Anybody here ever work for Big 4?

[juice2352]

Originally Posted by DeadsetAce

Originally Posted by GUTTA BOB

how do i set myself up for an interview?

is it strictly thru school?

btw, what is the main criteria that big4 is looking for?
I know the min. gpa is like 3.4 for all of the big 4.. but what else.
does the school matter to big4? if you go to ucla/usc or does it matter if you go to a local state school?

i know EY targets certain schools, but if you're a stud, you're a stud and you'll be considered. obviously any school with a strong accounting program helps. big names help.

What deadset said is more or less true.  I know PwC targets particular schools, depending on the office.  For example, the Chicago office goes after U of Illinois C-U, Michigan, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, Marquette, Indiana, etc.  Pretty much all of the Big 4 have the gpa min of 3.4 to even be considered, like Gutta said.  I'm going to guess UCLA and USC are definitely targeted for the CA offices.  If you go to lesser-known/non-target schools, you just have to stand out more.

 

[kicksnbeats]

Interned overseas at EY in their London office over the summer and about to work at the Washington D.C. office fulltime once I graduate from business school.  I'm staying away from the accounting/tax grit work and going to be working in upper management in the systems technology department.  Here's some words of advice that many of my colleagues gave me during my internship.

-If you're looking to make the big $$$$ early on, you're in the wrong industry. Only ibankers or other people in high finance make those lucrative starting salaries.  You'll only be seeing that money if you make partner, which is another difficult task in its own.

-If you're thinking of using a Big 4 name to lateral to ibanking/consulting, FORGET IT. You're forever labeled as an accountant.

-The salary for starting associates may seem great since you get paid around 50-60k but you get zero overtime pay. Also if you do the math, the total amount of hours you work, including overtime (especially during tax season), will equal to about $15/hr

-Many of the female associates are

and party hard when they have the time.

-It's a win-win situation for the most part if you work for the Big 4. If you burn out and quit like many do, your exit options are golden. If you stick around like a warrior and are good at this stuff, you can be making 100k+ as a manager and 500k+ as partner.

As for recruitment down here in socal, USC sends the most to the Big 4 out of any school in California. Marshall's accounting program is no joke, both on the undergrad and graduate spectrum. However UCLA tends to send more to finance/consulting and I can say that from experience since many of my classmates got offers from M/B/B.  Stanford, SDSU and Santa Clara all have strong Big 4 undergrad recruitment as well.