[Angry BC Birdy]

Hello all,
I have a quick question related to getting a accounting job in Big 4.
Some background, so I got a ME degree for undergraduate. And got a MBA and MSF from another decent school. I passed the CFA level3, CMA, and I have Aud left to go for CPA. Currently I am working as a financial analyst in a manufacturing company. I feel that I need some public accounting experience in order to climb the corporate ladder faster. The issue is that I took minimal accounting classes during my masters (still need to take audit and tax in order to get licensed in IN), and has no experience with auditing and tax. So my question is how hard it is to get a auditing or tax position in big 4.
Thanks,

[Cobalt60]

No, you don't need public accounting experience to move up in a company as an engineer with an MBA and a MSF. That's silly. I know several eng/MBA people with no public accounting experience (really no accounting experience or certifications) that are VP's at large publicly traded companies. I'm not sure exactly what they make, but at least multiple hundreds of thousands a year.

Engineers make more money than accountants. Engineering managers make a lot more. Both also work fewer hours than you would in public accounting.

To get the public accounting role you're looking for you need to convince someone that you want to do public accounting. That isn't easy. Why would you want to make less money and work more hours? It is possible.

Rose-Hulman?

[jeff]

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[jeff]

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[vbmer]

Honestly, you are way overqualified for an audit position, and tax is a specialized stream that probably won't have too many suitable opportunities.

You have a great resume, and Big Four could be great experience, but instead of chasing public accounting, I would suggest you to take a look at Advisory or Transactions/Deals at a Big Four firm. I'm in Corporate Finance, and we have our share of people with CPA + CFA + MBA + Eng/Math undergrad – your exact profile. More specifically, I think you could be a good fit in Corporate Finance/M&A, Strategy & Operations, Securities Valuation, Financial Modeling, or Structured Finance. S&O in particular – most firms don't have enough consultants who know proper finance. It'll be easy to exit any of those practices into an FP&A, corp dev, or strategy role at most companies. Data visualization or financial modeling experience would make you an even stronger candidate, if you have either.

Have you considered equity research? It's not everyone's cup of tea (certainly not mine), but you'd be a great candidate to cover manufacturing firms, and it could be great experience depending on where you want to go.

[Anthony]

Answer to OP questions..it's gonna be hard because Big4 generally only hires from 2 pools of candidates.

1. Fresh out of school or
2. People who already have tax/audit experience.

Not saying it's impossible, but unless you know someone it's gonna be a uphill battle.

[vbmer]

35% of professional client-facing staff at the Big Four are not in Audit or Tax. On top of that, there are many people in Audit or Tax who work in practices such as Accounting Advisory/Forensics (part of Audit/Assurance at some firms), Valuation (part of Tax at some firms) or Audit/Tax Innovation/Technology who are not auditors or tax accountants, and may not even be accountants or tax lawyers at all. Experienced hiring from industry is the norm for many of this 35-40%, and audit/tax experience is usually not necessary.

[PC]

Agree with others that Advisory may be the way to go. Much wider range of opportunities, and you won't be stuck in an audit room reconciling cash for months on end.

Have you tried networking through LinkedIn? Looks like you're getting licensed in Indiana – if you're considering Chicago as a potential landing spot, a good friend of mine from my Big 4 days is still with the firm as an Advisory Director. I'd be happy to reach out and get details on locating and/or applying for opportunities there.

[Author]

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