From the Big4Guru.com Vault
Campus interviews are typically held on college campuses or 3rd party sites. They are not often conducted at the office of the Big 4. For the campus interview, you will likely be dealing with a recruiter who does this everyday. He is the gateway to the firm – the first level of screening between you and the office visit/ follow-up interview. He knows how important this interview is to you and will want to see how you handle yourself under pressure.
The tone of your interview is likely to be more conversational than fact based. Don’t expect to get any technical accounting questions unless it pertains to something on your resume. Like the meet and greet, the recruiter will be attempting to judge how you handle yourself in a social setting.
Campus interviews are typically the first step in the interview process. If this goes well you will be invited to a follow-up interview in the office of the firm. These interviews are typically with actual Big 4 staff, not recruiters. You will likely speak with both a mid-level employee (senior associate or manager) and a senior manager or partner. These interviews are designed to measure your accounting aptitude, skill set and likelihood of success with the firm.
Impressing the auditors is different than impressing the HR department. These people have been where you are and know first-hand what you are in store for. Because of this, they will be looking for a specific set of skills. In order to be successful in these interviews, it will be necessary to show them that you possess these skills.
September 2nd, 2010
On a Thursday afternoon in my internship training, our instructor, a Senior Associate, spent some time talking about the relationship that develops between senior associates and first and second year associates. More or less, he said the following:
“Throughout your first couple years with the firm, you will have the opportunity to work with many Seniors. You will learn more from these people than anyone else in the firm. At some point, you will find that one Senior who you click with 100% and a mentor relationship will develop.”
I remembered these words throughout my internship and by the end of the summer I asked myself: “have I found that Senior who I click with 100%.” I had to honestly say that the answer was ‘No.’ While I enjoyed working with many of the Seniors, I could tell that other interns had hit it off better with the Seniors than I had. Somewhat discouraged, though ultimately thrilled at having had a great summer, returned to my final year of college with a full-time offer in hand.
Fast forward one year and I’m working full time. My second engagement was a large fortune 500 company. Our office had a team of about 15-20 staff who I worked the engagement full-time, year-round. There were 4 seniors on the job each responsible for 2-3 associates.
My Senior was one of the smartest people I had ever worked with. More importantly, I realized that he made everyone around him smarter as well (a common trait in Big 4 employees). The discussions we had, regardless of the complexity of the issue, were always focused and intense. He took the time to explain to me not only what I had to do, but why I was doing it and how it contributed to the big picture of the audit.
He taught me how to ask the right questions of the client and gave me confidence to hold my ground with our contacts at the client, some of whom had been with the company longer than I’d been alive. Working with him, I finally felt like I had finally bridged the gap from college student to accounting professional. I worked hard to impress him and always, always made sure to ask if I could help him with his work when my work was done. Finally, I had found my Senior-mentor.
He and I worked together off and on that first year and then we both rolled off to other clients. He was a mentor to me during my time with the Big 4 and we’ve stayed in contact now that we have both left the firm. We talked many times about how well we worked together. He told me that when he was a first year he had a Senior who worked the same way and they had a similar bond. Likewise, I worked with the associates under me in the same manner, passing the torch on to the next class. This is one of the most important parts of working for the Big 4. There is so much collective knowledge that is passed through the ranks year to year. This is one of the reasons Big 4 alumni are valued so high in the marketplace. and why some companies will only hire those with Big 4 experience.
Writing this post makes me nostalgic for my days with the Big 4. The comradery, learning and excitement of those years with the Big 4 has never been matched in the roles I’ve had since I left. To all of you hoping to land a job with the Big 4, I truly wish you the best of luck. If you haven’t already read our Big 4 Hiring Guide, I urge you to check it out.
As always, thanks for reading.
August 18th, 2010
Question:
Do Big 4 Summer Interns always receive a full-time offer at the end of the summer?
Answer:
Big 4 summer internships are, without a doubt, the best way to land a full-time offer. Typically, the candidates chosen for the internship are looked on as “the best” in the pool of candidates that year. Accordingly, the internship is a way to woo these candidates and convince them to start their career with the firm. In that regard, it can be said that all Big 4 interns have the potential to land a full-time offer at the end of the summer.
