Big 4 Blueprint

Big 4 Blueprint

The Process

The way the Big 4 recruiting process works is outlined in the paragraphs ahead. It is
important to be aware of the timing of the following events as if you miss an event, you
cannot recover from it. Many of my peers missed out on the recruiting process
completely because they thought that since they were graduating in May, they should
therefore be interviewing in Spring. At most schools, however, the recruiting process
occurs, and offers are given out, in Fall (October/November), with positions filled for
the following Summer or Fall.

The typical internship process occurs when an offer is given and accepted in
October/November, with the intern starting the following summer. For full time
prospects, offers are usually given out in October/November with full-time positions
beginning the following August through October, depending on the needs of the firm. If
you’re graduating in December, they may allow you to, or even insist you, begin in
immediately following graduation in January.

Spring recruiting is still available if you miss Fall recruiting, but the majority of
recruiting is done in the fall. Firms often recruit in Spring because they didn’t get
enough candidates to accept offers, or have more staffing needs than they previously
anticipated.

Summer events

Firms will frequently host summer gatherings where they invite a select group of
students to the office, or to an outing, to meet and engage with in social, networking,
leadership development, and workshop events, for example. These events are great as
they provide the firm with an idea of who to prospect going into the Fall, Similarly
students are able to discover which firms they like. The application process begins
around March and resumes are sent to the firms either by applying online or from being
forwarded by professors. Big 4 firms are generally looking at resumes to find well-
rounded students who exceed a specific GPA cutoff.

Big 4 Campus Presentations

Firms will come onto campus and present or hold events at the beginning of the Fall
semester through November (which are usually hosted by business school groups such
as Beta Alpha Psi). These serve as additional opportunities for firms to meet new
students and revisit those students who attended summer events, and for students to
hand in more resumes before meeting the firms. Make sure to speak with the firm
representatives either after presentations or during the events to make a positive and
lasting impression; essentially, make a name for yourself. The questions you ask should
be related to the presentation or something from the "meeting the firms" question guide
below. Make sure to grab business cards and follow up with the representatives within a
few days using the networking templates below. This will ensure that when it comes
time for students to be selected for interviews, your name will be on their list.

Networking

One practice I employed was LinkedIn networking. It can be very effective and is
particularly helpful when you want to work at an office that doesn’t recruit on your
campus. If you don’t contact them, they certainly won’t be contacting you; you have to
reach out. For many of you, this will be the first time you’ve done something like this.

If you want a good chance at breaking into the Big 4, you are going to have to be
ambitious, persistent, and resourceful. The first two places you need to go are to your
accounting professors and your business school career center.

Accounting professors

These professors know how hard it is to for students to get jobs at Big 4 firms when
these firms won’t give them the time of day. They work towards improving the school’s
program to be ‘good enough’ to have their students looked at seriously. They know that
the more students they can place in the firms, the more times the firms will return to
recruit in the future. Make sure to explain your goals to your professor. If you’ve been a
good student over the years, they will hopefully choose to pull some strings and send a
personal email of recommendation. This happens more often than you think.

Business School Career Center

The career center’s job is obviously to place students with employers. Many top faculty
have similar connections to professors, with top employees/partners in the firm. They
will offer to review your resume and also undertake mock interviews with you. You

embrace refining your resume, one iteration at a time, until is perfect. I probably created
about 100 different versions (including minor tweaks) within a year.

LinkedIn networking

Next, you are going to want to reach out to everyone you can. Start with LinkedIn, and
search for alumni who are working for the firms that you want to target. Do NOT ask
them if they are hiring, but instead tell them that you want to find out “how they did it”
and how the recruiting process worked for them. You will be shocked at the responses
you get. These people, especially if they are 1 or 2 years into their career, are not far
removed from the situation you are in and understand what you’re going through.

Cold calls

If any of the Big 4 have come to do a presentation, get their contact information and
send them an email asking about the recruiting process and what they would do if they
were in your shoes.

For many of you, this will be the first time in your life – you are going to do a ‘cold
call’.

You need to begin by looking up the phone number for the office of each Big 4 firm in
your area, and then call them. You will find that many of the Big 4 will list the Campus
Recruiter’s name and contact information online (usually just email). If their name isn’t
displayed, tell the secretary you would like to speak with the Campus Recruiter. If it is a
smaller office, there may not actually be a designated recruiter, in which case it will be a

hiring manager. Discuss your interest in the firm with them and explain that because
they don’t recruit directly from your campus, you wanted to reach out and discuss the
recruiting process. Follow the same key tips I discuss in future paragraphs when
speaking with them over the phone.

Keep in touch

Lastly, make sure you keep in touch with everyone who you’ve met in the process and
don’t be shy. You never know when just emailing a contact and saying “Hey, how is life?”
can turn into “Hope you’re doing well. Give me your resume and I’ll send it over to the
hiring manager.” This is how connections turn into interviews.

Networking Templates: Cold Call

Firstly, compile a list of numbers of the firms you want to call. I Googled the Big 4, as
well as the next 2 or 3 firms in my city and the surrounding cities that I would be willing
to move to. There will be a phone number for the office, and a secretary will answer. I
chose to have a cold call template in front of me, and I just went down the list and called
each firm. I started with the firms and places I really wasn’t that interested in to get
warmed up. I waited until the end of the list to call the offices I was really hoping to
work at.

Your call will go something like:

“Thank you for calling XYZ firm. This is ZYX. How can I help you?”

“Hey ZYX, my name is ______. Could you please transfer me to the offices campus
recruiter?”

They may either say:

● “Sure, let me transfer you” (and transfer you)
● “Can I ask what this is regarding?”, or
● “He/she is out of the office. Can I transfer you to their voicemail?”

