[gustavomorales]

Why do some public accounting firms have a VERY lengthy hiring process? I have seen several job posts online that have the year 2021 as the start date.

[DocJ]

Prepping well in advance for the next busy season.

[AusNat]

That's typical for campus recruiting. Students know when they'll be done with their programs and CPA eligible (a common requirement) well in advance, and the factors that affect hiring for fresh grad positions are heavy on the soft skills/personal attributes and light on the tech skills, a great candidate can be spotted well in advance. It allows the firm to staff for the coming fiscal year and students to have their post-grad plans lined up. Campus recruiting is also a lengthy process that's done in batches. Ours involves rotations of on-campus interviews at schools (each school is visited by a handful of staff, managers, and partners) as initial screening – every candidate is rated by at least 2 people. Then each spring we have office visit days where several dozen candidates at a time are invited to come in, hear from key staff about what we're looking for and what the firm is like, have a Q&A session with more staff, tour the office and ask questions in small groups, and then go on a big social outing with staff (Top Golf is a favorite). Then the department reps sit down in a group, discuss, and rank the candidates. This obviously is only practical once or twice a year. It's not uncommon for students to finish school in May or August, spend fall testing, and then start in January. It's also easiest for everyone to start all the campus/inexperienced hires at the same time in a large class, so they usually get to wait until the January following their graduation/CPA eligibility.

[Author]

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