Can't get a job in Public. Accent problem??? - Page 2

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  • #195310
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I had quite a few interviews with different mid-sized to large public accounting firms, but a phone interview rarely resulted in a live interview, and I never got any offers so far. I have no idea what they are looking for…

    I worked two tax seasons as a Tax Prep for small accounting firms. I worked full-time while in college, and I’ve been working for a little more than a year as a Staff Accountant for quite a large company where I deal with all kinds of financial accounting issues all the time. I passed FAR and REG, taking AUD in couple days.

    Resume-wise I should be in pretty good shape. In my cover letter I mention that passed those CPA parts. So, tax + fin. accounting experience = should be ideal for midsized accounting firms, where accountants do both, audits and taxes. What the hell? I am just curious. I am originally from another country, and I do have an accent, but it’s not thick. Maybe that’s the issue. Because the recruiters say that their ideal candidates should have PERFECT communication skills. That’s the only reason I could think of. Anybody? Anybody have any experience working with people who have accents???

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 38 total)
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  • #681706
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I think that everybody has a valid point here. I must say that my accent is not thick at all, I also had a lot of international classmates while in college, and my English is nothing like theirs. I am not an international student and have no visa issues, but rather I am a citizen of America who just grew up in another country. I would say that ScarletKnightCPA is right, it is just their perception. They think using stereotypes. In fact, the dumber the people the more they tend to use generalizations of all kinds. And unfortunately, the average HR person might not be as bright as an auditor or an engineer. I have a good job and got lots of offers from good companies in the industry. I was just thinking of getting some public accounting experience working as an Auditor, but those are hard to get.

    I use an American name and make it sound like I am not foreign at all, it's just sometimes they drill me left and right over the phone and I might make some pauses while talking, and that's where my accent starts to come up, because I am stressed. I am under the impression that they are dumb, because last time a recruiter said “I see you have experience mostly doing taxes”. I have 10 moths of experience as a Tax Intern and 14 as a Staff Accountant right after college, where obviously I handle more complicated tasks than as an Intern. So not only they cannot do the math, but they don't realize that the experience you get after college is more valuable. They are just really dumb, although the firm was a good one. Thanks everyone. And I am very honest with myself about “the thing” that exists in our corporate world. I can see how playing golf with big bosses and/or clients might be an issue due to cultural differences, but performing audits where technical skills should more relevant (if your language is conversational) should not be a problem. Thanks!

    #681707
    ruggercpa2b
    Participant

    I think because you worked in tax and now as a staff acccountant that is not really considered audit experience and to a recruiter in public accounting may not seem to be of value because they still have to teach you the job and the audit methodology from scratch. I would look at your experience and figure out how you can sell them in an audit role.

    I think you may be overselling yourself by the experience you have. I worked in internal audit for 5 years in industry before I even had someone pay attention to my resume. I made the switch to Big 4 but I had to convince them why I was to come in as an experienced hire versus as a staff. I have known people that made the jump from being in accounting roles over 7 years and came to the Big 4 and started out as staff just to get Big 4 experience on their resume.

    AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
    BEC - 8/20/2016
    REG - TBD
    FAR - TBD

    I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

    #681708
    Missy
    Participant

    Well you may have provided your own answer above, internships are not as valuable as jobs after college and staff accountant experience doesn't necessarily translate to experience relevant to public accounting even though you're doing more than you were as an intern. So the bottom line is you've got just over a year real experience in industry and have passed 2 exams. Thats definately where many applicants to public are, but there are going to be some whose qualifications are just more suited than that and it has nothing to do with accents.

    Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
    Finance/Admin/HR Manager

    #681709
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I do understand the limitations of my experience, all I was saying is that if a person already has more Financial Accounting experience time-wise (where you just simply worked in certain role more time) and also that experience is most recent, and after college, and you performed more advanced work, than the recruiter just cannot tell “you have experience mostly in Tax.” Also, the recruiter was asking questions after I already answered them. You know, like you when you give an answer about your teamwork, but it already answers the “have you implemented any process improvements” question.

    And I am not overselling myself, keep in mind that kids get those jobs right our of college without passing no CPA parts at all. Going through the year-end audit and preparing PBO's for external auditors and working with them closely, relates really well to an Auditor job. So I disagree here completely.