If they ask why you’re calling, tell them “I just had some questions about the recruiting
process?” If they pry further and ask you another question about it, say “Well I’m
particularly interested in working in (city) and I know your firm doesn’t recruit directly
from my campus, so I wanted to reach out to you directly” or something like that,
depending on your situation.

In most cases, they will just transfer you. Unfortunately, (at least in my experience) you
will get a lot of voicemails. This is OK, because it is really a numbers game. If you call
100 firms, you may get interviews with 10 or 20, and hopefully come out with a handful
of offers.

If the recruiter answers, say:

“Hey XYZ, I’m ___________ from _____ university and I had some questions about
campus recruiting.”

They will likely respond positively like “Ok great, what’s up?” Respond (with whichever
is applicable).

If they’re in another city than your school, say:

“I’m interested in working in XYZ city (where the recruiter is located) but
unfortunately your office does not recruit on our campus. I was wondering what you
recommend I do considering the majority of recruiting is done through on campus
recruiting.”

If they’re in your school’s city but don’t recruit on campus, say:

“I’m interested in working for XYZ firm in ZYX but unfortunately it doesn’t look like
your office does much recruiting on our campus. I was wondering what you
recommend I do considering the majority of recruiting is done through on campus
recruiting.”

If they recruit on your campus and you want a leg up on the competition, you may have
to just ask a general question depending on your situation. Even if you know the answer
to something, it is still good to be in touch with them and get yourself ‘on their radar’.
Some typical questions could be:

● “I was curious about the internship programs your office offered and whether I
should apply for an internship or full time. My graduation date is ____ so I
could be full time, or I could do a summer/winter internship and ….”

● “I wanted to find out about the internships available within your office. I have
heard of other offices offering split internships between audit and tax and was
interested in that type of program and whether you offered that”

● “I wanted to find out how the recruiting process worked as far as the next steps
after the on campus interviews”

They will likely respond by asking you to send your resume over to them or someone
else.

“Ok great! I’ll send over my resume now. For your information my name is _____
and I’m graduating in (month) with my undergraduate/graduate degree so I will be
applying for an internship/full time position in audit/tax.”

Obviously, finish with “Thanks for your help, talk to you soon” etc.

You will become better with each call you make and will start to become more
comfortable with the process.

Networking Templates: Online Networking

LinkedIn will employ the same template as the direct or cold email.

If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, get one right now. It is a very powerful tool that
can connect you to tons of people that can get your resume in the hands of the people
that matter the most. If you really need handholding through the account creation
process see http://www.wikihow.com/Create-an-Account-on-LinkedIn.

Once you’re set up, you’re going to need to compile another list of people, similar to the
cold calling. Again, this is a numbers game. Don’t feel bad if you don’t get a response.

Firstly, you need to join a bunch of groups, that way you when you’re messaging people,
it will show that you are both in a group. Join several of your school groups, such as
athletics, the main school group, booster club, college of business, for example. Also,
connect with all of your classmates and everyone that you know including professor
sand college of business professionals. The more groups and people you have in
common, the closer you feel to them, even if you’ve never met.

Next, go to advanced search, and type in the zip code for the city you’re targeting, enter
your school name, and then type in the name of the firm you’re searching for. Once this
is done, a list of alumni from your school in the firm and location you want will be
displayed. How awesome is that? Next, skip down to the section regarding how to reach
out and what to say below. I’ll keep going through what you need to do. After you’ve
cycled through the Big 4 (and I recommend doing the smaller firms as well), you’re
going to extend your search. Remove your school, but now keep the zip code and cycle
through the firms. You now have a list of everyone on LinkedIn with the firm and office
you want that you can message. I would target the lower level staff and seniors (people
who graduated less than 5 years ago). Don’t feel like you shouldn’t message partners,
but they are unlikely to respond. Also, the younger they are, the more likely they are to
help you; they were in your shoes not long ago.

Some of you may be saying – “But I’m not “connected to or friends with that person and
it won’t let me message them without paying monthly.” Although I recommend
investing in your career like you’ve done with this book, there is still a way to get around
paying monthly: Instead of messaging them directly, request to connect with them, with
a brief introduction and question. It’s basically the same thing (except you have limited
characters to work with). So here is what you should say (it’s concise because it has to
be):

“Hey ____
I’m a student at XYZ graduating in May/Spring 201X and am going through/will be
going through the recruiting process with accounting firms. I have a quick question for
you, if you wouldn’t mind connecting.
Thanks,
_________”

If they connect with you, you are free to message them with full length messages.

Now you can use one of the templates from the cold calls above to start a dialogue. At
the end of the conversation, you can say:

● “I was curious about the internship programs your office offered and whether I
should apply for an internship or full time. My graduation date is ____ so I
could be full time, or I could do a Summer/Winter internship and ….”

● “I wanted to find out about the internships available with your office. I have
heard of other offices offering split internships between audit and tax and was
interested in that type of program.”

● “I wanted to find out how the recruiting process worked in terms of the next steps
after the on campus interviews”

Also, continue with an ambitious and professional explanation of your interests. Say
something like:

“I am really interested in working at a Big 4 accounting firm and would love to hear
any advice you may have for someone my position.”

Don’t directly ask them if they will forward your resume. Instead, allow them to ask for
it. In almost every case where I messaged through LinkedIn, they gave me their work
email and told me to send them my resume.

When managers and recruiters get forwarded resumes from their employees, it has a far
greater impact than a resume collected at a ‘meet the firms’ event or deposited in the
online resume bin, along with everyone else. If you follow these steps and work hard at
getting your resume in front of the right people, you’re sure to get a few interviews.