It is rare, but sometimes an intern can perform so poorly that an offer is not extended. This is most likely to occur as a result of a poor attitude (rather than poor “accounting” performance). The expectation placed on interns, in terms of proving their accounting knowledge, is fairly low. So much of what makes the Big 4 the best place to start a career has to do with how much is learned on the job. Accordingly, the expectation is that interns just starting with the firm do not have much experience or expertise. The point of the internship is to judge whether the candidates will be able to represent the firm in a positive manner to clients. So, the easiest way to mess up an internship and not receive an offer is to have a poor attitude. I’ve seen interns who either act too arrogant or make the mistake of not taking the internship seriously. This behavior is a red flag to your employer that you will not be an effective worker and will not represent the firm well to clients.
The main takeaway here is that interns are almost guaranteed a full-time offer, if they play their cards well. Those lucky enough to land an internship can consider themselves well on their way to a full-time offer by simply being friendly, conscientious, professional, polite and serious about one’s work.
August 15th, 2010
Big4Guru is now on LinkedIn and is open to connecting with accounting students, graduates and professionals. Click the following link
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August 6th, 2010
July is over and August is here. For all you students that means summer jobs are wrapping up and it is time to start thinking about returning to campus. While summer isn’t even over yet, it is critical that you begin thinking about your plans for next summer or after graduation, depending on your year.
The beginning of the new semester brings the most important time in the Big 4 recruiting process: the fall recruiting season. This process, which typically spans September through November, is when the majority of the summer internship positions for the following summer are filled, as well as the full-time positions for the following year. If you will be entering your sophomore year this fall, you are the prime candidate for a summer internship in the summer of 2011. If you’re entering your senior or 5th year (Masters), the hiring process for 2011 positions will be beginning in September.
If you haven’t already, check out our eBook, the Big 4 Guru’s Book of Secrets. This will give you all the information you need on how to get your foot in the door of the recruiting process and successfully navigate the Big 4 meet-and-greets, interviews and everything else that makes up the Fall Recruiting season. If you take away one thing from this post, let it be this: it is NOT TOO EARLY TO START PREPARING.
Thanks and best of luck!
August 1st, 2010
So, you want to get a job in the wonderful world of accounting. Good for you. The field of accounting is one of the safest, strongest and most well-paid. In good times and bad, the world always needs great accountants.
The Big 4 public accounting firms are the best in the industry and a launching pad for an amazing career:
[PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Deloitte & Touché]
The Bad News: Competition for these positions is extremely fierce. With thousands of applicants submitting resumes, yours could easily get lost in the shuffle. Also, as a result of the recession, the Big 4 are reducing the number of open positions in 2010.
Even if you are lucky enough to get an interview, you will be in store for the most difficult hiring process in the industry. You will face tricks and traps designed to weed out the majority of candidates.
There is a reason for this: Working for the Big 4 is an amazing way for college grads to launch their career and professionals to re-launch their career on the fast track. The experience is that valuable. Don’t believe us? Go to Monster or Craigslist and look at the qualifications for any upper level positions. Most likely you’ll see “Big 4 public accounting experience required.”
Because of this, the Big 4 are the top job choices for almost everyone. So what makes one person get hired over another? GPA? SATs? Extra-curriculars? While these count, they are not the answer. Sometimes the guy with the 4.0 gets passed over by the guy with a 3.0. Why is this? The answer is knowledge.
The Good News: Wouldn’t it be nice if you knew an insider at the Big 4, someone to coach you through the process and reveal all the secrets? What if you could say to them:
“Tell me everything I need to know to get hired with the Big 4. Tell me what I will face, how to prepare, what to look out for and what to say! Teach me the secret to getting hired with the Big 4!”
Think about how much easier it would be and how much more confidence you would have!
Here’s the good news: we have done that for you! We have been in your shoes – wondering how we would ever stand out from the crowd, get an interview and get hired. We went to the campus career fairs, meet-and-greets, office visits and interviews. We stood out and joined the ranks of Big 4! Now we want to return the favor and make things easier for you!
