, dream big and encourage me to do the same. But while this college boasts that it fosters the world’s future leaders, more and more of our futures seem to be determined by the companies that give this school the most money.  

I took Financial Accounting my freshman year, unenthused but prepared to work hard and do well. I ended the quarter with a B, not bad but not excellent and certainly not in a class that I found interesting enough to care about. So imagine my surprise when I get a letter of recommendation from the accounting department a month later. “Dear Anjana,” it said. “You are receiving this email because of your outstanding performance in BUS 214. You may keep the attached letter in your records and can show this to firms in job or internship interviews.” 

Outstanding performance? I don’t know when a B was ever considered outstanding, but I was surprised and admittedly impressed to learn from that letter that “Several of the top accounting and business firms view Cal Poly as a ‘preferred school’ [...] this means that recruiters from these firms visit regularly and recruit aggressively for our students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.” What I didn’t know at the time was just how aggressive those firms would turn out to be.

“I didn’t consider anything else but accounting because it was drilled into me sophomore year; it’s all I knew. I wish OCOB highlighted more paths to success. If you’re not accounting, it’s not easy.”

-Cal Poly Accounting alumni

I have never considered accounting as a profession for myself. But, the number of times I have heard students and faculty talk about one of the “Big 4” accounting firms — PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst & Young (EY) — have been countless. There are rooms in the college named after them. When your eyes inevitably glaze over during lecture, their framed logos are the only things to stare at in some second-floor classrooms. “Accounting” is the sole concentration listed on the side of the business building facing O’Neill Green. It seems like success has become, by OCOB’s definition, accounting — and more specifically the Big 4. 

Despite all of this hype and propaganda, too many times I have heard people say they accepted a full-time job at one of the Big 4 firms and realized too late that it wasn’t what they wanted to do anymore. Many didn’t find the work to be intellectually stimulating, and often their internship experiences did not live up to their expectations. But they’re scared, and rightly so, to try anything different because then the safety blanket they were shrouded in for three years would be ripped away from them. What happens to those students? The ones who didn’t find their work fulfilling, but have made a decision they feel they can’t go back on because this is what they’ve been told is the “right” thing to do for four years? Why do they feel like they do not have a choice in the matter? Why have we created this illusion of what a Big 4 job is and equated it to success? OCOB prides itself on having an 84 percent job placement statistic. But if a large portion of that 84 percent is comprised of students halfheartedly starting their careers, how meaningful is this number really? 

The best things in life don’t come easy. College and obtaining a job upon graduation are no different. Navigating uncertainty, discovering our purpose and finding a fulfilling opportunity post-grad is all part of the college experience. For people who genuinely want to pursue a career in accounting because they enjoy it, the resources are great. But for people who are on the fence, it has become too easy to just take a Big 4 job because it’s there. And after you start to get sucked in with the company-branded Patagonia fleece jackets and Hydroflasks, there’s almost no way out and only one way forward — to public accounting and to the Big 4. 

This narrowed path to success doesn’t always equate to happiness post-grad, either. After talking to Cal Poly accounting alumni currently working at Big 4 companies, many have said that they felt like accounting was decided for them as their concentration before they had the chance to make that decision on their own. Here’s where the intentions of the College of Business can get sticky: OCOB receives such a high proportion of funding from the Big 4 that it has manifested, whether accidentally or on purpose, into a university sales pitch that sells accounting as the end-all be-all concentration to guarantee success. “It fell into my lap,” one alumni who now works at PwC said. “I didn’t consider anything else but accounting because it was drilled into me sophomore year; it’s all I knew. I wish OCOB highlighted more paths to success. If you’re not accounting, it’s not easy.”

It is important to note that some of this is circumstantial. Because of the large number of publicly traded companies between San Francisco and San Jose there is an overwhelming demand for public accountants in the Bay Area. Cal Poly’s proximity makes OCOB a natural hunting ground for these Big 4 firms — and similar situations can be found in schools such as Santa Clara University and the University of California at Santa Barbara. But is our location and a high industry demand justification for the domineering attitude within our college? External factors are relevant, but internally we should be stronger. 

