[Anonymous]

Has anyone had any success landing an interview/job with a Big 4 firm based solely on a reference by someone (most likely high up) within the firm? I think I may have a few connections within a few of the Big 4s but my gpa is soooo bad (less than 3.0 *gulp*) because I was going to school full-time and working full-time and mistakenly chose work over school. Anyway, even if I land an interview with a big firm based on networking, do you think they will seriously consider me after I tell them my gpa? I have no public accounting experience and only minor bookkeeping/billing experience so it’s not like I have ‘work experience’ in my favor either.

[Last_First_MI]

I think passing the exam will help them over look that GPA, but from what I have heard about the Big 4 is really its all about getting recruited out of college. I think they love cheap labor during busy season and hire kids like crazy right out of school and work them to the bones during busy season. Keep the ones that can swing it and ones that pass the exam. Then next year they start the process over again. If you can't pass the exam in a certain amount of time while working 70 hours a week during busy season you will not be working there long.

I am glad to be in the private sector, plus the pay and hours are much better than being in public sector.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for responding! Hopefully you're right and they will overlook my GPA since I've passed the exam. Did you ever work in public accounting/Big 4 prior to going private? If I had it my way, I would avoid public accounting altogether and go straight into private but many of the jobs available in private want someone who has public accounting experience…plus, I have to meet the 1 year of experience requirement before I can even receive my license.

[Herbieherb]

Ya it sux..all the really good jobs want big4 public exp or just plain old public exp..I don't know if I should take a pay cut to be an entry public accountant big4 or not just for the exposure…any ideas?

NEW YORK- DONE

[potatogun]

If you have the flexibility in life style, public (especially big4) is well worth a couple years of suffering.

If you get a recommendation into a big4 you will likely submit a profile/application, so they will see your grades. If you get called into an interview then you can assume you need to mainly impress on the personality front.

Worth a shot. However, recommendations that are for entry level don't really hold as much interest since you're just going to be competing with the crop of college applicants.

Referrals are more stressed for experienced hiring.

FAR 92 - AUD 91 - REG 94 - BEC 86

[Last_First_MI]

Since you are a CO passer Coloardo has an industry experience that will qualify plus if you have 150 credit hours with a couple of grad level acct courses you get experience in lieu of experience. I am also a CO candidate. Got the exam over and I am waiting on license as I did education in lieu of experience.

I have never been in the public/big 4 world. When I was looking for jobs in undergrad school I got interviews at big 4, good sized regionals, and small firms and the starting pay was just horrible. Lets just say I would be able to pay off my student loans in about 30 years in what they offered. I was offered almost double the salary to enter the private sector right out of college so that is the route I went.

I know that the Big 4 even in the private sector is the holy grail of everything, and the Big 4 knows this that is why they do what they do out of college getting cheap labor and lay off every season after busy season because they know that some are forced to go that route. I am not trying to start a fight or anything but any employee I've hired or interviewed from the Big 4s at my company just never cut the mustard. Lots of them come in thinking they know everything and nothing is worse than an know it all.

It can be done as I have. If you get into private just get with a good company under a cpa and get the in door. Once that is taken care of you prove yourself and they will take care of you. My employer is not the biggest oil and gas company in Denver but after proving myself for the past couple of years they have paid for a Master's, and Becker to pass the CPA.

[Anonymous]

I already had an MBA when I decided to go the accounting course. My GPA for both undergrad and MBA was a 3.92 but none of the Big 4 was interested because of my age. I ended up in a small firm doing govt auditing and have never been happier. It's not what I thought I wanted to do at first (governmental acct -ick) but it's not as bad as I originally thought based on my accounting classes. I find govt acct and auditing to be straight forward and since we're small I get to do everything so have learned a lot, more than I think I would have learned at a Big 4. I also get to do tax work and have specialized in trust/estate taxes. I like the people I work with and love my job.

Granted I'm not making a ton of money but I also don't work 60 or more hours during busy time unless I choose to. I make enough to pay off my student loan and am paying for my daughter's college. Don't discount small or regional firms as the work/life benefit is important too.

[Anonymous]

@Last_First, hook a sista up with your company!! 😉 I hear ya about going private rather than public. I personally have no desire to go public but figured that was the best way to land a great private sector job. I don't have my Masters yet, but am thinking of doing the Liberty University online program that's accredited etc. It's cheaper and more convenient than CU or CSU. Do you think I should go the masters route (even if it's an online program) to get my GPA up and to be able to get licensed without first getting experience? Seriously though, if your company is hiring, please let me know 🙂 I've always wanted to learn Oil & Gas accounting.

@dhuffman, yeah I've heard that smaller firms tend to give you more experience than some Big 4s because you are working on all aspects of an audit, for example, whereas at one of the Big 4s you may be working on one small part of the financial stmts like wages but for multiple clients…boooorrring. I also like that at smaller firms you are thought of as a human being rather than a number. *sigh* at this point (being sooo close to my cpa license) I'll take ANYTHING…or almost anything.

[Anonymous]

@bammers2 not sure where you are located but if you are in the mid west (OK specifically) or willing to relocate I know Conoco is looking for O&G accountants and a lot of O&G firms are located in Houston if you want to live there.