Our book reveals all the secrets to getting hired by the Big 4. We have captured everything you need to know to get noticed and get hired by the Big 4 – from the resume to the acceptance letter and everything in between. We will take you behind the scenes of the Big 4 and put you on the fast track to getting hired! We’ll share the horror stories of those who weren’t so lucky and show you how you can avoid their mistakes.
Why is getting hired with the Big 4 so difficult?
Big 4 recruiters are constantly assaulted with resumes. They are trained to weed out potential candidates with a number of tricks and filters. Without properly understanding these, there is a very good chance that your resume will go right in the shredder.
If you are serious about your career and want to land a job with the Big 4, you need an edge. You need to understand when and how you are being judged and the exact things that you can do and say to fly through the hiring process and avoid the pitfalls!
What you will receive and why it will work?
We have taken our knowledge and boiled it down to a sure-fire process that will take you from getting your foot in the door to signing your acceptance letter.
We will walk you through the process and expose all the secret tricks that the Big 4 will use against you. We will give you summaries and talking points to nail the difficult interview questions you will face. We will give you a crash course on what is happening right now in the accounting world so you will be ready to answer all the difficult interview questions.
If you commit yourself to this process and master the techniques in the eBook, you will be on the fast track to getting hired.
Don’t leave your future to chance!
You wouldn’t take a test without studying, so why not prepare for the job of your dreams. It will be like walking into an exam with the answer key in your pocket!
Customer Reviews
100% Verifiable Feedback from Your Competitors!
I am only in my second semester working towards an accounting degree with no relevant accounting experience or on-campus activities and I was able to get into a BIG 4 summer program. It was clear to me that I would need some form of coaching if I was to even have a chance at a BIG 4 firm. I bought the BIG 4 guru’s book and read the entire file in the first sitting taking mental notes as I read. The advice and the encouragement I received boosted my confidence and allowed me to sell myself the right way. I got on-campus interviews with all three of the BIG 4 to which I applied and one second-round with a firm that ultimately extended an offer. Knowing what to expect and planning accordingly is essential and this book is great preparation!
Anonymous Reader
This book has given me a new perspective on how to interview with the Big 4!!! I am not graduating from a big university but still have the goal of working for PwC. This book has given me an edge to get in. Thanks Big 4 Guru!
David, Michigan
I think the ‘the Big 4 Guru’s Book of Secrets’ is very useful for students who want to earn a position with a Big 4 Public Accounting firm. A student wishing to work for a Big 4 firm would have to put in countless hours of researching and networking and would have to know many helpful Public Accountants to gather the information that B4G’s ebook presents so concisely.
Anonymous Reader
I am about to get started in the recruiting process in the next few months and the Big 4 Guru Book of secrets is full of helpful hints and excellent advice. I have no doubt the book provides the extra advantage needed to obtain a position at a Big 4 firm!
Anonymous Reader
Thanks for the invaluable info! In today’s economy, landing a job with a Big 4 firm is more difficult than even. Big 4 Guru’s Book of Secrets gives you a behind the scenes look at the interview process and would benefit any accounting student interested in a career in public accounting
Curtis S.
Your info is priceless. You have no idea how long I’ve spent trying to get
honest opinions from people (mainly school officials) who will only tell you
what you want to hear. Thanks!
Anonymous Reader
I ended both interviews with the secret question. This worked very well and both partners complimented me on that question.
Anonymous Reader
This book made all the difference! It completely takes the mystery and fear-factor out of the Big 4 hiring process.
Graduate – Syracuse University
This information is priceless to anyone who wants to get hired with the Big 4. The guide is spot-on and the advice is flawless. I wish I had this when I interviewed with PwC. Highly recommended.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Alumni – New York
Thank you so much for your help. I am sure you are getting major Karma points for helping so many people!!
Junior – University San Francisco
Readers, submit your feedback to big4guru@yahoo.com
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June 18th, 2010
Are you a college student who would like to earn some extra money while gaining experience with marketing and promotion? We are looking for College Campus Brand Ambassadors to promote Big4Guru.com website on their campus.
What is a ‘Brand Ambassador?’