We have this obsessive drive to find a job, no matter what that job is, because it feels like everyone else has one. And that is a direct product of the university allowing the disproportionate access and marketing of just four companies to students in a very precarious and important time in their lives.

Each concentration is equally as important to a company as accounting, yet that is not being reflected in the current curriculum and programming. Most jobs also involve utilizing multiple skill sets, but rather than encouraging students to pursue other areas of interest, one of the only opportunities offered by OCOB to expand skill sets comes in the form of a dual concentration— if you ensure that one of those concentrations is accounting.

I know I speak from a position of privilege when I ask you, as students, to dream bigger than what we’re given. Given the cost of education, graduating with a job offer in hand is usually the primary goal of most students, and that goal is not by any means flawed. There are many benefits to taking a Big 4 job, and while I could list them here, the college does a pretty good job of that already. But if you ultimately decide that this path isn’t for you, as uncomfortable as it may be, it’s okay to say no. You will not “fall behind.” This is your life, not a horse race.

We have this obsessive drive to find a job, no matter what that job is, because it feels like everyone else has one. And that is a direct product of the university allowing the disproportionate access and marketing of just four companies to students in a very precarious and important time in their lives. Of course we want job security. Of course we want a promising future. But take a step back and think of the bigger picture — what do you really want your life after graduation to look like? 

If you are going to accept an offer with the Big 4 because you genuinely enjoy accounting and want to take advantage of those benefits, perfect. If you are taking the Big 4 route because you need to get from point A to point B, whether that’s moving to a new city, getting a master’s or working in industry for a higher salary two years down the line, that’s also completely valid. But if you are taking that job because you feel like you have no other option, or you have been told there is no other option or because everyone else is doing it, then we have a problem. 

Here is our opportunity to create change. 

If you are a club leader, encourage your members to create a framework for a successful life. What are their core values? Do the values of the company they want to work or intern for align with their own? Encourage them to find what makes them passionate, and if that isn’t their current career path, at least to look for jobs where they will grow and be happy going into work every day. Do not tell students who look up to you what the “safe” or “smart” thing to do is; objectively list out the pros and cons and have them decide for themselves. Moreover, remember your stakeholders are your members, not just the companies funding your club. No matter what concentration-specific club you are a part of, make it very clear that there is more than one path to success. Some of these large multibillion dollar corporations are great places to work, but they aren’t for everyone. And that’s more than okay. 

Faculty, despite the disparity in resources, try to do more to get your students excited about the concentration you teach in. Send out recommendation letters. Bring in more speakers from diverse career paths. If students come to you looking for advice, do not tell them it’s crazy to reject an offer from a huge company. Frankly, that isn’t your call to make. For professors of introductory classes, remember that you are often the very first example of what a future career can look like, and take that responsibility seriously. This college could also greatly benefit from finding a faculty member in each area to champion fundraising. The marketing area receiving a large donation to start the Business Analytics Fellowship last year is a great example of what that could look like.

Administration, there is so much I know you are doing for student success, especially with bringing other companies in for recruitment and cultivating those relationships that ultimately turn into more opportunities. But the disproportionate allocation of resources between concentration areas is far too vast for things to keep going the way they are. There is more to business than accounting, and there is more to accounting than the Big 4. Let’s admit it, this isn’t breaking news. This has been a problem for years — do something about it. If there is an “Executive Director for Accounting Excellence,” there should be one for each concentration. I know it’s easier said than done, but focus on funding for the concentrations that actually need it. Cal Poly students have limitless potential. We are smart. We are hard working. It is rare to find women and men with so much ambition to make something of themselves and help each other up while they’re at it. So it is heartbreaking to watch as so many students doubt their own abilities and instead choose security because you aren’t telling us to dream bigger. 

I want to represent a college that not only boasts high job placement rates, but backs them up with students and alumni who are fulfilled in their concentrations and careers. I would rather be at a college that accepts and talks about failure and teaches us how to handle uncertainty rather than glorify paths that are “successful” only because everyone else is doing it. This is not just a college of accountants, but a college of passionate leaders, forward-thinkers and creators who have the ability to go change every corner of the world. All we have to do is tell them they can.