[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone,

I’m going starting recruiting this fall. Can’t wait until it’s over! I’m more worried about recruiting than I was about the exams haha I learned plenty about the Big 4 through contacts and ninja posts. I can’t find much information about non-big4 top 10 firms though (BDO, Crowe, McGladrey, CBIZ, etc). Can people please share their story about these firms? GPA, whether or not you had your CPA, recruitment process, interview questions, culture, experience, etc..any input would really help this process!

Good luck to everyone receiving scores today!!

[wannabeCPA123]

They don't have lower standards than the Big 4. they try to sell themselves as better places to work, and that's how they grab their candidates.

Interviewed with McGradley, and I didn't have a good discussion with my interviewer. I didn't want to work for them either, and I think she could tell.

I interviewed with BDO and got all the way to a written offer. The BDO office seemed to super chill. The people were all down to earth. Lot's of former Big 4 managers and Partners worked there. If it wasn't for the Resume boost of a Big 4, I would have accepted the offer with BDO. Moreover, my wife pressured me to take the offer with a Big 4. I hope I didn't make a mistake.

FAR 78
REG 87
BEC 78
AUD 78
Passed all exams on first try! Good luck to everyone!

[Anonymous]

The whole recruitment process for these firms is pretty much identical to the Big 4, including the interviews. Also it's pretty hard to get a feel for the culture based on a career fair and 2 hour office interview. They pretty much offer the same exact services as Big 4 (minus some of the specialty groups), they just work with smaller clients.

Maybe this was just me, but I actually found it harder to get offers from the mid-tier firms versus the Big 4. I assume this is because their offices are smaller and hire nowhere near as many people every recruiting season. I only got two 1st round interviews (Crowe, McGladrey), even made it to the office visit with Crowe and did not receive an offer.

My advice: approach recruiting exactly the same way you would as for Big 4 because the process is identical. They're good firms to work for, but it is not by any means easier to get a job with them.

[fuzyfro89]

Big 4 may have slightly higher academic standards, but not by a lot. “Fit” is important to Big 4, but its an been bigger deal to mid tier firms and small firms who aren't hiring 30+ people a year… So it's also difficult but in a different way. They are selling a slightly different product as another post said, since they obviously can't compete with the branding of a big 4 firm.

In general, if you want to do public accounting not as a career boost, go Big 4. If you want a potent nail career in it, you may be happier in a smaller firm. Just decide what's most important to you in your first job and that will help you decide (this is assuming you're qualified for both ranges).

[fuzyfro89]

Potential career*

[Author]

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