[Starved_Wolf]

I accepted an offer with a very small firm that focuses on only 1 industry. I am a non-traditional CPA candidate and have been applying for a long time and this was the best I could get. My goal, however, is to work for a mid-sized firm or one of the big 4 firms. Would it be terrible if I kept looking around?

[DM]

Congrats on the offer. IMO, stay at least 1 year with the small firm. Then you can move to a bigger firm as experienced staff or senior. No point in looking around now because you will be viewed as a flight risk. Use the small firm to obtain your CPA experience hours, pass the CPA exams asap, and then you are more qualified for bigger firm. Who knows, you may like the smaller office. But bigger firms tend to have better exit ops. Bottom line, pass the exams if you want bigger firm (assuming you haven't passed because you listed yourself as CPA candidate).

[livealittle]

lots of contacts can be made from the small firm.

BEC - 8/8/16
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[HT415]

Assuming this is your first real public accounting experience, I would say stay for a year and then look to make a move. One year of experience in public molds well for finding new opportunities, whether you go out and look for them yourself, or if someone reaches out to you (via Linkedin, for example).

At the same time, it won't hurt to reach out to some folks on linkedin from different firms that interest you and just putting a bid in ahead of time. Creating a connection and letting a recruiter know months in advance might actually help you if you decide to wait a year to apply as opposed to going in cold turkey style. I, too was working for a small firm and made a transition to a top 25 firm, and someone reached out to me via linkedin so I got lucky.

[Author]

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