Meet the Firms

Background

‘Meet the firms’ is an event in September/October held by the school where many of the
nearby accounting firms will come to recruit. For many schools, there can be over 20

firms recruiting. There should be information available regarding your school’s events
on the College of Business or Accounting website. The site may also list who will be
attending, who has attended in the past, and possibly even the contact information of
those representatives attending. The school will usually put together a book with all of
the prospective students’ pictures, their GPA, intended city, graduation date, and
preferred practice (audit/tax/advisory).

There will be tables or booths spread around a large room where representatives from
the firm, from partners to new hires, will field questions from students, gather resumes,
and get an idea of who they intend to select for interviews. There may be long lines for
the Big 4 firms as they are the most highly sought after.

What to wear

I’ll keep this brief, but you should also follow this for on campus interviews. You should
take time to prepare your outfit and I would do some Google research regarding
“conservative interview attire” to make sure you’re within the guidelines of what is
expected.

Men should wear a dark suit with a neutral color (charcoal, navy blue, grey). Avoid
pinstripes if it is very loud. A white or blue shirt is acceptable, with a conservative
looking tie. Dark shoes, black socks, and matching belt. Your shoes should match your
belt and your socks should match your pants. If this is your first time going through this
process, I suggest heading to a men’s store or department store to talk to someone about

it. They will set you up to make sure you match. You should be able to purchase a
reasonable suit for under $400.

Women are generally more conscious of what they’re supposed to be wearing but a dark
business suit is the norm. A light blouse button down shirt works well and either a
pantsuit or a conservative (knee length) skirt suit should be worn. Don’t wear super
high-heel shoes, but be dressy. Go light on the jewelry and leave dangling earrings at
home.

What to bring

Get a “padfolios”, like in the link below, or get one from campus with your school’s crest.
You will be bringing copies of your resume and handing them out. Make sure you get
actual interview paper instead of using printing paper from the computer lab. The
quality shows, and it's just another detail that gives you an edge. I heard a story about a
certain type of resume paper that was slightly outside of the typical dimensions of
normal resume paper, and therefore literally stood out from the stack. Avoid doing that,
but do get some resume paper.

http://www.staples.com/Buxton-Leather-Writing-Padfolio-Black/product_593274
http://www.staples.com/Southworth-Exceptional-Resume-Paper-32-lb-8-1-2-inch-x-
11/product_488199

What to do

You will need to compile a list of questions to ask. I’ll provide you with a few of them,
but you should also aim to be creative and relevant. There will be either one-on-one
encounters or a firm representative addressing a group. You will want to have good
questions to ask when you get your chance. Prepare a list of questions, or use the ones
I’ve developed for you below, but please try to be at least somewhat original. For
example, if you’ve seen the representative at campus presentations, you can thank them
for coming and raise something they talked about as a discussion point. Inside your
padfolio (where you’re carrying your resumes), jot down some keywords from your
questions in case you freeze up. Having this available can get you out of a bind and also
keep you calm knowing you have a back-up plan.

I will now let you in on a critical trick that not many people know about. There is no
doubt that you are going to be nervous. You have questions to ask and you want to
present yourself as a normal, personable, and likeable person. You should begin by
approaching the smaller firms that you likely have no interest in. The lines will probably
be short, and you will be able to insert yourself and ask the questions in a mock
interview-type setting. If you don’t have any intentions of working for the firm, you
shouldn’t feel any pressure. This really helped me out when I went through the process,
and calmed my nerves. Keep in mind the timeframe of the event; don’t do too much of
this.

When you get in front of the firms you’re interested in, be confident and friendly, just
like in the interview tips I give below. First, start by introducing yourself and mention:

● When you are graduating
● If you plan to interview for an internship or fulltime position
● Whether you would prefer to work in either audit or tax

Make up your mind before you go to meet the firms. If you sit there and say “Well I like
both audit and tax,” you may think you’re doing yourself a favor, but you’re actually
shooting yourself in the foot. Also, have a particular office in mind. Big 4 firms place
candidates in buckets based on their interests and then sort through and grab the ones
we want. If you are ambiguous regarding what you want (e.g. no office preference, no
service line preference) they won’t have a bucket to put you in, they certainly aren’t
putting you into every bucket.

Firm representatives may ask for your resume as soon as you walk up. If not, you can
give it after your introduction. Some ‘meet the firms’ events actually prohibit resumes
since there are just too many, with resume drops alternatively made available either
online or somewhere else.

Questions to ask:

● How long have you been with the firm?
● What is your favorite part of the job?
● Have you been able to travel anywhere interesting?

● What clients do you primarily work with?
● I hear that inventory counts can be a pretty unique experience. Have you had any

interesting inventory counts?
● I saw on the recruiting site your office has a focus on financial

services/manufacturing/healthcare etc. clients. Which clients in your area does
your office work with?

Questions not to ask:

● For how many hours do you typically work? (Or anything related to this)
● What do you like least about the job? (Or anything else negative)
● Do you have to travel a lot? (Instead say do you get to travel)
● Have you ever discovered fraudulent activities? (Answer is 99% no, and a

stereotype of the profession)
● When do you think the U.S. will convert to IFRS? (Or anything related to IFRS)
● Why is XYZ the best firm? (They will likely not have an opinion, but will instead

be forced to deliver some BS about the culture)

Making an impression

It’s difficult to tell you how to make someone like you, so I’ll give you some quotes from
Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. If you haven’t already read
it, it is a quick and awesome read with principals you will use for the rest of your life. I’ll
also comment on how one candidate really stood out at a recent recruiting event I
attended.

When I received the email regarding candidate feedback, this male candidate was the
first person that popped into my head and the only person I wrote about.

