[Peanut Butter is Good]

I am not a typical candidate. I’m 29 years old.

In my undergraduate studies, my GPA was 2.7. However, Now I am studying for MS in Accounting, and have almost a 3.6 (much better school too). I got into the MS program due to very high GMAT score.

I took 2 CPA sections (FAR and AUD) and am pretty sure I passed AUD and failed FAR. I also have some certifications in Excel and QuikBooks.

I had a legitimate FT accounting internship at a pharmaceutical firm last year, but they let me go right before year end, for reasons that were unclear. After this I took an (unpaid) accounting internship with an upstart company. This ended a few months ago, so it’s been quite a while since I’ve had paying work now. But, I’m still a student, and right about to graduate this Fall.

I feel like like I am not in a terrible position, but I also feel like employers at BIG 4 might decide I’m full of red flags.

Do you guys have any experience with this, and know whether I have a good chance, granted I participate in campus recruiting properly? Or should I be prepared for a lower-tier job with a lower-tier CPA firm, or even a corporate accounting job? I really want to start out with BIG 4 auditing, because I know it’s “resume gold”. But, I want to manage my expectations, so give it to me straight.

AUD - 84
BEC - 88
FAR - 81
REG - 79

If I passed so can you!!

[floacct]

All I can say on this is that a lot of states right now have a shortage of qualified cpa s and the gaps are expected to grow. Your chances have never been better. And although I have not worked for a big 4 or 5 firm if u include Arthur Anderson, I know many who have. Be careful what u wish for as all I know cannot stand it. There is 0 work life balance and during busy times workweek s can exceed 80 hours.

[Anonymous]

If everything you said is true, you're certainly hireable. You have to realize, we hire 22 year old kids with little life or job experience just because they have a random number on their transcript and aren't goofy. Well, those aren't the only reasons, but basically the only thing we judge you on is 1) resume/transcript – to confirm you are not a dummy and have done at least a few interesting things in your life and 2) whether or not we can infer from your interview that you're going to be a team player and not bitch and moan when you have to work a lot. Sometimes we hit, sometimes we miss, but that's really all there is to it. We've hired people with nothing but typical fast food work experience and a 3 point something gpa and they've been wonderful for years. Then we've hired people with a 4.0 and tons of internships here and there and they end up quitting in 3 months.

Just apply through your school, get in with some recruiters, and don't be weird.

[Anonymous]

You should be fine. They look for “fit” more than anything else. Like someone else said, just don't be goofy. There are plenty of older people that work at the Associate/Senior Associate level.

I failed out of college the first time around and there is a national partner at one that ones me to come over. I like what I do where I am though. The fail-out was due to beer and women, not lack of intelligence (college 2.0 was better school and magna cum laude).

[serenerose]

@bill, LOL. beer & women! Yeah, I've had a few “beer & men” issues!

BEC-passed on 2nd attempt
AUDIT- need a rematch
REG-passed on 1st attempt
FAR-schedule 10/2/14

The nightmare is halfway over.

[Peanut Butter is Good]

UPDATE: I failed AUD. This means I failed AUD and FAR. I can still take FAR again before the end of this month, but I don't think that's enough time to fully prepare, since I'll be away on a 10 day vacation starting this weekend.

Anyway, I'm wondering now if this hurts my chances overall of getting into a big 4, or at least highly ranked regional Public firm.

I feel like I can make the argument in an interview, when the subject of CPA exams come up, that even though I failed, I was only a few points off, so most of the legwork is done, and I need to just get over the hump.

Still, I'm worried now, that employers will think I can't do things right the first time, and see it as another red flag about me.

AUD - 84
BEC - 88
FAR - 81
REG - 79

If I passed so can you!!

[Anonymous]

They won't ask if you failed. Don't even bring up that you took a test Most people fail anyways. That's why the pass rates are under 50%. If prompted, I would respond that I am currently studying and scheduled to take FAR/AUD/whatever on mm/dd/2014 and that I will have all college credit requirements met by graduation.

If you want straight talk, if you haven't interviewed with a Big 4 by now, you probably aren't getting into Big 4. They generally lock down their entry level hires the Fall before they graduate. Fall is typically the hiring season for entry level students. Smaller firms tend to hire during and after the Big 4. I think I remember a little pick up in hiring amongst smaller firms in the Spring around graduation as well.

If it makes you feel any better, its much easier to get into the Big 4 with a year or two experience. They have a vary hard time retaining Experienced Associates and Seniors. Most people can only “drink the Kool-Aid” for so long. Big 4 is always looking for Managers and Senior Managers as well. IMHO, the exit opps are much better for people with 3+ years of experience under your belt anyway.

There is nothing wrong with going to a “lower tier” firm. I work at one and have gotten to wear a lot of hats (internal, external, & compliance audits, M&A due diligence, forensics, valuations, financial performance improvement consulting). I have varied experience that I NEVER would have gotten at Big 4 in this time. Once you sign on with them you're ticking, flicking, and licking confirmation stamps for two years before you can do anything that requires a modicum of thought. Now I've actually had a Big 4 partner invite me to dinner to ask when I'm coming to join his team as well as Fortune 100 recruiters asking to speak with me.

Resume gold is great when you need a resume, but it doesn't even come close to having a broad network, varied work experience and a personal brand as a doer. If you can nail down those three things, you may find that you do not even need a resume at times.

