Of course accounting gigs get a lot of application because in general the profession is one many opt to go into directly out of school.
Then drill down - those who go into Public right away average a couple of years. Industry turnover as a whole is what, 50-something percent? So they studied accounting in college, but don't have a CPA license or enough pubic experience to warrant much and are probably limited in terms of the industry they know most (and I use that lightly).
To be frank, the work ethic you need to have to be largely successful in public is something few people have coming directly out of college. Instead, it's learned over the course of your career and really takes a good 3-4 years. Those who can stick it through senior usually pick it up by then and/or make the decision to leave because it's just not a good fit for what they want to do and what they want out of life.
For my own personal example - this past season I worked the most I'd ever worked and I'd do it again (920+ hours 1/1 - 3/31). It was partly a learning experience taking on another new industry and being a mentor to seniors, but I was also given larger responsibilities for my title and am ultimately being groomed to run part of a practice, so the experience outweighed everything else.
Then drill down - those who go into Public right away average a couple of years. Industry turnover as a whole is what, 50-something percent? So they studied accounting in college, but don't have a CPA license or enough pubic experience to warrant much and are probably limited in terms of the industry they know most (and I use that lightly).
To be frank, the work ethic you need to have to be largely successful in public is something few people have coming directly out of college. Instead, it's learned over the course of your career and really takes a good 3-4 years. Those who can stick it through senior usually pick it up by then and/or make the decision to leave because it's just not a good fit for what they want to do and what they want out of life.
For my own personal example - this past season I worked the most I'd ever worked and I'd do it again (920+ hours 1/1 - 3/31). It was partly a learning experience taking on another new industry and being a mentor to seniors, but I was also given larger responsibilities for my title and am ultimately being groomed to run part of a practice, so the experience outweighed everything else.