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people
than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

When the guy I mentioned struck up a conversation with me, it was all about me. He
was interested in my background and why I chose my office. It’s not that interesting of a
story, but he seemed interested. He asked about which clients I worked with and any
travel I had experienced. He looked me in the eyes and exuded having a genuine interest
in what I was saying.

“Talk to someone about themselves and they'll listen for hours.”

See above - this is the inverse of what I did; I talked all about myself. This sounds
conceited but it highlights that the method of expressing genuine interest in what
someone is saying really works. I’ll explain more when it comes time to ask the
interviewer questions.

“The difference between appreciation and flattery? That is simple. One is sincere and
the other insincere. One comes from the heart out; the other from the teeth out. One is
unselfish; the other selfish. One is universally admired; the other universally
condemned.”

There is a fine line between acting interested in someone, asking all the right questions,
and actually being interested. The candidate I spoke of, was either sincerely interested
in my story or really, really good at faking it; I felt a real connection with him.

Although your ultimate goal is to land an offer, be aware that one can interpret
nonverbal cues better than one can act. When talking with someone, at least trick
yourself into believing that they are interesting. Don’t flatter them, don’t smile really
big, don’t say “Wow that’s awesome!” if the story is lame. Ask probing questions like
“So did you like it when you were in XYZ?” or “What makes them your favorite client?”.
Get them talking more about themselves; it makes your job a lot easier.

“Names are the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

Make a point to remember names. Most people feel they are the world’s worst at this,
but it is natural. The best advice as to how to remember someone's name is to relate
their name to an image. If Greg is wearing burgundy tie, make that association. If
Monica is wearing a star earrings, make that association, etc. The candidate I spoke of
used my name several times in conversation, and after the event he said “Hey it was
good talking with you James.”

Make sure to get business cards and follow up with each representative after the event.
Fewer people than you imagine actually do this, and it definitely gets noticed. What I
did, and recommend, is right after I walked away from that booth, I wrote down what we
discussed. Doing this reminds you not only of something to raise in discussion, but also

of what they look like for the next time you see them (so you can use their name). The
follow up email shouldn’t be long. You can say something like:

“Hey ____,

Thank you for coming out to meet the firms on XYZ. We appreciate you and your firm
taking the time to visit our campus.“

Ask a probing question, but something that is quick and easy to answer. Try to tie it into
the discussions you had at ‘meet the firms’ (or wherever), so that hopefully they can put
a name to a face. We talk to a lot of people at these events and it gets confusing. Some
examples:

“You mentioned in our conversation that you had an opportunity to do a rotation in
_____ and I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about how common
these opportunities are and at what level they become available. I think something like
that would be very interesting.”

Thanks again and I look forward to talking with you soon,
_________

1st Round - On Campus Interview

Resumes

For on-campus interviews , firms will receive a ton of resumes, and will usually filter
them using the following key components in the following order:

1. GPAs over a certain threshold - I would say minimum 3.2 to upwards of 3.5 - will
get put into an exclusive stack.

2. What you’ve been doing outside of class. Those with some work experience
and/or leadership and involvement in clubs are given more weight than those
who only list their achievements in projects within class.

3. If you’ve made a favorable impression at recruiting events or at meet the firms,
you may be given an extra glance, even if you’re in the low GPA stack.

The truth is that the process for those who get interviews and those who don’t is really
guided by the discretion of the managers. If you can really stand out you can make it
work with a low GPA. After every recruiting event, the office sends out emails to staff,
seniors, and managers asking for their input regarding the candidates that they met. If
you can get a few people, whether staff or seniors, to vouch for you, you will get noticed.
You shouldn’t talk about how awesome a student/future employee you will be. Just be a
friendly person; someone whom they think they could work with, or grab a beer with.

The Interview

See my earlier advice for how to dress. Bring resumes on resume paper, show up 10-15
minutes early (there will usually be a check in place where you can review your resume
and what you’re expected to be asked). If you haven’t been to the place of the interviews
before (if it isn’t on campus for some reason), allot extra time for
traffic/wrecks/tornadoes/etc.

First round interviews are generally one-on-one with either a recruiter or a manager.
Depending on the person and the time slot, you could get someone who grills you with
behavioral questions or someone who wants to discuss the campus, college football, or
their good old days back in school. Hopefully for your sake it's the latter, not the former.

In many cases the representative will have printed copies of your resume, along with all
the other candidates they’re interviewing that day. I think it would be wise to say
something like “I’m sure you have a copy my resume but just in case I brought an extra
copy.” This way, you can hand them your resume on resume paper, so they know you
mean business.

Now we get into the interview questions and how to answer them. I have prepared a list
of the most common interview questions, and what the best response is. Many of these
are behavioral questions and are based on your experiences, so there is no way to
adequately tailor a guide to these questions. My intent is to provide enough of an
explanation and example of what a good response is to help you develop your answers.

Keep in mind that if you practice your answers ahead of time, get asked the question,
and then deliver your answer in a rehearsed way, it will show. When you’re asked the
questions, you should speak like you’re recalling the experience, not like you wrote down
the answer yesterday. The purpose is instead to have a thought out, developed answer to
avoid having to think on your feet, accidentally contradicting yourself, having trouble
coming up with an answer, or saying something stupid. This should be a guide for how
to develop your answers. This is also a great way to catalog your experiences in the event
that a question arises that isn’t contained in this guide. If you are reflecting on your past
experiences and you’ve already put them into writing, it will be much easier to discuss
them. I made this mistake a few times when asked a question: I either gave an answer
that wasn’t complete or didn’t even answer the question. Later, I thought to myself
“Man, I totally forgot about that time...” I missed providing an awesome response.

One of the most important things to keep in mind with these behavioral interview
questions is that it isn’t so much what you say, but how you say it. Specifically, how do
you present yourself in a stressful environment such as an interview? Do you present as
someone whom is personable?