[Peanut Butter is Good]

Wait a minute. I'm trying to follow you except…. How can they lock down the students they intend to hire in advance, when they don't even start on-campus recruiting until the Fall? I understand the concept of hiring a year in advance, or in my case, a few months in advance (I am graduating this Fall, so I would start in the Spring, presumably). But as far as the interviewing beforehand, I'm not sure what you mean. Unless you mean that most of who they hire is or has already worked for them in an internship, and therefore they know them.

AUD - 84
BEC - 88
FAR - 81
REG - 79

If I passed so can you!!

[Anonymous]

I interviewed with a few of them and was actually in a similar boat (31 yrs old at the time). Every interview I had or even heard of with the Big 4 was in the Fall of the junior year to start an internship the next summer (before senior year). Any interns that make the cut would typically start full time at some point after their senior year.

That's not to say that they don't pick people up here and there. Unexpected things like getting a big new client out of left field, unexpected defection(s) to another firm/client/etc. I did have one interview where they wanted me to work all busy season and summer (basically by having me defer my graduation). I landed that interview in the Fall of my Senior year. It was real hurried. But the bulk of the Big 4 hiring was done in the Fall of the Junior year through internships.

The lower tier firms national/regionals seemed to be interviewing in the Fall of my Senior year to start full time in the Spring/Summer following graduation. Who knows about small firms. They're probably reactionary (hiring based on immediate demand vs. projected demand).

I'm not saying you won't get in. I'm just saying that your chances of going in as a Big 4 entry level hire get lower and lower as time goes on and that at some point you should start taking a hard look at a lower tier firm. I started realizing after a couple of years that it is a surprisingly small world that we work in and that Big 4 partner that has an experienced hire resume sitting on his desk probably worked with, maybe even for, that lower tier firm on the resume at some point.

[Peanut Butter is Good]

Bill, gotcha. I see you said above as well that I would be fine, as long as I seem to “fit in”.

I'm not really sure what to expect. Clearly if they were to hire me, I would probably start straight away, without a part time internship, due to the fact that I will be out of school in the fall. However, I think you might be right. I'm a graduate student, and I have noticed that some students in my classes, who were second-to-last year before graduating the MS program, have gotten hired, but they told me they were hired definitively, rather than temp-to-perm.

I don't know, I'm concerned I won't even get an interview. As far working for a lower-tier firm, of I'll do it if that's my only option. I'm more concerned for the future, when a couple of years down the line, I want to get a different, higher paying job, and get passed over repeatedly because of the lack of a PWC or KPMG on my resume. That name brand seems to mean a great deal.

But maybe I really am screwed here. Could they possibly take me on as an intern even though I would be graduating before the new year? Would they hire me straight away? Should I even be entertaining these questions?

AUD - 84
BEC - 88
FAR - 81
REG - 79

If I passed so can you!!

[UHC2005]

Whatever you do, don't wear crew neck undershirts… 😉

Using Ninja MCQ, NINJA Notes, Audio, Flashcards and BLITZ, and 2014 Wiley Text

FAR - (61,63)
AUD - (68)

Keep Calm and RTMFQ

Accountant, what is best in life? To crush your MCQs, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their SIMS!

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't feel screwed. I like mid tier due to the work experience. I get to work with business leaders on a daily basis without being insulated by a manager.

Like I said, it is MUCH easier to get in after cutting your chops at another firm. Based on what I've seen proverbial poo-ton of new hires are gone after a year, even more after two and the quality of life at my firm is pretty good. It's similar at the Big 4, if not worse- my wife is a Big 4 manager (in national firm strategy) and she's been bitching about “resources” lately. Actually, pretty much all the time.

The fact of the matter is, if you can do two years at a smaller firm, in the eyes of the Big 4, you've been vetted by time alone, and that's better than most people can say. Most people can't make it two years in public anywhere.

[Peanut Butter is Good]

Not sure I follow…..but I wear v-neck undershirts or no undershirt (most of the time)

AUD - 84
BEC - 88
FAR - 81
REG - 79

If I passed so can you!!

[Peanut Butter is Good]

From what I've read, the highest employee-satisfaction rate is actually with Grant Thornton.

Honestly, I don't really need to get a big 4 job, as long as I'm with a top 12 firm, or something of that ilk.

BUT, I don't want to work for a small local CPA firm who has only a few employees, and there's literally no way to climb up, and the starting salary is crap, the clients are nobodies, etc. Prob no air conditioning (joking)

AUD - 84
BEC - 88
FAR - 81
REG - 79

If I passed so can you!!

[UHC2005]

Sorry, I was waiting to see if someone else caught that. Here's the thread that it refers to, a bit of comic relief of sorts. 🙂

https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/dress-code-at-big-4-firm-suit-vest

Using Ninja MCQ, NINJA Notes, Audio, Flashcards and BLITZ, and 2014 Wiley Text

FAR - (61,63)
AUD - (68)

Keep Calm and RTMFQ

Accountant, what is best in life? To crush your MCQs, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their SIMS!

[Anonymous]

Brah, we hire kids that haven't taken nor will take the cpa for years. There are managers who are dumb and just get the EA saying eff the cpa altogether. That has nothing to do with why they won't hire you.

Wait.. you wear vnecks? Nevermind.. you're screwed..

[Author]

Replies