[Lunchboxx]

Hello current and future CPAs!

I never thought I would have to write this post, but I am freaking out about not having a full time offer lined up. During this semester I attended my large University’s career fair and applied at 5 companies(the big 4 and 1 mid-size firms) for a spring(January) 2015 start date audit position. Out of the 5, only one of the big 4 firms followed up and offered me an interview. After the first interview, I was declined the office visit.

I just couldn’t understand why all my applications failed, I am about to graduate with a Master’s of Accountancy in December with a very high GPA(3.85) and high passing CPA scores(see below). I also completed a successful internship at a mid-sized firm (I did not enjoy the firm that I did my internship at). I was also in my school’s Beta Alpha Psi chapter for 2 years(a huge plus at our school).

After my failed interview, I reached out to my interviewer and asked him what could have went wrong. He told me that during the interview I appeared nervous(this did not make sense to me). During the interview, I recalled myself being mostly confident and answering the interview questions very intelligently. To be honest, I feel as if the interviewers reason was complete BS and there was another underline reason for me not getting the job(such as the firm needing a diversity hire, the Partner’s son getting the job over me or a really attractive girl interviewed for the same job as me).

This angers me because I feel as if I’m one of the most qualified candidates out there. Compared to my peers, I have one of the highest GPAs, I am the only one with passing CPA scores, and I have an outgoing personality. Yet, people with low GPAs with no hope of getting a CPA(that look up to me) have full-time offers and I don’t.

Based on the experience that I described to you guys, can you guys shed some light as to why I cannot seem to get a job?

Sorry if I seem critical, but I am extremely furious that all my hard work doesn’t seem to be paying off 🙁

AUD - 93
REG - 96
BEC - 92
FAR - 90

Done!

[Anonymous]

That's the way the world works sometimes. The interviewer may have been telling the truth. Confidence is a desirable quality.

If it helps, I was in a similar situation four years back and landed on my feet. Keep at it. I'm sure you'll be fine.

Also- it isn't the end all if you don't get into the Big 4 right away. Apply again at the 1, 2, and if you need to 3 year marks. They normally have Associate and Senior Associates tapping out all the time.

[Texan_Stuck_In_OK]

Really not trying to step on your toes…but maybe you came off a little overconfident? Did you talk about your really great exam scores? Maybe your interviewer got all 75's and was put off? I have known interviewers to not hire someone that was a superstar because they felt like that person was so confident that they already knew everything and would be difficult to train in the specific policies of the company. But those are just my thoughts…you may be on point about your assumptions.

You have a bright future and the right job will come along for you…this one just wasn't meant to be.

A 88, B 76, F 84, R 76 Passed 2014

Licensed in OK

[silverdice7]

Wow, something seems to be wrong. Are you a non-traditional student, i.e, 45 years old? My stats are very similar to yours, except I had a 4.0 (humble brag) and I had firms throwing themselves at me. What state are you in op?

AUD 94
BEC 91
REG 88
FAR 91

Done!

[mla1169]

Much (if not most) of interviewing is subjective rather than objective. That said, while its nice to have your credentials on paper, please don't feel that those alone make you any more or less qualified than another person for a position. I have a masters with a great GPA, and have a CPA license but at the end of the day its how I come across that wins or loses an offer not my school experience or the fact that I passed the exams. Those credentials, frankly, are a dime a dozen.

Also I wasn't in your interview so I don't know how you presented yourself but your post above truly comes across as arrogant. Even if you tried hard to downplay your successes (which I imagine you did not) a person who believes things like low gpa = no chance of passing the CPA exam, or that your peers look up to you because of your academic successes, its pretty easy for a skilled interviewer to pick up on that.

Finally you may think you answered all of their questions successfully, but I wonder what your answer would be to “why should we hire you?” If you start repeating your resume and your achievements, you just lost the job. If your answer is “because I am dedicated and loyal and not phased by working a 15 hour day, and enjoy collaborating with my peers, etc”.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Anonymous]

“Yet, people with low GPAs with no hope of getting a CPA(that look up to me) have full-time offers and I don't.”

I've always heard that personality is a large factor in the firms hiring decision.

[Lunchboxx]

@Texan_Stuck_In_OK, I doubt I came off as too confident. I didn't brag about any of my credentials. If anything I was neutral on the side of being slightly nervous during my interview.