The most common interview questions (those with an * are extremely common):

1) Walk me through your resume*

or

2) Tell me a little about yourself/your background

Prepare for this question by going through your resume and looking at the items that
you have identified as achievements or responsibilities. Try to think of specific examples
of each. This is an ideal chance to provide the interviewer with an overview of your
resume from your viewpoint.

“I’m a senior accounting major at XYZ. I will be graduating in the Spring of 2014 and
currently hold a 3.5 GPA. I’ve been involved in on campus activities as treasurer of my
fraternity/sorority. I’m also on a committee within Beta Alpha Psi, and volunteer at
XYZ. Two summers ago I had the opportunity to work as a camp counselor at XYZ and
last summer I worked as an accounting intern at XYZ. As a camp counsellor, I was
able to… (list 2 or 3 key areas) and in my accounting internship I… (list 3 things).

Make sure to spend more time discussing things that are relevant (like accounting
internships). This is good time to jump into where you want to go from here:

“Since I’m graduating from XYZ next Spring, I plan to enroll in the Masters in
Accounting at XYZ to fulfill the CPA exam requirements. My plan is to intern in
audit/tax next summer so I can work full time after my graduation in Spring of 2015.”

I’ve said this before as a art of this guide that it is important that the interviewer knows
your graduation schedule, your plan to meet the CPA requirements if you aren’t doing
grad school, and whether you are targeting audit or tax. I know some of you are hesitant
to choose one because it is a big choice, but I think it is better to choose one and commit
to it rather than saying you aren’t sure. For internships it is less important as if you
choose one and don’t like it, you can likely switch. If you’re going for full time but can’t
choose, it makes things a little more difficult.

3) Why KPMG/Deloitte/PwC/E&Y? *

This question is really B.S. as there isn’t really that much of an overall difference
between the Big 4. What is more important is the office itself, and its own culture.
Regardless of this fact, it is still a popular question. There are a few good ways you can
answer this, and you can use all of them.

Discuss how you are interested in a Big 4 firm vs. smaller firms for the reasons below
(applicable to all of the Big 4):

● Your firm consistently tops the list in BusinessWeek’s best places to launch a
career

● The opportunity to work with high profile clients and key executives at a really
early point in my career

● There is a ‘learning culture’ where questions are encouraged and regular feedback
provided (which is very true, I’ve found)

● You are constantly being challenged to perform at your highest and you truly
learn something every day

If you’re interviewing with smaller firms, you can discuss why you’re interested in
smaller firms by saying that:

● Working on smaller audits provides a big picture of the audit vs. working with a
large public client and only seeing one piece of an audit (cash, PPE, etc.). This
provides a better sense of the audit methodology and how the process works.

A second way to answer is to talk about the culture if you have met someone from the
office. If you collected cards from ‘meet the firms’, or wherever, remember the
representatives names and the topics you discussed. If you’ve visited the office on a
prior occasion for a recruiting event or something, this is also helpful. Discuss how you
believe you would mesh well with the office environment.

“When talking with Mellissa H and Jason D at ‘meet the firms’, I felt very welcome and
was invited into the discussion. Not all the firms were this friendly, and if they are an
appropriate indication of the office culture, then I think I would enjoy the atmosphere
your office provides.”

or

“When I attended the XYZ office summer event, I was really pleased with how pleasant
and inviting everyone was. I could tell from the interactions between the employees
that they enjoyed each other’s company outside of the work setting, and that is
something I am looking for. I’ve heard that office culture is very important because
you can spend a lot of time together in an audit room (or work together in tax) and
you definitely want to be around people you feel comfortable with.”

Lastly, if you want to provide a specific answer to the question of why XYZ, discuss the
clients that the local office you are interviewing with has. If they audit a bank in the area
and you’re interested in financial services, discuss how the office lines up with your
interests.

4) Why audit/tax/advisory?

You should have a thoroughly researched answer for this question because it
demonstrates an authentic interest in the field. The truth is there are actually a lot of
great reasons to choose a career in audit and tax. A few things regarding audit that you
could say suit you that apply to both audit and tax are that you wanted to choose a
career where you would have the opportunity to:

● Be constantly challenged and receive regular feedback
● Work in a team environment with people my age
● Have the opportunity to travel
● Audit specific reasons:
● I like the continuity audit work provides, from early planning to completion
● I like how audit enables me to work on different sections and on different

companies throughout the year. I think I will enjoy seeing new things and always
having something new to work on. Plus, it is nice to have a change of scenery
every once in a while!

5) Where do you see your yourself in 5 years?

The answer to this question is simple: manager. At the Big 4, after 5 years you make it to
manager. Many people leave after 2 years when they make senior (3 years at PwC)
because some pretty decent opportunities open up. At the manager level, there are even
greater opportunities and this is the goal of many Big 4 employees. That said, many
can’t stand the hours and make it to senior and get out.

Example answer:
“I’ve heard from a lot of people that you should shoot for manager, and that is my

plan. I know it will be a challenging 5 years, but I don’t want to leave before manager
when I know there are so many great opportunities beyond that point. If I really enjoy
the work, I would be interested in staying with the firm beyond manager. Outside of
public accounting I would be interested in (pick something such as Internal Audit,
Financial Reporting, Financial Planning & Analysis).”

6) Tell me about a time when you had to be a leader

At the Big 4, you have the opportunity to be a leader within a short amount of time. As a
senior, you can basically be running engagements. A good response would discuss
situations where you were:

● Captain/leader of sports team
● In a leadership position in a fraternity/sorority/club
● Head of a group project in class or elsewhere

The biggest things to emphasize are:

● How many people you managed
● How you organized the project with the people you managed and how you

delegated their tasks
● How you succeeded in keeping everything to a timeline or within a deadline.

