[Jaane]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. To be honest, I rarely post but I have been a longtime lurker and fan of this forum. Anyway, here is my situation:

I recently completed a master’s program in accounting and am currently looking for a job while preparing for the CPA exam (the first section is scheduled for early January 2015). Prior to returning to school, I worked in A/R and billing in the health care industry (up to management level). I did not complete any internships in public accounting as a student although I did work as a research assistant for several accounting and business professors.

I am applying for an advisory staff position for a big 4 firm. This is a risk advisory position that focuses on ensuring data integrity and providing oversight and support for federal government clients. The actual job will be located in a military town. According to the job description, this position seems research-oriented.

Does anyone have (or know of someone with) personal experience working in advisory for the federal government, particularly with a Big 4 firm?

Will my experience, which includes billing processing for military families (Tricare, respite care services), be a selling point for me or is it considered run-of-the-mill or unrelated experience for the job?

Finally, if I interviewed for an internship with this same firm (but a different office) this past fall but didn’t get an offer, will that information negatively impact my application?

Thanks in advance!

[AGI]

Hi Jaane,

“Does anyone have (or know of someone with) personal experience working in advisory for the federal government, particularly with a Big 4 firm?”

Hm…Not really. But I am guessing working with the federal shouldn't be too different than working with the city and the state?

By chance, I actually e-mailed someone in E&Y 2 weeks ago on almost the same topic and she is the manager in the advisory division. (And I worked for the city.)

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“I am applying for an advisory staff position for a big 4 firm. This is a risk advisory position that focuses on ensuring data integrity and providing oversight and support for federal government clients. The actual job will be located in a military town. According to the job description, this position seems research-oriented.”

First of all, from your description, you mention “This is a risk advisory position that focuses on ensuring data integrity and providing oversight and support for federal government clients.” I am not too sure if this is a research-oriented job.

From what I know, advisory team focus on checking and scanning data from client's database. You will most likely be traveling to client's office to check their papers to make sure the paper proof match whatever the system said. From time to time, you might get a project that said “bleh bleh bleh client have this new mission and they need someone to give them opinion”, so you will read some law, some data information and kinda help them set up the right thing (so when audit comes, it won't be a mess.) Very often, you will also receive cases that simply said “Client decide to hire Big 4 party simply because we don't trust our own auditors”, and you will just report there to do some review.

(The above situation happened in my office. So I am not too sure what research-oriented suppose to mean…)

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“Will my experience, which includes billing processing for military families (Tricare, respite care services), be a selling point for me or is it considered run-of-the-mill or unrelated experience for the job?”

I don't think they will be very picky on what kind of job you worked. As far as E&Y and KPMG, they focus more on what you know and your soft skills.

1. The minimum hiring requirement for E&Y on CPA related jobs is “you got to meet the minimum license requirement”. Since you have your master, I don't think it will be a problem.

2. You should BOLD somewhere in your application that you are planing to take the CPA exam. That will give you a bonus.

3. You should BOLD that you are familiar with the federal government, something related to the job. You might be ask some basic government law. Also, knowing the major federal office and what they do will get you a BIG BONUS.

4. Somewhere on the paper you should demonstrate that you fit this job. Perhaps mention you are very familiar with billing (including billing systems / procedure and structure), and you are also familiar with military culture.

5. On the interview, you might got questions that evaluates your background and your organizing skills. You might have to answer questions about team work, difficult situations, paper organizing skills, etc. You might also be ask if you can keep top secrets and how to handle situation when your co-work or some random people ask you for confidential information that you cannot give to anyone.

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“Finally, if I interviewed for an internship with this same firm (but a different office) this past fall but didn't get an offer, will that information negatively impact my application?”

I don't think it will negatively impact your application, unless HR really hates you. If on the interview they ask you about it, you just say “it's a different office different title, I went home to re-evaluate myself and find myself better fit at this position.” That's it, and you kinda bleh bleh how you improved from this past fall if needed.

It's not uncommon if you didn't get the offer! Nothing to be shy for!

Also, the real job season for non-tax job search in start in mid-January!

(If you really want, you should call up the company and ask!)

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Good luck on all your job search! After I talked to my friend, I discovered I don't qualify for the minimum requirement to get into E&Y. She offered me names and e-mails where I can send my resume to, but I need to go back to school first to meet the minimum requirement….I went right the opposite, finish college, finish CPA exam, now going back for master…

NY - CPA

New York - NYC
Passed CPA Exam (11/2014)
In search for a position in NYC that will fulfills the license requirement.