@Silverdice7, I am a traditional student(23 years old) in Florida. I applied for positions in Tampa and the positions are mostly filled up. But I was certain that with my credentials I would be able to get a high demand position.

Maybe the firms felt that my personality didn't fit their culture. I just feel defeated and I'm starting to reflect on life; I would be at the same place(career-wise) as I am right now if I stopped at a bachelors and did not pursue a CPA.

AUD - 93
REG - 96
BEC - 92
FAR - 90

Done!

[ruggercpa2b]

Just because you didn't get in to Big 4 does not mean you should feel defeated. You can always start at a mid tier firm and then make the jump to Big 4 as an experienced hire.

I work at a Big 4 and I am one of those people with the low GPA (2.5 undergrad). On paper I would never make it into a Big 4 but I networked hard and have always tried to be very personable without seeming overconfident.

We are in the process of interviewing for staff positions and one of the things that our Director said was that he doesn't care much about what one has done academically. He looks to see what else that person does outside of school. There are so many candidates out there and you have to find that one thing about you that will make them want to hire you. Everyone trying to get into Big 4 has the high GPA and have probably passed the CPA. What else do you have to offer?

Keep trying and apply at other firms. Sometimes its all a personality test. We always have meetings after interviews and the first thing they ask us is if we think we would enjoy working with that person.

AUD - NINJA in Training
BEC - NINJA in Training
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - NINJA in Training

AUD - 1/6/18
FAR - TBD
REG - TBD
BEC - TBD

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[Normal_Person]

Don't take any of what I am about to say the wrong way – I just am being honest.

You need to shift your focus off of your academics because no one cares. They do care, but by the time you make it to the interview, your qualifications as far as academics goes has been established. A bachelor's degree, good grades, and yes, the CPA, are just good for getting you an interview – once you get it, it is all on you to dunk the interview and make an impression. When I interviewed people coming out of college and into public accounting, here were the questions I asked myself about each candidate:

1.) Can I put up with you for 60+ hours a week for 4 months?

2.) Can I count on you to be reliable and to get your job done and show initiative?

3.) Can I count on you to show up on time (and not try to always leave early) and not piss and moan about the hours?

4.) Can I put you in front of a highly valued client and feel confident in your ability to not do or say something extraordinarily stupid?

None of the above requires outstanding academic prowess nor are they very hard to do.

What work experience do you have? Even if it seems irrelevant, leverage it! Have you waited tables? Worked in retail? Delivered pizza? Summer jobs? Anything? Those types of jobs are a honeypot of “soft skills” that are incredibly important in public accounting. I worked in a hardware store and I can't tell you how many times my experience there has been relevant to the real world – had to deal with the public, had to deal with angry customers (and how I handled those situations), I closed the store with usually 2 younger people underneath me (supervisory skills), I had to multi-task all day and handle rush times while making sure customers were getting the help they needed, etc.

I used these basic examples in my interviews coming out of college and here is what I offered on my resume at that time: 3.5 GPA (good but not great), 0 extracurricular activities at my university, I dropped out of college for almost 2 years, and I didn't even have the credits to SIT for the CPA exam (150 required to sit in my state). Focusing on my actual real-world work experience and just being myself in the interviews got me 6 interviews and 6 offers including my choice firms.

I am positive you can land a job, you just need to think outside the box a little bit. I always told myself going into interviews (to this day) that I DO NOT NEED this job. Maybe you do need it – don't let that get to your head. Convince yourself you don't – it will help you relax and just be yourself – that is really what we want to see in an interview, not that you got 90+ on all 4 parts of the CPA exam – BORING! (Great accomplishment, nonetheless, it just isn't a topic for interviews in my opinion). GOOD LUCK MAN!!

Edit: I will echo @ruggercpa2b‘s comments – do not underestimate how great of an experience you can get at a mid-tier firm. Many times, you have to work on ALL pieces of an audit (or tax return) instead of one big piece (fixed assets, cash, payables, etc., which may happen at B4) which is EXCELLENT experience if you ever leave public (or stay, either way).