7) Tell me about a time when you had to overcome an obstacle to get
something done

or

8) Tell me about a time when you had to overcome adversity to complete
something

This question is asked because there is often a lot pressure on the job, especially time
constraints, to accomplish tasks. Clients can be difficult, management can be
overbearing, and you’re also learning as you go. Discuss a time when you had to go
above and beyond what was expected to get the job done.

Examples could be:

● A time where you had to work late into the night to finish a project because
something unexpected happened

● You had to pick up someone else’s work load because they fell short of their
responsibilities

It is acceptable here to demonstrate something impressive, such as working until 4am to
finish a project, but don’t be cocky about it. Say it in passing almost as if it wasn’t a big
deal.

9) Tell me about a goal you had and how you achieved it

This question is a good one to think about; catalog your experiences. Think of a time
when you had to work really hard to achieve a goal, especially if it was a mid/long term
goal. For example, getting into the Masters in Accounting (if the school has heavy

requirements) or maintaining a high GPA in order to be selected for an interview with
the Big 4 accounting firms.

10) How well do you work do in a team setting?

In public accounting, you work in a team setting and will do so for most of your time
there. State that you prefer a group environment because you enjoy the interaction and
leveraging the group’s skills to meet tasks. Describe specific examples of when you
worked in a group and either excelled and/or enjoyed it. If true, discuss how you had a
group project and you became close with the group and continue to hang out with them
outside of school. This shows you are a people person and that other people can stand to
be around you.

11) Give me an example of a time when you were in a moral dilemma and
how you handled it

Honestly, not everyone has been in this type of situation before outside of not wanting
to hurt someone’s feeling or something. If you have been in a situation where an
employer or someone asked you to do something you didn’t feel comfortable with or
didn’t agree with, definitely tell the story. Never talk about a time when your morals
almost slipped a little to gain an advantage (such as when some of your friends got a
hold test answer and you felt pressured to cheat because you had a bad grade in the
class).

12) Give me an example of a time when you were working in a team, and a
team member wasn’t meeting their responsibilities, and how you handled it

This is a specific question that they like to ask and you may or may not have had this
experience. If you have, discuss how the team member caused a strain on the work
environment. Saying you picked up the slack and did all of their work isn’t exactly the
best answer, however. Instead, discuss how you confronted them and whether you told
them to have it done by a certain date or the task would get reallocated, or generally how
it unfolded.

13) Tell me about a time when you disagreed with someone in your group
and how you handled it

Discuss a time when your opinion differed from someone in the group’s and why you
thought you were correct. They are looking for people with original thought who can
think independently. It is also important to talk about how you were diplomatic in the
situation. Just saying someone was wrong is not the right way to go about it. If it was an
opportunity for you to coach another student of co-worker, that is a plus.

14) Tell me about a time when you had to work under pressure with strict
deadlines

Deadlines are the reason you hear horror stories about the hours in public accounting.
Tax deadlines, quarterly filings, sign off dates, etc. will create havoc in your life. This is
the time to discuss how you worked long and hard (into the mornings if you have had
these experiences), but do so without the attitude that it was an extreme feat. Examples
could be:

● You found a big error on your project the night before and had to work hard to fix
it

● Someone in your group submitted work before a due date that was substandard
● When you were studying for the CPA exam and putting in a lot of hours leading

up to the test

15) Tell me about a time when you made a mistake or failed at something
and how you handled it

People are going to make mistakes and you shouldn’t feel bad disclosing a time when
you failed at something, but definitely don’t talk about failing a class or an accounting
test. Think of something minor that happened, how you learned from it, and how you
improved. For example, you could say something like:

● You were working on a project/homework and didn’t keep everything organized,
and something slipped through the cracks, but now you have a full and effective
organizational method (and explain)

Make sure to talk about how you learned from it, corrected your mistakes, and improved
going forward.

16) What is your biggest weakness/strength?

Weakness:

This is probably one of the worst questions to get asked, and is very frustrating. Both
you and they know that you are certainly not going to disclose your biggest weakness.
You have to play the game and talk about something that is at least somewhat ‘bad’ but

that you’ve corrected it and now you’re just perfect. Avoid saying things like “I’m a
perfectionist”, or things that are actually positives; it may anger them. Stick to
something that most everyone have trouble with, something that is relatable.

In my interviews, I disclosed that my weakness was that I sometimes would get buried
in the details and would need to take a step back sometimes and look at the bigger
picture. My interviewer responded with “Oh gosh, yeah we all struggle with that,
especially in accounting.”

Another answer could be:

“I’m learning to deal with all of the different pressures and prioritizing my time
between the CPA exam, studying, networking/interviewing, and my social life. I’m
having to tell my friends (or GF/BF) “no” and that I have to put certain things before
others. I’m still learning how to be effective with this and it is tough sometimes.”

Learning to say “No” or “I just have a lot on my plate” is something that you will
encounter, at least at the 2nd year or senior level, and especially at the manager level.

Strength:

Examples could be:

● Ambitious
● Hard working
● Eager to learn
● Quick learner

17) What do you like to do for fun?

There are no criteria for how to answer this question. Just discuss what you do in your
free time. Don’t say “Get drunk”. Instead you could say “Tailgate for sporting events.”
If there is anything interesting, let them know, but there is a difference between
interesting and just plain weird.

17) What is your greatest achievement?

or

18) What are you most proud of?

Here is a chance to really shine and show something that is unique about you. If you’ve
won or placed in any sort of case competition, or achieved at anything competitive in an
academic setting, that is great. You can also discuss scholarships you were awarded,
what the criteria were, how many people applied, etc.

