From Intern to Manager: Yesenia Malagon’s Path to Success in Tax Accounting

Yesenia Malagon started at Weiss & Company as a part-time intern in January 2014. She was in her last semester at University of Illinois-Chicago and commuting from home in the Northwest suburbs. Some days she’d be driving from the suburbs to Chicago, then back to Glenview before returning home. It was a crazy schedule with a lot of long days (and a few nights), but she loved the challenge and got to experience a real tax season.

Originally, she thought she’d be an auditor, but when she had the opportunity to take a tax internship, she decided to accept it and see what tax was like. She enjoyed the hands-on experience and found it gave her a good sense about the profession and what her life would be like once she began working full-time.

She was treated like a professional from her first day. Yesenia recalls, “I interacted with everyone. It seemed like everyone in the office knew my name, and they treated me like a colleague. I felt like I was making a difference. I had a very good experience.”

The internship ended on April 15. Yesenia did not receive a job offer at the end of her internship. It was only after she graduated in May that she received an offer letter, and she started as a full-time employee in June 2014.

In addition to her tax duties, Yesenia was asked to represent Weiss at local career fairs. She found that she enjoyed this assignment a lot because she had just recently been on the other side of the table. She could answer the students’ questions and offer them comfort and advice. She didn’t have enough work experience to be a mentor, but she could fill the role of a work buddy.

Three years after Yesenia first started at Weiss she was promoted to Senior. She was excited for more responsibilities and the chance to manage.

“I knew from watching the people around me that it’s important how you treat others. A simple ‘hello’ goes a long way, especially when you are just starting out and don’t know many others. My younger sister is in marketing, a totally different profession, and she had an internship around this time. She was very nervous during her first week because no one outside of her small group reached out to her to say hello. When I am providing feedback to the people I manage, I always think, ‘How would I want my sister to be treated?” said Yesenia.

Yesenia had always intended to prepare for and pursue the CPA exam. To do that, she would need to return to school to complete the 150 classroom hours requirement. This was pre-COVID and all Weiss employees were expected to be in the office every day. Also, the classes she wanted to take were only offered in person.

She had been at Weiss for two years by this point. She had more responsibilities at work, and she had a busy social life. Yesenia knew, too, that if she waited, her responsibilities would only continue to increase. There didn’t seem to be a ‘perfect’ time, so she figured she might as well begin.

Once she made the decision to pursue her CPA, Yesenia received a lot of encouragement from her colleagues at Weiss. She knew that getting her CPA would create a lot more opportunities for her.

For the next two years, she took classes every summer and fall semester. She tried to squeeze in a personal vacation in late December before tax season started in January. She dedicated January through April for tax season. It was challenging to schedule everything, but with some determination and a lot of hard work, Yesenia completed the 150 hours.

Next, she began the study program to sit for the CPA. She passed two out of the four exams on the first try. After passing the third exam, she missed passing the fourth and final exam by one point in March 2020. One point! She was devastated.

That was a huge disappointment to push through, but she was too close to finishing to be deterred. Fortunately, she passed that pesky fourth exam on the next try. Not even the pandemic would prevent her from accomplishing her goal.

Yesenia said, “The CPA exam has undergone several changes since I took my exams. The most important ones in my opinion are year-round, continuous testing, earlier score release dates, and extending the window to pass all four parts of the CPA from 18 months to 30 months. These changes provide greater flexibility, faster access to testing, and help candidates balance the demands of preparing for the CPA exam with their professional and personal responsibilities.”

Yesenia became a CPA in 2020 and was promoted to supervisor in 2021. In August 2023 Malagon was promoted to Manager. Now she supervises people within the tax department.

We spoke to Yesenia shortly after she had returned from attending the AICPA Accounting and Finance conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“The conference was excellent. I learned from the speakers the importance of staying motivated, of continuously learning, and not being afraid of challenges. Their insights gave me a new perspective on professional growth There is so much to learn in the tax field and this knowledge will help me be better for myself, my peers, and our clients,” said Yesenia.

She continued, saying, “I’m always learning at Weiss. There is so much I don’t know. It’s motivating and inspiring how much room for growth there is within the profession and within the firm. Looking back on my career so far, these first ten years, I can see how I am benefiting from my hard work. I can feel how I’ve changed inside, where I am eager for the challenges and not afraid to speak up. I enjoy my responsibilities both here at Weiss and outside of work,” said Yesenia.

“If there is one thing I would have done differently, it would have been to continue my undergraduate education and get the 150 credits before I started working full-time. That was a challenging time, and it would have been less stressful if I had just stayed in school an extra one or two semesters. But it all worked out,” she said.

Yesenia smiled. I have met some incredible people at Weiss and made great friends and lasting relationships. “All of this happened because I work at Weiss!”