KPMG is seeking talented and motivated college students to participate in the company?s 2006 Student Programme.

Craig Bridgewater, the partner in charge of KPMG?s Student Programme and head of its scholarship committee, said the firm is hoping to attract students interested in a career in the accounting field. Successful candidates will undertake training to become a Chartered Accountant (CA) or Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

In order to enrol in the programme students must be a university graduate with a minimum grade point average of 3.5, or B+, and must be prepared to commit to at least two years on the job training and work experience.

?Our main focus to is to develop the profession in Bermuda and develop KPMG at the same time,? Mr. Bridgewater said.

?We reach out to college students and high school students and have other networking events such as K-nect to enable students to meet people at KPMG.?

He said KPMG has a very active student committee headed by a partner and consisting of managers and fellow students keen to ensure students develop their career and pass their exams.

As a staff accountant the student will receive personal, one-on-one counselling and their workload will be tailored their knowledge, previous work experience, academic qualifications and particular course of study.

Students are assigned to the Audit and or Accounting Services teams and they will be expected to work on a diverse range of local and international clients to gain a wide variety of experiences.

?For our Student Programme we try to make sure we give all of our students a challenging opportunity by looking at the resources we need and hire to meet those needs,? Mr. Bridgewater said.

Tracy Turtle, senior manager training and education, who overseas the student programme, said: ?Students receive a general orientation with KPMG as well as technical training and at the same time of doing their studies they will be working in different departments.?

?Once they get through their exams and become a CA or CPA they register with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bermuda (ICAB) and they must complete 30 months of work experience.?

KPMG assigns a ?buddy? for each student and educational mentors are provided to lend support and advice during their studies.

Melissa Grant, a participant in the KPMG Student Programme and in her first year, said: ?You get a mix of local and insurance clients and the staff make sure I don?t work too long without time for study.?

Khalid Davis, a commerce student at Dalhousie University, said: ?The culture of the Audit Department and Accounting Services is great and the work experience has helped me to be a better student.?

Aaron Burrows, a participant in the programme, said: ?The staff are very helpful and we are surrounded by a whole team of tutors.?

For more information on the KPMG Student Programme contact KPMG?s Human Resources department at 295-5063, e-mail hrkpmg.bm or visit www.kpmg.bm.