[Anonymous]

Hello everyone! This is my first post on here, and I need some guidance on a few things. In the fall, I am finishing my bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance as well as starting a few master’s classes and feel like a big four position would be a good fit for me. I will be graduating from the MACC program in the fall of 2014. My question is this: in the fall recruiting, would it be better for me to pursue an internship for the upcoming summer (2014) or pursue a staff position starting in the spring of 2015? I wasn’t sure if any of the big four would typically hire that much in advance. I could always pursue the internship for the summer and then pursue the staff position in fall of 2014 recruiting. I am currently working as an intern at a local accounting firm, so that would mean quitting my position there if I got an internship.

Also, I’m trying to evaluate my chances of getting an interview with a big four accounting firm. I have about 9 months of experience in accounting at the local firm I have been working at, a 3.15 overall GPA and a 3.2 accounting GPA. I have worked throughout college, and I have never failed a class. Although, there was a period when I valued partying more than making above Cs in a lot of classes. The only area I have sacrificed (due to working so much) is my on campus involvement, which I hope to improve while pursing my master’s degree. Also, the big four heavily recruit out of my school.

I would appreciate any advice you have!!

[kmaahs]

You should be far from disappointed if you land a gig at a “mid-tier” firm. The pay is almost identical, and you can easily (relatively speaking) move laterally into a Big 4 later in your career if you want to stick with public accounting.

As far as taking your undergrad gpa off your resume in lieu of your master's gpa, I'm not sure on that. I have done that, but my undergrad major was in human resources so it is almost entirely irrelevant to my accounting capabilities. As an accounting undergrad, I'm not sure you would want to take it off. 3.2 is not bad, really. If you have a stronger 3.6+ master's GPA alongside it, I don't see why you would be overlooked for GPA reasons.

Also, you have some real experience, which many in your place do not have. GPA is an indicator of how capable you are at performing technical work, and how capable you will be in passing the CPA exam. If you have experience, and one or more parts of the exams passed, you have already proven that you can do both those things.

As far as a double major giving you an advantage, I'm not sure. It would certainly make you stand out, which is a good thing. It will be up to you to convince a recruiter that your extra classes in finance will translate into something of value in the workplace. As Accounting and Finance are so interrelated, I can't imagine you will have a hard time selling its value.

A last quick thought: learn about the firms you apply to. If you go into an interview and say “i think Big4 is a good fit more me” they will ask you why. And if your only response is “well…. everyone wants Big 4 so I guess I do too!” you aren't going to get far.

C.P.A.

[Anonymous]

This website has turned out to be a great resource. I appreciate the time everyone has spent in their responses and helping me out.

@kmaash Awesome advice. I won't take my GPA off. I am going to be taking aud on October 5th; I will hopefully pass and that will support my GPA. I will definitely do my research before an interview!

[Anonymous]

I spoke with a big 4 recruiter about a week and a half ago. I was referred to the position of a senior. When I spoke with the recruiter on the phone he said I have great experience but lack big 4 experience for a senior. My background is tax and investment and I have been in my current company for 3.5 years. He said he will forward my resume to the hiring manager for the department and let me know by Monday. Its Friday now and I emailed him on Tuesday to get a status update, he said he is still waiting on the hiring manager to get back to him. Is this normal? My friend told me to have patience but as days pass I feel that I might as well move on with my job search. How long does it usually take for the recruiter to get back to the candidate and should I just give up?

[kmaahs]

If your contact said to wait, wait. You don't want to pester too much. Hiring always takes forever… it really does. Be patient.

“My friend told me to have patience but as days pass I feel that I might as well move on with my job search”

You never should have stopped your job search. You really don't want to ever wait on a specific job when looking for work. If things are moving along well and you have a good feeling, great. But keep contacting people and sending resumes and going to fairs and the like. Just because you feel a job would be a great fit for you and you work yourself into a place where you feel that this is the only job for you doesn't mean it will pan out. So keep on the job search. Worst case scenario is that you end up with multiple offers, which is really not so bad at all 🙂

Good luck!

C.P.A.

[Anonymous]

@kmaahs thank you for your response :). I have actually been applying else where, in fact probably 20 different jobs. Most with Big 4 and Grant Thornton. I am curious…I applied for most of them about 2 weeks ago also, and I got maybe 2 responses basically telling me to move on. But the others I'm not getting a response on it and haven't heard whether I'm disqualified or whatever. Should I assume that I still have a chance to hear back in the near future?

[Author]

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