Four steps that will guarantee you an interview with Big 4
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A little over a year ago, I was able to get an interview at one of the Big 4 accounting firms and I’ve been working at this firm for about 7 months now. In this blog post, I’m going to be sharing my top tips on how to get the interview. But if you are curious about how to ace the interview, you can read my post on “How to Ace a Job Interview”.
For those of you who don’t know, the Big 4 are the 4 largest professional services firms in the world that are Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG.
A lot of accounting students’ goal is to start working at a Big 4 firm, which makes getting an interview extremely difficult. I will break this down into 4 steps, and if you are able to do these before you submit your application, I can guarantee you will get the interview.
Well before I get into these steps, first I want you to know the requirements of the firm and the role you are applying for. For example, if being CPA eligible is one of the requirements, you obviously won’t get the interview if you are not a CPA eligible.
But I don’t think it’s the same for GPA requirements. Even if you have a low GPA, my advice is to apply anyway, because I believe your personality matters more than your grades.
Also, a quick note before I get into the tips, if you know someone that works at the firm and can refer you, that is great, that would probably help you get the interview. But don’t worry about it if you don’t know anyone. Nobody referred me when I was applying, but I still got the interview. So don’t think that if you are not refereed, you won’t get the interview.
- Attend all of the networking events at school.
The Big 4 accounting firms host networking events at universities regularly. This is different from the career fair, the networking event is firm-specific. You should definitely attend career fairs as well, but you have a much better chance of building relationships in networking events.
Let’s say you attend these events, but how do you stand out? Most of the time, the Accounting Society at your school makes these events. If you are a member of the accounting society and if you are one of the students who organize these events, that’s great. Because it means that you will be in contact with the firm recruiter, and he/she will know you better than most of your peers, which is a huge plus.
It’s okay if you are not a part of the Accounting Society and if you don’t help put together these events. I certainly didn’t. If that’s the case though, your goal should still be to build relationships with people, especially the recruiters, and leave a good impression. That way, they will know who you are and will remember you, once they see your name on the applicant's list.
2. Ask for professionals’ emails or phone numbers, and contact them after the event.
I know this sounds obvious, but it’s really important. Since recruiters and professionals at the event will talk to many students like you, the first step might not be enough for them to remember you. So you definitely should follow up after the event. Email them and be like, this is Joe, I really enjoyed talking to you at the event today. The thing you said about and this resonated with me a lot. So thank you for sharing your experiences. Something along those lines. Try to be as specific as you can.
3. Reach out to your college recruiter separately, ask him/her for a quick phone call to go over your questions, or just to talk.
In my Big 4 application process, I think this was the deciding factor in me getting the interview. Even though the first recruiter that I emailed said she was too busy for a phone call, the other recruiter I met at the networking event said sure, call me and let’s have a chat. We talked about the company culture, I asked about her specific experiences and I talked about my goals. I think that 15–20 minute phone call made her realize that I was passionate about the company and the position. And there was no way she would forget my name after that call.
4. Cold message other employees on LinkedIn.
This is not a must, yes it would help you for sure, but you wouldn’t necessarily need to reach out to people on LinkedIn as long as you do the first three steps. I messaged one employee that I saw at the networking event. I asked if he had time for a quick call. He also said why not and we ended up chatting over a zoom call. I had a chance to ask some specific questions about what he’s actually doing at work. So that was cool.
The last thing you have to do is obviously apply. Remember, there are due dates for Big 4 entry-level applications, so make sure to apply by that date.
I’m not sure if you realized, but all of these tips are about networking. That’s right, the simple answer to how to get an interview with Big 4 is by networking.
