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 Topic: (Audit) Big 4 Recruiting Q&A ( Topic Closed)
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db729
Major Contributor
Joined: 22 Apr 2010
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Posts: 256
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| Posted: 21 Sep 2011 at 21:03 | IP Logged
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CPA87 wrote:
Hi everyone,
I would love to get into big 4 audit. However I only have
private and public accounting tax experience (I interned
in tax with a private co, worked there for 10 months
after graduation and been with a CPA firm for almost a
year now, also in TAX). I personally dont like Tax but I
can't seem to get out of it.
Does anyone have any suggestion on how to switch from tax
to audit? I am not in school right now so recruiters said
"I am in a tough in-between stage" I recently got turned
down by a CPA firm in town for an audit position. I dont
know how to get audit experience if no one lets me.
I also asked my firm to let me try audit (but not telling
them ao agressively that I dont like TAX) They said they
would look into it but so far nothing. I couldnt press
the issue too much because I dont want them to get any
idea. But I feel stuck at my job. Is there a way to get
out of this? |
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I'm not too sure about your firm, but for Big 4 we generally allow 1st or 2nd year associates to do rotations outside of your line of service. After a rotation, people can express interest in making a full on switch to the other line of service. I've definitely met a few people that was in tax for a year, did an audit rotation, and then switched to audit completely. I've heard the reverse as well, although not as common from my experience.
As far as getting into Big 4, I had a friend in a similar situation. He was doing tax at a small firm and I offered to put him in touch with the recruiter to see if he can switch into audit. He had I think around 8 or 9 months of experience? The recruiter said that he could either 1) apply for an audit internship or 2) wait another 1/2-1 year and lateral into Big 4 as an experienced hire into Tax. After getting in as an experienced hire in Tax, he could try to do a rotation and all that. This never went through because he decided to stay in his old firm for now. Not quite sure how that would have played out had he pursued it. I imagine him coming in as an experienced hire in Tax would be fairly doable, as would for you if you had connections. Although you'd still be in tax without promise of moving into audit.
With that said, one thing that I've learned and heard is you have to be very proactive about your career. If you want something, you have to constantly speak up and push for it. Talk to HR and constantly remind them. Talk to the audit manager/partners to see if you can learn more about the practice and see if they can let you do a rotation. Talk to the associates to network so they can mention you if there is a need people, maybe you can get in on it. I've had much more success constantly pushing for what I want than to mention it once and hope someone else will miraculously make it happen for me. I'm not advocating you threaten to quit if you don't get into audit right now, but I do think you need to be persistent about it.
Disclaimer: I say the above purely based on my own experiences, what I've seen, and how much "risk" I'm willing to take on. There is a chance that they might fire you I guess if you decide that you don't want to tax anymore. For me, I've voiced interests outside of audit. I took that risk fully knowing the best case and worst case scenario. Again, I'm someone that's willing to make mistakes and take risks in my career. I take full responsibility for whatever happens, and would never blame someone else if I get laid off just because they told me to push for what I want. I can tell you that I've taken huge risks in my career before and so far it's played out the way I wanted.
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masahi
Newbie
Joined: 09 Jan 2011
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 7
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| Posted: 21 Sep 2011 at 23:16 | IP Logged
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right now I am working in a small accounting firm for
around 1 year, the major services is
bookkeeping,accounting and individual taxation and small
corp tax. It's a very small company and I do everything
in this company.
Recently I passed all my CPA exam, I am considering move
forward in my career path.
I used to be an auditor when I was in china(for one year
and a half),but I don't have any auditing experience in
united states. so I am not sure if I want to apply audit
position in Big4, is it better to apply the entry level
position or some positions require public accounting 1-2
experience?
personally I think the entry-level position are for the
fresh graduate, and I not.
but if the positions require 1-2 public accounting
experience, it seems my current experience is not quite
related.
Could you give me some advices?
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Pilly
Newbie
Joined: 07 Dec 2009
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Posts: 23
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| Posted: 22 Sep 2011 at 00:01 | IP Logged
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db729 wrote:
Pilly wrote:
From your experience, what is the
winter:summer intern class size ratio? I
want to apply for a winter position but I
fear the class size ratio would be 1:100 |
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Hmm that
one I'm not too sure about. I would say maybe somewhere
between 1:5 - 1:10 for audit? There's no way it's 1:100,
I'm pretty sure we didn't even have 100 summer interns
across both audit and tax, let alone audit. This is
speaking from just seeing one winter and one summer class
come through. But I think winter interning class was
maybe 4-5 for audit? Summer was maybe 30-50 for audit?
I'm sure this varies depending on which region/office
you're in, potentially the year, etc. But yeah that's
based on my experiences with my firm. |
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Does the difference in class size mean its more
competitive, or does it just mean that most people don't
apply for it?
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dadud3r
Newbie
Joined: 18 May 2010
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Posts: 43
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| Posted: 23 Sep 2011 at 19:00 | IP Logged
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My cousin just got a job with a Big Four from a targeted
Big Ten school. He was captain of the Ski Team, honor roll
student, etc.
Most of his classmates are having a hard time.
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db729
Major Contributor
Joined: 22 Apr 2010
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Posts: 256
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| Posted: 24 Sep 2011 at 15:24 | IP Logged
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Pilly wrote:
Does the difference in class size mean its more
competitive, or does it just mean that most people don't
apply for it? |
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Hmm I've never talked to that with HR before but I would imagine it's most likely because less people apply. The winter internship coincides with most students' school calendar, which obviously limits their ability to do internships from January - March. I know there are a few accounting dedicated programs that allow/encourage students to intern during 2nd semester, which is usually I've seen a winter intern. Plus I can't imagine Big 4 not wanting people to help out during busy season. Interns billing rates are really cheap compared to the rest of the staff and there's always work for them that could be done. Yeah my guess is that less people apply cause of school.
There could be the case that there are just less spots, but again my intuition tells me otherwise. I will tell you that winter internship is much more interesting than summer internship though. Way more $$, almost everything paid for, and you're actually doing audit work. Downside is of course more hours, but OT pay isn't anything to complain about.
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