[COMMUNICATED] In anticipation of their upcoming accounting course, PCS spoke to Gabriel Cooper, an alumnus from 2015.
Q: Can you tell us about your current position? How did the PCS accounting course prepare you?
A: I am an Asset Manager at White Eagle Property Group. I serve as a liaison between property owners and management companies to ensure that the properties are following the business plans that the owners set forth when they purchased the properties. I am also on top of the properties on a week- to- week basis to make sure that everything is performing as optimally as possible.
Basically, I work for property owners to make sure that the property management teams are working financially efficiently- not only operationally efficiently.
I’ve taken over properties where the owners had little accounting knowledge and therefore made decisions that seemed to have made sense; but in reality these decisions were hurting their bottom line.
The PCS accounting course gave me a financial base so that when I make decisions for my business- and for these properties- they are not only operatically sound, but financially sound as well.
Q: Please tell us about PCS/FDU M.S. in Accounting Course:
A: This program enabled me to get a great degree in a good environment. This degree helped differentiate myself; it gave me an edge over other job seekers.
This was a fast way to get a degree, with committed teachers, who gave me strong knowledge to succeed at what I do.
Q: Can you tell us about the current job market? How did PCS help you find your first job?
A: I definitely had a lot of opportunities. My first job in real estate accounting was recommended to me by one of my professors. I got my current position from a fellow PCS student, so basically I owe my life to PCS.
Q: For who would recommend the field of accounting?
A: Aside for accountants, I would recommend this course to anyone that owns a business, or wants to run a business on a senior level. Anyone making decisions about running a company needs to understand the financial components of accounting.
Everything in real estate is financial based; if you don’t have that knowledge you are so far behind.
Even though I don’t work as an accountant, I still use almost all the courses that I took on a day-to-day basis, such as financial accounting, cost accounting and audit.
I know a lot of graduates of the PCS/FDU M.S. accounting course that do regional management and asset management. They are successful at what they do, because of their strong education.
This course is great for anyone that wants to have anything to do with business. In my case, it helped me get where I needed to go very quickly.
For more information contact: yocheved@nj.pcsjobs.org or 732-905-9700 ext 665.
The next cohort is beginning on October 7.