Mark Krikorian
Vice President and Controller, Western Financial C
AmerisourceBergen Corporation
Corona, CA USA
“The willingness to take the initiative to resolve issues is a key attribute. It shows that you have leadership qualities.”
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
My father, who was an Air Force officer, passed away when I was only 9 years old.
My mother moved our family to California to be near her parents. She did a great job raising us.
We did not have a lot of money, but CSUF tuition was low, I could live at home, and had some financial help from the Veterans Administration.
I did well scholastically at CSUF and was hired by one of the large public accounting firms, which is an excellent place to start a professional career.
I worked for Deloitte for 10 years and greatly enjoyed it, but I did not feel I had the outgoing character and selling skills needed to become a partner.
A former Deloitte partner who was a Chief Financial Officer at Armor All Products hired me as his Controller. It was a great job, but ended when Clorox bought Armor All !
I searched for a few months and was hired as Controller at GT Bicycles, but that job ended when Schwinn bought GT !
Another former Deloitte partner hired me as Assistant Controller at Bergen Brunswig, which later merged with another company to become AmerisourceBergen.
Education
High School
Costa Mesa High School
Costa Mesa High School
Bachelor
Business Administration (Accounting Concentration)
California State University, Fullerton
Business Administration (Accounting Concentration)
California State University, Fullerton
Career
Vice President and Controller, Western Financial C
I oversee the accounting for a portion of the company's pharmaceutical distribution subsidiary.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Business
Numbers
Accomplishing Goals
Day to Day
The particular activities often depend on the specific week of the month. In the first and second weeks of the month, while the books are being closed, the focus is on making and reviewing journal entries, reconciling asset and liability accounts to ensure they are complete and correct, and issuing financial statements. During the third and fourth weeks of the month, there is more time to work on projects such as changes in accounting procedures and systems, etc.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
The Mihaylo School of Business (Dept of Accounting) has a number of programs to help students prepare for entry into the accounting profession. Mihaylo arranges for many firms to conduct job interviews on campus, and it also sponsors "Meet the Firms Night" and other events so that students can get to know potential employers beforehand. The Accounting Society and Beta Alpha Psi (student clubs) have meetings almost every week in which a speaker discusses some aspect of life-after-graduation.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Bachelor
Business Administration (Accounting Concentration)
Business Administration (Accounting Concentration)
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Society in General:
"Accounting and auditing are boring. You're just dealing with numbers and not the real business"
Challenges I Overcame
Basically an introverted person.