FAR: 1/12/13 ... 82
REG: 8/30/14 ... 75
AUD: August 2013 ... 89
BEC: July 2013 ... 84

DONE

[Tripp11]

I think there is an underlying arrogance that you project and it's being picked up by the interviewer. At least from your initial post.

Sort of reminds me when a college Junior asked me during an interview, “Do staff persons in your office have a high level of client interaction?” When I answered the question about how it varies from person to person and engagement to engagement, he replied, “Well, I want on all the engagements where I have as much client communication as possible because I'm going to be on the fast partner track and I will move up very fast in this firm.” Needless to say, he got a big red “X” thru his resume.

AUD - 93
BEC - 80
REG - 86
FAR - 83

[Anonymous]

Hi! We reject “more than qualified” people all the time. You genuinely cannot compare yourself to other people using criteria like gpa or extracurriculars. Everyone's credentials apply to only them and form their unique story. I would actually believe what the interviewer said, you seemed “off” for whatever reason and that usually is enough for us to move on to another candidate. Some people just gel and some don't. What you have to remember is you're not only interviewing for your local office, but you're also interviewing with the firm. We essentially see if you would be a good fit for our office, and if not, we do recommend you to other offices that may need to fill one more slot. I'm not saying there's anything “wrong” with you, just that for whatever reason you're not selling yourself well enough. I would try out some smaller firms or interview workshops to see if you can pinpoint the issue.

[Lunchboxx]

Thank you guys for elaborating about my possible flaws. As you guys said, credentials(GPA, CPA Scores) are only used to get to the interview, after that its all about personality and how I “sell” myself. Unfortunately, I doubt I can change my personality but I can definitely change how to present myself. I will try to work on this through workshops and mock interviews.

I just hate how this process is so intricate. If I just as much as seem “off” during the interview, I get rejected. I know through my internship that I am a superstar auditor, I communicate very well with clients and I ‘m very proficient at performing audit procedures efficiently and effectively. Despite my skills as an auditor, just because I can't present this information well during an interview, I am denied of my dream job 🙁 This profession is incredibly unfair!!!

AUD - 93
REG - 96
BEC - 92
FAR - 90

Done!

[mla1169]

check out you tube videos, there are thousands that show good and bad interviews. Will be very enlightening to see an interview that you think is ok, then hear a critique of it!

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Anonymous]

Personality is huge. I was a finance major and never intended to get my CPA license (and still have no interest in public accounting), but when I was in school, I remember alumni from the big investment banks speaking to several of my finance classes, student orgs, etc., and one of the repeated themes was “We work insane hours. If we don't think we're going to like having you around at midnight when we're all hungry, tired, and sick of looking at each other, you're not getting hired no matter how good your resume looks.”

My point is that masters candidates with great GPAs are a dime a dozen. The best accounting programs in the country are full of students with nearly identical, flawless academic resumes, all clamoring for Big 4 jobs. Your GPA is essentially just what gets your foot in the door. Once you get an interview, you're pretty much starting from the same place as everyone else interviewing (even at a disadvantage if several of them have Big 4 internships and you don't), so your GPA and CPA exam scores don't matter all that much at that point. They're looking for what makes you stand out. And maybe your interviewers genuinely felt that you weren't a stand-out, can't-miss candidate. To be perfectly candid with you, your unilateral decision that one interviewer was lying to you about why you weren't hired is perhaps indicative of your approach to working with others, i.e. no one else's perspective is worth considering if it doesn't align with yours. And while you may feel that you didn't come across as arrogant, nervous, argumentative, etc., during the interview, you're not the most objective of sources.

If you really want to do Big 4 public accounting, it sounds like you are going to have to swallow hard, get some smaller firm experience, build a quality professional network, and try again.

[Anonymous]

“superstar auditor”. i think you might be a bit full of yourself lol

[taxman89]

academics get you the interview.

humility/confidence(not mutually exclusive at all)/personality get you the job

most likely you just were not a good fit with the hiring manager/interviewer

AUD - 75
BEC - 77
FAR - 78
REG - 82

AUD: 61-67-75 (Thanks ninja aud)
BEC: 77
FAR: 78
REG:69-73-70-82

Aud-75 3x I knew i never liked you
Bec-77 1x being in the bubble is stressful
Reg-82 4x its not me its you...and no we cant be friends
Far-78 1x easiest section

[Author]

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