[Jaane]

Hello Yellowsugar,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share such great advice! I really do appreciate it.

The interview tips you gave would definitely tip the scale in my favor if I do manage to get that far along in the process. I am still looking into the job description to figure out if I meet the requirements. Even so, I will definitely take your advice about mentioning the CPA exam plan as well as familiarity with the federal government when I apply.

Are you looking into a master's for accounting or tax or are you leaning toward an MBA? Are the programs you're considering full-time or part-time? The fact that you know someone in the firm should definitely help after you finish school. In any case, I wish you the best in whatever you ultimately decide to do.

Good luck and thank you!

[AGI]

Hi Jaane,

If you decided to apply, you should definitely put on CV and resume that you are a CPA exam candidate. Very often, that's how HR filter people. You should make sure at least you make the bottom cut-off line.

Like I said, the non-tax hiring season doesn't start until Mid-January. From now and then, you should aim to perfect your resume and aim to start right after tax season.

Also, I don't think you should think too much on the qualification. If I were you, I will just send it in and move on to the next one. Afterward, chance of getting an interview is very low if you don't have a good background. If, by any chance, you actually get an interview or if HR finds you to be an interesting candidate, they might offer to interview you in a different position that better fits you. Never underestimate your luck. (That's how I manage to squeeze into a government job before even finishing college.)

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I'm actually not very interested in Big 4. Given the fact you will need to work mandatory 55+ hours (in E&Y). Right now I am earning 38K with full benefits for 35 hours. If we do a little math and assume I work 55 hours, my annual salary will be 60K. Therefore, it's not really true that they are paying you better (in terms of hourly rate). And since I am planning to go back to school Sept 2016 for an MBA, I am assuming I don't want to work 55 hours and go to school in the same time?

I am studying up for GMAT and will probably wait until I got accepted to Master to look for a job. That way, I can put a master line on the resume to show that I am getting high education. I got to admit in NYC, without a master, 45 – 50K is probably as high as you will ever get. NYC had a very bad “skin color” and “gender” problem, and there are always low pay immigrant ready to take over your job.

(Oh.. I will also get a raise next year after probation =), I am not in a hurry at all.)

I cannot take a master in accounting. I have a BBA in accounting already. I am not too into tax either. I might go for Finance or marketing. I have a little finance background and I used to work under a famous designer. I am aiming right for MBA, MBA worth more $$ and it's only one year more. (Given the fact that I am under 25 and I have a very stable job, I think I can sit for another year.) It might be full or part time, cause classes are at night or on the weekend.

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I also think mid size firm or any good standard CPA firm will be fine. I am not that ambiguous. I am considering transferring within the government to finish the requirement… in NY, your score never expires and you have your life time to find a CPA for signature. =)

I think license before age 30 is totally fine. I want to buy a house so badly that I aren't going to find a random pay job to get this done.

NY - CPA

New York - NYC
Passed CPA Exam (11/2014)
In search for a position in NYC that will fulfills the license requirement.

[Anonymous]

Jaane,

I work in Deloitte's Federal Advisory practice and may be able to provide some insight. Please note that I am only speaking from my own experiences and do not work within Talent so take my advice as merely my opinion.

Your military experience is a selling point as it will give you a tie to federal. Since your experience isn't specific to accounting; however, there may be a disconnect when Talent is looking at your resume for an Advisory position. Try to highlight in your resume that you have completed a Master's program in Accounting and you are looking to shift your focus accordingly. I would be leery of referring to yourself as a “CPA candidate.” This often elicits a “so what” response as most people in the accounting field are eligible to sit for the exams.

Also, since your experience isn’t particularly accounting based, they may want to bring you in at a lower level for an Advisory role. The expectation for a Manager or Senior Consultant is that you will be able to lead a team. This can prove difficult if you’re overseeing a team that is testing internal controls and remediating deficiencies even if you have management experience.

As for the prior interview, I imagine the firm will have this in their records and will note it when you apply. For Deloitte, I believe they keep resumes on file for 6 months after someone applies. When you submit your application, you may even get a notification that they already have a resume on file for you. Whether it will negatively impact you is hard to say. If you applied for a position before that didn’t make sense based on your experience, but are now applying for something that directly aligns, this certainly wouldn’t hurt you.

I hope this helps and best of luck on your exam!

[Author]

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