[kandisjoy]

“…plus, I have to meet the 1 year of experience requirement before I can even receive my license.”

You might already know this, but just in case you don't… You don't have to work in public accounting in order to get your license. You just have to work under a CPA. I worked in public accounting for about a year but didn't have my CPA passed (still don't) so I didn't get signed off there. I now work in private accounting at a community bank and my boss, the controller, is a CPA. He will sign off for my license. I won't be able to do audits but that's fine because I hate auditing and it isn't needed for my career path. 🙂 Unfortunately I of course still need to pass the AUD section of the exam… booooo. Taking that May 27th.

As someone who has worked in both public and private accounting, and talked to a few others who have made the switch from public to private, go private if it's at all possible. Even if you make $7k less per year, it'll be worth it. I didn't have to take a pay cut but I would have if I'd had to. I know that there are some rare individuals out there that love public accounting… but I'm definitely not one of them!

Here are some negative things about working in public accounting (at least where I worked):

1) DRAMA – people talk about others all of the time, and if there is an opportunity to stab you in the back, someone will take it.

2) Having to live in a hotel – I worked at a place that made the entry level people do both tax and audit. I lived in a hotel for about 4 months out of the year. Not fun (especially when they send you to Modesto). And it might sound nice to get away but trust me, you'll miss home. I never thought I'd miss my kitties so much. Didn't miss the boyfriend, so I got rid of him.

3) Working 10+ hours per day almost year-round

4) Being looked down upon for taking breaks

5) Having 50 different bosses – You have a manager for tax season, but you may end up doing work for other partners. Same with audit, although usually you work under several different partners during a season. Every boss has a different style. I remember on one of my reviews, my tax manager told me that I asked too many questions. Then during one of my audit reviews, I was told that I didn't ask enough questions. Talk about confusing. And I've never seen so many people come out of reviews crying.

The only two good things that I got out of public accounting:

1) Some experience

2) Hating my job so much made me REALLY appreciate my current job

Wow, I really made it sound like hell on Earth. But I guess it kind of was for me!

As for working in private accounting… I enjoy it. I still have to work overtime (though not nearly as much) but the people that I work with chose this career path because they value a work/life balance. My boss has told me to go home before when I've wanted to stay late and work on a project. It's so nice!

FAR: 71, 77
BEC: 70, 82
AUD: 62, 78
REG: 71, 68, 85

CA Licensed 11/2011

[Last_First_MI]

I don't think we are hiring that I know of right now but will let you know if we are. Don't discredit the MPACC program at Metro either its cheaper and you get in classroom teaching with good professors. I am the kind of person that likes the classroom environment. I would do the Master's route it can be done up until 2015 until Colorado gets on the bandwagon with all the other states.

[Anonymous]

@dhuffman, thanks, but I am in Denver and am not willing to relocate to another state for a job at this point. I'm hoping and praying I find something in CO.

@kandisjoy, thanks for the info. I actually forgot about the other ways to obtain experience without going the public accounting route and so now I'm applying for accounting positions in private companies. The thing that I find with private companies is that they are put off by me passing the CPA exam because it's like they automatically assume I want a position in public accounting eventually and will leave them high and dry after a year or so. It makes you wonder if putting ‘passed all sections of CPA exam' on your resume is a good thing or not when it comes to private accounting positions.

@last_first, I have been looking into Metro's program, but I really don't feel like going to night school again. Although I took the majority of my accounting courses on campus at CU, I much preferred the online courses because I hate sitting through lectures at a scheduled time. That's just me though. Maybe if I find a company that is as supportive as yours and will pay for the thing, then I'll reconsider 🙂 So in 2015, I thought CO is just going to require candidates to basically have their Masters to sit for the exam…is there anything else they are requiring?

[Anonymous]

@kandisjoy it sounds like you used to work at my firm!!! I spend about 3 months in Modesto each year doing Governmental Auditing! Such a blast.

There's definitely a trade off between working in public accounting for the experience and maintaining the quality of life that you really want. Traveling a majority of the time takes me away from my friends, family and my dog. If I could go back to when I was making the decision between public and private, I would have gone straight into private. For me the best part of public accounting has been that I've figured out what I really want to do with my career. I wasn't sure if I wanted to specialize in Oil & Gas Accounting, but now I'm sold!

I guess what I'm getting at is that if you already know what industry you want to be in, then dive right in! If you're still unsure, public accounting is a great way of letting you experience a variety of industries to help you figure out what interests you the most.

So what does the O&G Accounting job market look like out in Denver? I'm considering relocating out there once I've completed my CPA.

[Last_First_MI]

We have a pretty good market out here in Colorado none of the fully integrated big players, but most of them are overseas punching holes in the ground anyway, and their finance depts are usually shared services ran out of some third world country. Only real opportunity in finance/accounting with them is to work in lovely places like Angola or Kazakhstan.

We have the whole spectrum covered from upstream to downstream in Denver. You will find more little upstreams, because usually more profitable, than mid or downstreams out here but all seem to take very good care of their employees. My company for instance is a little MLP midstream company.

@Bammers

The 150 credit hour rules takes effect to get licensed you can sit before but you have to be enrolled in school to fulfill the 150. So since it become minimum to become licensed the education in lieu of experience goes out the door.

[Author]

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