About
Success Stories
The Tax Man
Scott Damico had risen through the ranks to management at his former company, but that all came to naught when the company folded and left him without a job. Unable to find employment at the same level without a degree, Scott returned home to Danville, Kentucky and “shopped around” at several area colleges.
“I wanted someplace close, [with a homelike atmosphere] …and this was it.”
Scott completed the associate degree programs in both business administration–management and accounting, and has since gone on to enroll in a bachelor’s degree program at another college. But even though he remains a full time student, he has put his National degrees to work on a part-time basis: during income tax season, he manages a tax office for national tax preparation service Jackson-Hewitt.
“It’s definitely unique; you meet a lot of people,” Scott says, but ultimately, he admits with a chuckle, “nobody’s happy to get their taxes done!” As he often gets asked by people what qualifies him to do their taxes, saying he has an accounting degree really impresses them. What’s more, he supervises a group of well-qualified tax preparers he knows and trusts: of the five employees at his office last tax season, all were National College graduates!
Scott and his regional supervisor at Jackson-Hewitt were confident in the ability of National College graduates largely because of the expertise and real-world knowledge of the instructors at the Danville Campus. “The instructors were great, very knowledgeable,” Scott says. In fact, Scott went through training at Jackson-Hewitt shortly after taking tax accounting at National. “During the training Jackson-Hewitt provides, I was correcting the instructor,” Scott admits matter-of-factly. There’s just no substitute for the real-world experience that National College instructors have. “Right now, I’ve moved on to another college, and I have a lot of instructors who have never been outside of academia,” Scott says.
With an ultimate goal of completing his bachelor’s degree and going on to get his MBA, Scott believes he got a solid foundation at National College. Though he had already worked in management before returning to school, Scott admits he still learned a thing or two from his management classes. “One of the things I enjoyed the most [at National was that] it really helped me broaden my managerial style,” Scott explains.