19) Give me an example of a time when you disagreed with a superior and
how you handled it

If you have an example of a time where this specifically happened, then definitely
discuss it. If you can’t really think of anything, try thinking about if you’ve had any
disagreements with professors in the past about tests grades, or something similar. The
key here is not so much that you caught their mistake or that you’re smarter than your
superiors, but how you handled it. For example:

“I had a disagreement with Professor XYZ on a tax problem from his test. He said that
it was a certain answer and that I got it wrong. I looked at it further and I was pretty
sure I had strong grounds for the answer being overturned. I set up a time to speak
with him in his office and went over the tax question. I supported my answer by
highlighting a tax case he hadn’t discussed but that came up in my studies. He later
gave everyone in the class who had also selected that answer on the test credit for
getting it right.”

20) Tell me about a time when you improved a process (or came up with a
creative solution)

This would be a great time to talk about an internship or a club/fraternity where you
changed how things worked. It can be something like:

● Created an excel pivot table, vlookup, filter or anything that improved the process
● Put in place a new policy in the fraternity/sorority that increased the dues

collection rate
● Started a new fundraising method by selling t shirts/selling banner ads

21) Tell me about a time when you had to prioritize your responsibilities

This shouldn’t be easy to do if you’re a busy person. Talk about how you have class,
interviewing, networking, clubs, and balancing your social life. Talk about how it forces
you to be extra organized so that you stay on top of everything that is going on. For
prioritizing, discuss how you keep some sort of agenda that lists what is approaching
and set times for you to study or complete a project. Make it a practice, if you haven’t

already, of setting dates for yourself before something is due to be finished, that way you
can do a review after you have spent some time not looking at it (this is a great method
of reviewing, because if you review something right after you complete it, you are less
likely to see something you missed).

22) What do you like best about a career in public accounting?

There are a lot of answers you can give here. I wanted to choose a career where I would
have the opportunity to:

● Be constantly challenged and have regular feedback on my performance
● Work in a team environment with people my age
● Travel to different cities
● Have an ever changing work environment where I can see something new every

day
● Be able to serve in management and leadership positions early in my career
● Have face- to-face interaction with high level executives early in my career
● Work within a profession and a company that is widely regarded as demanding,

challenging, and produces very capable employees

23) Are you interviewing with any other firms?

There is nothing wrong with interviewing with other firms. It shows that you are a
legitimate candidate. Generally, if one firm wants you, they all want you. Be honest and
tell them that you are. If you’re gunning for Big 4 and are also interviewing with smaller

firms, just say that you’re keeping your options open but hoping for one of the Big 4.
You shouldn’t feel bad for interviewing with other firms, even if you told them that
they’re your favorite.

24) Why are you interested in our office in XYZ city?

You should have a good answer for this question because they want employees who will
be there for a long time. Many times, smaller cities will have offices and need people, but
everyone wants to go to the bigger cities. If you have some family in those smaller cities
or have a good reason (spouse, significant other, where you grew up, etc.) you will be put
ahead of those who are just looking for a job. Talk about how you love the nightlife/
sporting events/public transportation/ lack of traffic, or anything that is positive in that
city. As I have said before, it is important to be direct about which city you want. It is
tough sometimes because you don’t know how many people that office is hiring and
whether your odds may be better focusing on another city. Still, if you say “I’ll go
wherever”, you will go nowhere. I can attest to this after being at ‘meet the firms’ last
week. If we looked at a resume that said they would go wherever without a preference,
we discarded the resume. If they wanted a particular city, even if it wasn’t ours, we
would write that down along with whether they were a decent communicator.

25) Big 4 firms are known for having challenging deadlines and often long
hours. How do you think you will be able to handle this?

They want to know that you are aware of what is coming and that you are expecting it.
Several people that I started with really had no idea what they were getting into. If
possible, talk about how you have pulled all-nighters or stayed up late for multiple days

to get a project or studying done. If you’ve simultaneously managed multiple things like
the CPA exam, class, work, etc., discuss how it kept you very busy and how you handled
it well. This was my response (or something similar):

“I’ve heard the horror stories of busy season with over 80 hour weeks and I know it
will be challenging for sure, but I think that I’m prepared to handle it and if I’m on a
good team, it won’t be so bad. Currently, I’m juggling studying the REG, my 15-hour
graduate assistantship, my leadership in XYZ, and of course maintaining my grades.
Typically, my days start at 7 and end around 12am.”

Again, don’t talk about how busy you are and try to impress your interviewer, they will
most likely not be impressed. Instead, talk about being busy as it is just part of your life
and is part of your personality.

26) What sets you apart from the rest of the candidates?

or

27) Why should we hire you instead of the other candidates?

This question is often the last question an interviewer asks. The best way to answer is by
either a direct and possibly memorized answer. Take all of the unique and outstanding
components of your resume and package them into answer that finishes with a strong
“I’m the one!” type of answer. For example:

● Well, I know you have plenty of candidates with great GPAs (because they will)
and great work experience but I think I stand out because I:
o have already passed X/all of the CPA exams
o feel that my communication skills surpass those of my peers and that I will
be very effective in developing client relationships
o have already had some work experience in private industry and because of
that have no interest in going back anytime soon. I am committed to
working at least until manager because I’ve already seen the private side
and the grass is really not greener (see below)

I’m unique because:

Follow with something like “I have a track record of outstanding performance, great
grades and I am prepared to work long and hard. I really want to work for XYZ
because…..and I really think I will be a great asset.”

Questions to ask them at the end of the interview

● “Have you had any interesting experiences with clients, either good or bad?”
● “Has the office had a lot of turnover in the past few years?”