A Brand Ambassador is someone who represents a brand and helps to spread the word. For Big4Guru.com, Brand Ambassadors are responsible for reaching out to students and friends on their campus. In other words, you will represent our brand in the places we cannot reach. This is an important role and because of that, we will share the success with you 50/50.
Responsibilities:
-Promote Big4Guru.com on your campus. Be creative! Use e-mail, flyers, Facebook, Twitter, etc. to spread the word about Big4Guru.com to your network of friends and classmates.
- You will be given your very own link to Big4Guru.com. When someone accesses our site through your link you receive a commission of 50% of the selling price of any purchases they make. Here’s an example:
• You post your link to Big4Guru.com on your Facebook page. Over the next week 50 people click on the link. Of those 50 people, 30 of them purchase an eBook for $24.95. You receive a commission of $374.25.
$24.95 x 30 x 50% = $374.25
You could also send out an e-mail to all the students in an accounting class, post a link on your school’s message board or hang up a flyer in your dorm or classroom. This is your chance to be creative!
Requirements:
-No prior sales or marketing experience is required. We are looking for driven, outgoing students who will be excited and motivated to spread the work about our brand.
-We are limiting the number of Campus Ambassadors to one per college campus.
-Campus Ambassadors will preferably be accounting or business majors. However, we will be flexible on this in certain circumstances.
How to Apply:
To be considered for the Campus Ambassador program, please send an e-mail to big4guru@yahoo.com with ‘College Campus Brand Ambassador.’
April 25th, 2010
Note: The following is a the first in a series of posts on common accounting topics. Some of these you may have seen in college, others may be new to you. Either way, the goal is to provide a quick, straightforward refresher on the topic, with one or two examples. Even experienced professionals, when confronted with a problem they have not seen in awhile, go back to the debits and credits.
Deferred Rent
What is it?
The simplest way to understand deferred rent is to think of an example. Let’s say you started a business and the first thing you did was sign a five-year lease for office space. In an effort to sign you as a tenant, the landlord (aka “lessor”) offers you lower rent payments in the first year that “escalate” (i.e. go up) as the years progress. To keep it simple, let’s say the rent schedule is this:
Year 1: $1,000 / month = $12,000 / year
Year 2: $1,250 / month = $15,000 / year
Year 3: $1,500 / month = $18,000 / year
Year 4: $1,750 / month = $21,000 / year
Year 5: $2,000 / month = $24,000 / year
These amounts represent the actual cash that you will be paying each month. When booking the journal entries for this, this will be the credit (either to cash or a payable). The question is what is the debit?
ASC section 840-20-25-1 states the following:
Rent shall be charged to expense by lessees (reported as income by lessors) over the lease term as it becomes payable (receivable). If rental payments are not made on a straight-line basis, rental expense nevertheless shall be recognized on a straight-line basis unless another systematic and rational basis is more representative of the time pattern in which use benefit is derived from the leased property, in which case that basis shall be used.
You see, the FASB requires that rental expense be “recognized on a straight-line basis.” This means that the same amount of expense must be recognized each month, regardless of the actual rent payment during the month. Let’s calculate our monthly rent expense.
From the table above, we can easily compute that the total rent paid over the course of the lease is $90,000. ($12k +$15k + $18k + $21k + $24k). This figure, divided by the total months in the lease (60), gives us out straight-line rent expense:
Total Rent / Total Periods = Straight-Line Rent Expense per period
$90,000 / 60 months = $1,500 / month = $18,000 per year.
We now have the debit in our journal entry.
With a debit to expense for one amount and a credit to cash for another amount, the plug goes to deferred rent. Depending on the payment schedule, deferred rent can either be an asset or a liability.