    #681710
    trish_1234
    Member

    awesome responses… I am amazed by how many people experienced on how accent and foreign name is/can be an issue

    @ coloradorit and ScarletKnightCPA isn't that sooooo funny, I have to laugh at peoples ignorance. Well I am definitely going to change my last name on my resume and I will leave out the skill of being bilingual guess thats nothing to be proud of. I feel sorry for my father he speaks 7 languages what a curse jk

    seriously MKE Accountant, dont start getting paranoid about your accent. MLA has a good point could be a lot of other things. But just in case change your name and ditch the bilingual from the resume!!!!!!!!!….and to think that I mocked my friend (African) for changing his name when he became a citizen! I guess he had already experienced …racism….bias…

    I edited this post a little bc now I am paranoid abt my writing skilll -_-

    AUD 69, 92 7/15 Gleim and Ninja test bank
    FAR sometime in 10/15 Gleim
    BEC not taken
    REG not taken

    #681711
    fuzyfro89
    Participant

    Being very honest, MKEAccountant, i disagree with your position, but feel free to take my points or leave them.

    “…And I am not overselling myself, keep in mind that kids get those jobs right our of college without passing no CPA parts at all. “

    If you are not landing enough interviews… then your resume and/or networking needs improvement.

    If you ARE landing interviews, but are NOT getting any offers… then your interviewing needs improvement.

    Full disclosure, I am an Asian American, but was born in the US (no accent), but I think the big 4 firms, and many mid/large public firms go BANANAS to increase diversity. They use that as a huge selling point to both employee candidates and clients. Regardless, stop wasting time blaming recruiters for being “dumb” and hating on your accent. I seriously doubt that's the problem, although obviously there is endless research showing racial bias is alive and well all around the USA.

    I worked in big 4 audit, large public company internal audit, and now a financial analyst. Trust me, no one gives a sh*t about your accent… so long as it won't get in the way of communicating with clients/colleagues, and that there isn't a concern of whether you can write in grammatically correct (mostly) English. Think about it from a client's perspective. They don't want to see that their audit team is all a bunch of white dudes either. It reflects poorly on them as well. Obviously, there are a ton of males and lots of whites in public, but it's incredibly challenging to close that gap. If anything, minorities have an advantage in recruiting with the public acct firms (again, assuming you are professionally competent to speak/write in English).

    Focus on what you CAN control: resume, networking, iron your suit, wear clean shoes, brush your teeth, practice interviewing. Clearly you aren't convincing interviewers that you are the best. Why do you think that is? For one reason or another, you are not selling yourself better than the other candidates. You can either blame the recruiter, or try to improve and continue working hard to apply, networking, and interview as much as possible.

    #681712
    needcoffee
    Member

    Interesting post. MKE Accountant, sorry you're having a hard time finding a job, but I agree with some of the other posts, you should think about your attitude a little more. I'm not trying to be mean, but sometimes we need to hear some things from other people to realize that we don't really come off to others as we think.

    I'm from another country, need sponsorship, have an accent, and I had no internship, but I had no problems finding jobs in the past (in industry) and now in public. If anything, the accent and the fact that I'm bilingual actually helped me get interviews and jobs. What I had going for me (confirmed by the same people that hired me) was humility and an easy outgoing nature. If you have experience in tax and as staff accountant, chances are you know very little about audit and the recruiters know that. If you expect to start as an experienced hire when your level is really more of a first year, you'll have a hard time getting an offer. Take the first year job, prove yourself to them how good you are, and you'll get promoted soon enough.

    Also, don't think about somebody how dumb they are just because they ask you questions You don't like. Not only will that come thru in your attitude when you speak, but they may have their own reasons to ask you those questions (and you're probably failing their “test”). At this point, you're the one who has to impress them, not the other way around. Always remember that there is more to getting a job than just your resume. Especially in audit in public, companies care more about what you are like as a person than what your resume says. You will have to spend many many hours with your team and you all have to get along. If you come over as arrogant and other things on the phone before you even have the job (not intended to offend you), nobody will want to be stuck in a room with you for 10-12 hours a day.

    When I was first interviewing with my current company, the recruiting manager told me “you have a degree in accounting and a master. That shows me we can teach you the job. What we care more about is who you are as a person.” Especially in public, sad but true, you will spend more time with the people you work with than with your own family and friends. You have to fit in.

    By the way, I'm on the recruiting team for my company…so take this however you want.