The reason for this is important, because turnover may be because of layoffs or people
taking advantage of opportunities. If there have been layoffs, it may mean that the office
has experienced a loss in clients or a lower than expected turnover. If people don’t quit,
as is expected in public accounting, some people may have to go. It is truly a pyramid.
They need lots of staffs and less seniors, but even less managers etc.

● “Do you have any interesting inventory counts you’ve been on or heard of (there
are always interesting inventory count stories)?”

● “Compared to other offices in the area, how would you describe the culture of
your office?”

● “Does your office typically have a lot of clients in the area or does it have a lot of
travel?”

This is tricky because you don’t want to give off the impression that you don’t want to
travel, but if you really don’t, this is certainly important to you. FYI, the further you
move up in the firm, the less you will travel. As a staff, and maybe senior, you may be
shipped off to different areas in your business unit, but after a few years they tend to
keep everyone at home and put them on the main clients. If you’re in tax, I wouldn’t
even ask as tax doesn’t travel all that much

● “Does your office have any intramural teams”

If you’re into sports, this is great because a lot of times the office is lacking people with
athleticism. This sounds dumb, but if you’re a physical looking guy/girl and you’re
interviewing with a guy/girl, he/she may be sizing you up in regards to whether you
would be a good fit for the softball team - seriously.

● “What do you like most about your office”

Put them on the spot for once; see what they have to say. If they seem to really like their
office, that is a plus. If they can corroborate what others have said about the office, then
it’s probably true.

When you think things are starting to wrap up and you’re out of questions, they will
usually say something like “Well, we appreciate your time, and it was really great
talking with you today” you should respond with:

“Yeah it was really great meeting with you and thank you for taking your time to come
out and visit the campus. I was wondering though, what will the next steps in the
process be and when will I find out if any decisions have been made?”

The answer will likely involve the next step bring office interviews and that they will be
contacting those who are selected soon (likely less than 7 days, they may give a number
of days, but they may not).

They will then likely stand up and extend a hand shake. Grab your stuff in your left
hand, shake with your right hand, thank them again, say it was a pleasure meeting them,
and exit the room with them.

After the interview, be sure to send a quick follow up email and potentially even a
physical snail mail card. If you are interviewing with a partner or senior manager, it may
be good practice to mail a thank you card. In either case, say something along the lines
of:

Dear [name],

I wanted to say thank you for taking the time to visit my campus and for meeting with
me today. From what you've told me, and from what I've heard, I believe XYZ office
would be a great place for me to start my career. I was especially impressed with:

● your office having a variety of public and private clients
● the fact that your office has several clients in XYZ industry, which I am

particularly interested in
● the office culture. I found everyone I met during this process was very friendly

and welcoming
● the fact that there are a lot of exciting things going on in your office that I would

really like to be a part of
If you have any further questions for me I would be glad to answer them.

Thanks again (name). It was a pleasure meeting with you.

2nd Round - Office Visit/Partner Interview

If you’re lucky enough to receive invitation to the 2nd round, it is usually held at the
office you’re applying to. These interviews are much more laid back and may consist of a
meet and greet with current associates, a Q&A panel with associates, dinner, or some
sort of half-day presentation. Ultimately, there will be a few interviews (2-5) that will be
with a mix of partners and managers (whoever is available). Relax, these are far less
stressful. Now that you’ve passed the resume screening and the on campus screening
they now just want to see that you’re a good ‘fit’.” ‘Fit’ is just another term for ‘not super
weird’. They want to hire people that they can work with and that they can put in front
of a client.

The most important advice for these interviews is to simply relax. There is a small
chance that some partner may throw some of the behavioral interview questions at you,

but most of the time it is small talk. In all of my 2nd round interviews I discussed
football, school politics, current events, etc. It is also a good time to ask serious
questions that you’re curious about, especially if you plan on having multiple offers and
aren’t scared of being aggressive. Be yourself, act professionally and friendly, and you’ll
be fine. Send out thank you emails to everyone you meet and received cards from,
similar to template I provided before. This may or may not have any effect because
offers are usually sent out a day or two after the 2nd round. Don’t be alarmed if you
haven’t received one yet; they usually tell you either way. Some offices may just take
longer than others.

Resume Dos and Don’ts

Do:

1. Use professional, easy-to-read fonts (e.g., Arial, Times New Roman, Georgia, etc.)
2. Keep your format consistent (e.g., font size/type, order of information, layout)
3. Edit and proofread multiple times - you will often find additional errors
4. Quantify and qualify your accomplishments with numbers
5. Keep it to one page - there is no reason why you should have two pages
6. Include your GPA if it is above 3.0, otherwise, leave it off
7. Aggregate GPA’s between majors and overall (i.e.: 3.2 Overall, 3.7 Accounting)
8. List club, leadership, and philanthropy participation
9. List hobbies if they are interesting (but not weird)
10. Use resume paper!

Don’t:
1. List a GPA below 3.0
2. Lie about the work you performed or tasks you handled
3. Make ANY mistakes on your resume. This is an extension of you and you want it
to be flawless
4. Try to include everything you’ve ever done. Keep it relevant
5. Underline or bold writing to emphasize something. It looks tacky.
6. Have bullet points that are only a few words long
7. Exceed 3-4 bullet points per section
8. Use a weird email address. If you don’t have one, get something like
[email protected]
9. Use an objectives section - your career center may disagree but I think it is a
waste of space and offers no value. You’re all competing for the same thing
10. Use super small or large font to cram/fill space

Conclusion

I hope that you find this guide to be beneficial to your career. I am confident that if you
follow my suggestions you will get an interview, and that if you follow what I suggest you
say and do in the interview you’ll get the job. Good luck, and feel free to email me
directly at [email protected]. If there is anything you were expecting to see, or
would like to see, let me know and I’ll add it in for a revised edition. Thank you!