[Peanut Butter is Good]

I will have 150 credits this semester. I’m getting my MACC (never had a BS in accounting). No one hired me. I interviewed with most of the Big 4 and Big Nationals. My understanding is you get in as a student or not at all (>90% of the time). However, if I delay graduation to next December, I can still be a “student” and interview again (with more experience, CPA presumably passed, and better interview skills I suppose). Is there anyone here who has been on any side of this situation (mine, the firms, the recruiters, etc.) who can give me some perspective on whether it’s a good idea? I don’t want to get frozen out of public accounting forever… I’m not a quitter, so I need to think outside the box here.

[Anonymous]

I deferred graduating from my MST program until December so that I could be in another recruiting class – worked for me for Big 4!!! If you can be productive in the down year, then it is worth it. You can intern in a smaller place and bang out your CPAs if you haven't yet (I believe most states let you take the exam so long as you have 120 credits along with specific courses) and get a chance at Big 4 the following year. It depends a lot on your motivation and goals.

[Anonymous]

I am graduating in May from a 5 year Bachelors in Accounting/MBA program and am in the process of taking CPA exams. I don't necessarily think staying in college will be a make or break thing for you. I go to a small college (less than 4000 grad and undergrad) and I know that in my graduating class we have 4 people going to the same Big 4 firm. 2 of us are still in school, the other 2 graduated in December and only applied after graduating. I know that it is MUCH easier to get in from doing an internship, but it isn't impossible otherwise. You can always apply to a different office as well. 2 of us are going to Boston, one to San Diego, and one to Orange County.

[Anonymous]

You know, my visceral reaction was to say that deferring graduation was a ridiculous idea but if you are working FULL TIME at this corporate job and your resume will look better because of this job AND if you're cool with spending the extra tuition then I don't see why not. You're earning money (presumably with a company you can move up in if Big 4 doesn't work out?) and you have your eye set on one goal.

I will echo what others are saying though (and I have said it on this forum time and again): life does not begin and end with the Big 4. They really do brainwash accounting students. Yes, it's amazing job experience but remember, auditors don't just audit staff accountants. There are Controllers and CFO's and Directors of Finance and managers of everything. These positions are not Big 4 auditors and these positions make a ton of money. And assuming you're still relatively young, Big 4 loves new grads because they're the only ones with enough energy to do that work. Not everyone becomes partner. In fact, I would Google to see how many people actually stay in public that long. And furthermore, how many of those people who stayed are divorced.

[Anonymous]

Don't be too quick to discount private accounting opportunities, or small public firms. After all, who makes more money? CEO's or partners at big four? It is certainly a great thing to have some ‘public' accounting experience on your resume but there are many more firms to get that kind of experience than just the Big 4.

I know how tough job searching can be. All the job boards say things like CPA exam pass preferred, public accounting experience preferred, heck I've even seen “Big 4 experience required” for many private/corporate job postings but that is most likely to scare candidates from applying. They will certainly look at candidates with non Big 4, public accounting experience, or even with just relevant private experience.

At this point your best bet is to gain work experience and NETWORK. I've had private (corporate) jobs and some corporations hire ALL 4 of the big four to do various tasks for them. My manager at one corporation straight out told me she thought I was a very smart, ambitious young guy and that she thinks I'm big 4 material. She said I should start bringing my resume's to work and be prepared to network because she was personally going to introduce me to tax managers at all 4 of the big 4 firms over the coming weeks to help me network. She even helped me to word the experience I got at that firm on my resume! Good luck finding a manager like that but bless you if you do! If you land a job where they take a genuine interest in your personal/professional development then you will do very well!

Trust me, I know its tough starting out. I graduated in 2011 from an unimpressive college with no job prospects and NO experience – no internships & an unimpressive 3.1 GPA. It was a tough boat to be in, but my resume looked lightyears better after some experience got put on it. My work experience on my resume quickly made the “Education” section of the resume become almost irrelevant. It was a nice change to spend 95% of the interview time discussing work experience and just blowing right over education all together.

Your best bet if you are really dead-set on Big 4 is to get a good stepping stone job. Network at your current position and keep your linked-in page looking super professional. My linked in page gets hits from recruiters very very frequently. Do not discount other/smaller public firms, they will give you great experience, potentially even BETTER experience than big 4 due to more exposure with partners and senior management and greater exposure to a variety of projects. Also will be easier to jump from one public firm to another, and eventually to big 4 if you so must.

A co-worker of mine from a small public CPA firm I worked for stayed with that company for less than 2 years, then jumped to a much larger public accounting firm (but not big 4) and within about a year at the larger firm he is now at PWC.

Keep working and leave school behind (sooner, rather than later). Its all about the real world now, and work experience. If your college network doesn't help you to land a good job now what makes you think it will help a year from now? Now its all about you, and your experience and your network. Focus on that and work with your own set of headhunters/recruiters. You will do better looking for a job working with 30+ recruiting firms than you will applying for hundreds of job postings directly at your level of experience.

Get high CPA scores to help your resume look better 😉 If you want you can even put them on your resume or linked in and that may draw you some more attention too. At a minimum, when you finish passing the CPA exam throw that on your resume and linked in! CPA Exam Passed!

Best of luck!

[Author]

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