Getting the Real-World Experience with Caitlyn Sauer

At DriveTime Family of Brands, summer is a time for new beginnings. May 20th this year marked the first day of our internship program, where we welcomed new faces into our walls, accounting intern Caitlyn Sauer being one of them.

“When I started the internship process, I was a little bit unsure of what I wanted to do. I was looking for a position that would give me real-world experience to help me find out what works for me. I found an opportunity at Bridgecrest, and meeting their accounting team gave me a lot of insight into how I could navigate a career in the same field,” she said.

The Beginning

Born and raised in Arizona, Caitlyn Sauer is a rising senior at McMurry University studying accounting and swimming as a collegiate athlete.

Caitlyn chose accounting because of a genuine interest in it. “I like numbers and order,” she shared.

After finishing her undergraduate degree, Caitlyn plans to get a master’s in accounting, followed by her CPA License. Caitlyn’s ultimate goal is to be a senior accountant, a landing place that interning at Bridgecrest has helped her define and prepare for.

“This internship has allowed me to apply my knowledge from school to the real world. For the past two months, in addition to developing my technical skills with new and familiar programs, I’ve been able to learn so much about the accounting world in collaborating with members on my team,” she shared.

Hitting The Ground Running

Working for Bridgecrest, Caitlyn’s day-to-day is a balance between bigger projects and smaller daily tasks.

“I spend a lot of my day doing analysis and research. That includes interpreting the activity on our open accounts, finding where our numbers are coming from, working in excel, as well as exploring the workbooks with members on my team,” she shared.

Interning at Bridgecrest has been a journey of new discoveries for Caitlyn.

“With every new project and task, I learn about how our accounts work, what every account does, and what information is gathered from that by our accountants. Looking at our workbooks has allowed me to see different perspectives and the thought processes that go into closing an account.”

In addition to her daily projects, Caitlyn’s major project of the summer includes being the bridge in the interpretation process of her team’s open accounts. That process heavily involved collaboration, technical skills with excel, and filling in the blanks where there wasn’t enough information.

“I’ve been working on creating a workbook that combines all files related to our open accounts that our accountants use for their account summaries. That way, all the information will be in a singular, accessible tab available for future use. In addition to compiling that file, I’ve also been automating it as much as possible,” Caitlyn summarized.

Outside of bridging a gap and making a necessary process simpler, Caitlyn’s project also has an immediate impact on her team. “The process I’m working on will be used for our year-to-date closes, quarter-to-quarter closes, and month closes.”

Interning at Bridgecrest for Caitlyn is more than a summer doing work, it’s a summer making an impact.

A Second Summer Experience

Caitlyn’s summer experience this year also includes time dedicated to her college sport, swimming. She spends her weekends working at a local pool, where she balances being a lifeguard, teaching swimming classes to kids of different age ranges, and coaching a local team.

“I’ve taught swimming every summer, and it’s a super fun experience,” she shared.

If she’s not swimming, Caitlyn loves to keep busy in other ways. You can find her kayaking, paddleboarding, camping, or even taking a summer class!

“I’m a person who likes to be busy,” Caitlyn laughed.

Bridgecrest has helped her do just that, filling Caitlyn’s summer with moments of fun with intern events, allowing her to tackle major projects, while also providing her with the opportunity to learn on the go.

“Bridgecrest provides you with real-world experience and training, but also helps you understand that everything is a learning moment. This program has been a building block for me that has helped me hit the ground running with my career development.”