[Anonymous]

Would it be inappropriate to ask these kind of questions in an interview? What is the billable rate? What is the average engagement fee and how many clients do you have? What is the utilization rate (for employees and the firm as a whole)? How many employees are there and is there enough billable work to go around? How many billable hours am I expected to charge per week and how can I ensure I’m hitting those goals?

Is it common for these types of questions to be asked? Particularly for public accounting positions.

[EastCoastGirl22]

Appropriate = What is the utilization rate (insert the level you are interviewing for)? How many employees are there (within the local practice you are applying for?) and what is the mix of client accounts across industry sectors (vs asking number of clients) How many billable hours am I expected to charge per week (same thing as utilization rate question above).

Inappropriate = What is the billable rate? What is the average engagement fee and how many clients do you have? is there enough billable work to go around? How can I ensure I'm hitting those goals? (I would rephrase this question to ask what structure/processes the firm has in place to provide coaching and support to (insert the level you are applying for) – makes it seem more structured than asking general question of how do I achieve goals. Typically as a newly hired employee you can't “ensure” anything on your own – so the question also showed that you are thoughtful enough to ask for support when you need it 🙂

[Anonymous]

Great post, thanks for the feedback eastcoastgirl 😊

[Author]

Replies