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scot5818
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Newbie

Joined: 15 Jul 2010
Location: United States
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Posts: 39

Posted: 21 Nov 2010 at 16:46 \| IP Logged

I suppose it may depend on the firm, but I don't think name dropping is a bad thing at all. It shows that you paid enough attention to the people you talked to to remember their names, and hopefully you made at least a small impression on them too. And if they didn't remember your name specifically, that's okay too because partners meet TONS of candidates at all of the different recruiting events they attend.

I would highly suggest joining any accounting organizations at your school. I am the president of the Beta Alpha Psi chapter at my college, and I know that experience has opened up many doors for me. Not just because I can put that on my resume; because I have done so many things that I can talk about in an interview. Firms like to know that you have leadership ability, and being an officer of something like BAP really gives you the opportunity to enhance those abilities.

Also, don't feel horrible about not getting the offer. The fact that you even made it to the second round interview speaks very highly for you. The big 4 really do recruit for the cream of the crop, and if they didn't see that in you, they wouldn't have taken you that far!

potatogun
Major Contributor

Joined: 07 May 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 412

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 at 00:43 \| IP Logged

Mentioning a name in a cover letter is very different from
bringing one in conversation. I would not put someone
else's name in your resume or cover letter.

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ddlszxcv
Contributor

Joined: 17 Nov 2010
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Posts: 93

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 at 09:06 \| IP Logged

Thank you everyone for the feedback!! It really helps and I really just want to learn from all my mistakes. Do all three people you interview with have to like you? I feel like the first senior associate I interviewed with was sick and I could tell that she just didnt want to be there.

At fall career fair, I was waiting on the assurance line to give my resume to a pwc associate . Then this girl started asking everyone in line what they were waiting on line for. Everybody said chicago audit, chicago audit, then she got down the line to me and i was like new york city audit. Then she was like oh im from the nyc office, you can just talk to me. So she dragged me out of line and i gave her my resume and had a pretty good conversation. Afterwards she gave me her card and told me to speak with the audit partner that is here from nyc. I was like oh wow okay. So i waited on line to talk to teh partner. When it was my turn I told him that the person i talked to before from your nyc office suggested that i speak with you. So the nyc audit partner and i talked and he gave me his card. I realized that he only gave cards to ppl if they asked but didnt make the first move. I know this probably doesnt matter but it made me feel special lol.

Fastforward to partner interview at the office:

partner: i see that you mentioned John **** in your partner interview. How do you know him?

me: oh mr. ***?

Partner: its actually mr ****. I think you just had a typo in your cover letter. (his last name was 3 letters, and the partner thought it was four, suggesting i forgot the last letter therefore making a "typo")

Me: oh im sorry about that

Partner: its okay

Me: Well john *** was at my school for recruiting. Somebody from the nyc office who took my resume told me to speak with him afterwards. He is from the florham park new jersey office and he said he has been working there for 21 years.

Partner: right, right

Me: the biggest thing i got away from talking with him was that workign at pwc, you form all these types of relationships and he mentioned that he has friends at pwc who he interned with and even though some ppl may not be at pwc anymore, they are still best of friends.

That was the end of that conversation about my cv/"typo"

After i got the email rejection, i emailed the person who coordinated the superday about if i could get interview feedback. She said she couldnt bc they have to legally protect themselves so they can't give specifics. She just gave me a generic list of what I could improve on. It just sucks because I emailed the people I interviewed with thank you notes and they didn't respond so I guess it would be awkward emailing them again.

Are winter internships easier to get? That is what I am going to look for now that I have blown this opportunity. I really want to intern with big four once and go through full time recruiting as a last option.

Thanks guys for all your help!

Ellipsis123
Regular
Regular

Joined: 08 Jun 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 218

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 at 14:10 \| IP Logged

@ellipsis123 - what are your plans for now? what school do you go to?

I goto a pretty large public college in NYC where the big 4 and lots of other CPA firms recruit heavily from. I did manage to get a full time offer from a small firm and am in the process of interviewing with a pretty large and renowned regional firm in the NY metro area.

I would say don't give up. I felt pretty down when all the big firms rejected me. I would say attend as many networking events as possible (that's how I got the interview with the regional firm.) Talk to as many professionals as possible, be enthusiastic, and show your interest and make sure they know what you're looking for.

potatogun
Major Contributor

Joined: 07 May 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 412

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 at 14:29 \| IP Logged

Internship interviews are more competitive. Everyones opinion matters but the partner has the greater pull obviously.

Try again for full time definitely. You will be on a list of people the firm has interacted with in the past. It is looked highly upon if you keep up the networking and try again for FT.

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