In the case of a lease with increasing payments each year, as in our example, deferred rent is a liability. The liability balance builds through the first two years when the expense exceeds the cash payments, levels off during year 3 when these amounts are equal, and then drops down to zero over the course of the final two years when rent expense is less than the rent payments. The journal entries for each year are as follows:
Journal Entries – Year 1
Dr. Rent expense 1,500
Cr. Deferred rent 500
Cr. Cash 1,000
Journal Entries – Year 2
Dr. Rent expense 1,500
Cr. Deferred rent 250
Cr. Cash 1,250
Journal Entries – Year 3
Dr. Rent expense 1,500
Cr. Cash 1,500
Journal Entries – Year 4
Dr. Rent expense 1,500
Dr. Deferred rent 250
Cr. Cash 1,750
Journal Entries – Year 5
Dr. Rent expense 1,500
Dr. Deferred rent 500
Cr. Cash 1,750
Here is the monthly deferred rent liability balance over the course of the lease:
http://big4guru.com/defrent.jpg
Further Reading:
1) CPA Journal – Increased Clarity in Accounting for Operating Leases
2) FASB Codification Section 840-20-25-1
April 24th, 2010
When watching the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Monday night, the common expression of “David vs. Goliath” was thrown around. Butler, a school with total enrollment of 4,200 was faced with an opponent that is widely considered one of the greatest college basketball programs of all time, Duke. Duke’s coach, Mike Krzyzewski, has been coaching basketball for 35 years. On the other hand, Butler’s coach, Brad Stevens, is only 33 years old. If the record books and statistics were to be the judge, Duke was in store for an easy victory. In reality, however, Butler ground out the game with grit and determination and in the end was one missed shot away from upsetting Goliath. So, what does this have to do with getting a job with the Big 4? Turns out, a lot.
As I’ve discussed in previous posts, the Big 4 firms have a well established recruiting program that targets the same schools each year. At some schools, for instance, it is a near certainty that the Big 4 will fill a pre-determined number of positions each year with students from that school. In this case, these students are in essentially interviewing only against their classmates, not against the total population of candidates. This is a definite advantage. On the other hand, certain smaller schools do not have this privilege. Students from these schools must compete with a substantially larger competition base to get noticed, interview and get hired. In many ways, these students are like Butler and like David. While they may be just as bright and intelligent as the students at larger universities, they will have to work against larger odds to land a position. It is for these students that I’ve written the Big 4 Guru’s Book of Secrets.
Now, you may be saying to yourself. “Hey, I’m one of those lucky students who attend a large university that the Big 4 recruit heavily from, but I still have to compete with all my classmates, some of who are the president of Beta Alpha Psi/ have relatives in the Big 4/ are close friends with professors who can write them a recommendation/etc., I feel like I’m David too.” I hear you. It can feel incredibly stressful to think that you have to shine brighter than all your peers. Personally, I did not join the accounting fraternity Beta Alpha Psi. I was told by professors and recruiters that it is absolutely necessary to join in order to build relationships with the Big 4 recruiters and learn how to “play the game.” I didn’t have a good reason not to join, other than being extremely busy. For me, this decision turned out OK. However, this was largely due to learning the Secrets to getting hired with the Big 4. Unlike my peers who may have been better on paper or who leveraged relationships better, I nailed my first interview and received an offer without even having to interview a second time.
So, we’ve seen a couple situations now where you may be David and have to face Goliath. Now, I know there are some of you thinking, maybe I’m Goliath? Maybe you attend a university that has strong connections with the Big 4, you are president of Beta Alpha Psi, you have attended recruiting events and have the cards of contacts at all the Big 4. In this case, you can go ahead and consider yourself Goliath. You’re Duke playing for the National Championship. You’re better on paper and are the type of candidate that is, historically, hired by the Big 4. Should you be content with your status and hope things play out to your advantage? I wouldn’t. Next time that half-court shot might go in and the upset will play out. When it comes to David and Goliath there is one little piece of the story that is often overlooked: David won. For that, all you Goliaths out there, the Big 4 Guru Book of Secrets is for you too.
April 9th, 2010
How would you like to have your very own Big 4 mentor? Would you like someone to talk to about the process of interviewing with and working for one of the Big 4 firms?
Coming in Spring 2010, Big4Guru.com will be launching a new mentor program. We will be connecting college students and alumni with Big 4 professionals and alumni of the firms. If you are would like to be a mentor or mentee, please send your name and contact info to Big4Guru@yahoo.com
March 23rd, 2010
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