    "It's choice not chance that determines your destiny".

    #681713
    needcoffee
    Member

    I totally agree with fuzyfro89.

    "It's choice not chance that determines your destiny".

    #681714
    trish_1234
    Member

    I agree with all the comments. While attitude/personality are important, it is also common for an accent/foreign name to have a negative impact. Just because MKE Accountant called a recruiter dumb does not mean he has an attitude he is just frustrated with this experience.

    fuzyfro89 gave some solid advice control what you can control….. do some mock interviews focus on your interview skills your resume gets you lots of interview so no need to fix/change it.

    Good luck

    AUD 69, 92 7/15 Gleim and Ninja test bank
    FAR sometime in 10/15 Gleim
    BEC not taken
    REG not taken

    #681715
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I agree with all above comments. I must say that accent is a factor, but obviously not the main one. And I do understand it, because I have common sense. I don't have troubles finding the job, I already have one. I was just curious why in public recruiters are more demanding and sometimes talk like they don't care (it's not my attitude, but theirs). But as I understood from the posts above, there is just way more competition for jobs in public, and the quality of the candidates is higher.

    What you all are missing though, is that it really all depends on the company and its culture. I am currently working for a company that “goes BANANAS” for cultural diversity and nobody cares about my accent and we have IT guys from all over the world, which is cool. Also, I know that BIG 4 are okay with foreign people, same as ALL companies that have international presence. But I was applying to regional MID-SIZED firms (where I can do both taxes and audit), where they are NOT OKAY with foreign people, because they are more concerned about their team members getting along with each other due to long work hours, than about cultural diversity.

    I must admit, I won't be able to get into BIG 4 (I don't have a 3.75 GPA and super outgoing personality), and honestly, like I said, I wanted to get into a firm of a smaller size. Those are just some clarifications, because I didn't provide all the details. And I loved the comments! They are very helpful, thank you guys, I really appreciate it!!!

    But, just as a side note, people judge you by the way you speak. If you speak really well, people unconsciously percept you as a smarter, more intelligent person (which is not always the case). That is unconscious and very hard to control, these are just our instincts. But if you are aware if this issue and can tune up you ears to a different accent, that might be overcome. Obviously, foreign people use phrases that might be simpler, which does not make their communication less effective at work, but others tend to percept them as less smart/intelligent until the GET TO KNOW THEM BETTER.

    So I wish that people didn't just proclaim that we are all a big happy family in America, and don't have any issues with racism, judgment, segregation and what not; but were just aware of simple issue that sometimes there might be a mismatch between people's intelligence and their speaking skills. Okay?

    #681716
    trish_1234
    Member

    🙂 agreed! I have lived in many different countries and I have friends from all over the world. I know all about racism, judgment and segregation. It is very present.

    *especially as you get older ……

    AUD 69, 92 7/15 Gleim and Ninja test bank
    FAR sometime in 10/15 Gleim
    BEC not taken
    REG not taken

    #681717
    Missy
    Participant

    But you must admit there's a common theme to many of your posts here, and that's when things don't go the way you want exactly when you want, it's an indication of some bias against you rather than just a, regular frustration that we all deal with.

    Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
    Finance/Admin/HR Manager

    #681718
    Skynet
    Participant

    Wait, what about those people who likes the Kardashians. It's OK to hate those guys, right ? 🙂

    #681719
    Yaz88
    Participant

    I am an international student who worked for PwC abroad just over 2 years and now in the US finishing my masters and working on the CPA too. I completely understand where you're coming from. I have an accent too, however my English is sufficient and comparable with a native speaker. I lived in England when I turned 15, then moved to the states after 4.5 years. So I couldn't pick an English accent properly as I lost it completely, and stuck with a weird accent, mixed English and american lol.

    anyways

    Nobody is hiring me while all the graduate students at my college (All Americans) have a job lined up already. We had job fairs and I am the only one who didn't get a chance.. And guess what? none of them has a public experience… Majority of my professors are shocked that I didn't get a job yet.

    I totally think the problem is my accent and my foreign name. Yes Racism exist more than anybody thinks

    I mean if I went through PwC”s Process of recruiting, I believe I can get through some recruiting process, and those who got a job in PwC will know what I mean.

    #681720
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    The dude already worked at PWC in England but cannot find a job in America. Clearly Europeans are more open-minded.

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 38 total)
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