Hutchinson I am in the same position as you. I graduated in Dec 07 and because I was working full time and taking weekend classes I wasn't aware that the career center could have assisted me in getting into the Big 4.

I contacted my former college about a month ago and was told that the CPA firms on campus are there to hire only students that will finish school in the fall or spring.

I was told by one of the advisors that I should show up on campus and see if they would take my resume. I did and apparently impress one of the guys at PWC who told me that he could refer me to one of the recruiters. So that is where i am with that, awaiting his referral.

It looks like if you don’t work in a public accounting firm right out of college, you will never get the chance to, especially with the Big 4.  I graduated in the fall of 2008 and  recently applied to one of them through campus recruting, and they responded with a big f*ck you. Go figure. 

Sounds about right. I have never bothered to apply to Big 4 after I graduated mainly because I make more money than my classmates who went into Big 4 and my work/life balance is definitely better. But a few of my friends tried to make the transition and failed miserably. Even with a CPA, it's very very hard to get in there once you have been in the workforce.