accounting interviews

[p177772005]

Hi, I am in a very difficult situation. I went through the recruiting process for an entry level position in accounting. I went to all the firm tours, attended the cocktails, resume seminars by the accounting firms, etc. This Monday, I applied to about 20 firms with a personalized resume for every firm and I did not get even one interview.

What is wrong? I have three years of customer service experience, have lived in four different countries and speak six languages including English and French. I had my resume proofread by career center advisers.

Is there anything wrong? Really appreciate you reading my post and replying.

[BrknFngrs]

are you sure that the application deadlines have passed? I don't think a lot of places will contact people until they are closed and everything has been reviewed

[Jason Lange]

were you drunk?

[topmade]

I think giving them more then 2 day's would be a good start.

[p177772005]

Today is the first day for interviews. Many people I know have already received calls. I am not assuming that I will not be selected for an interview (I so would like to proved wrong). All the firms told us that they will make calls on Monday and Tuesday only and will start the interviews from Wednesday.

And no, I was not drunk.

[topmade]

There are still too many variables as to why you haven't received any calls yet. Eventhough they are entry level positions perhaps others have some experience and/or education? But who really knows maybe their resumes are just nicer looking? All I can say is that you seem to be doing the right things, so keep trying, don't be upset and just keep moving forward, you'll get something soon enough.

[mekeni]

a lot can be a factor:

maybe you were asking too much?
wrong phone number listed?
no voicemail?

[ramminghard]

when are you applying for?

[Auditor]

What are your marks like?

[celly]

Sounds like you're going for your "CA" the way you mentioned the firm tours, cocktail parties etc. Is that correct? If so, they are only interested in those with a BComm (or equivalent) and you have to want to go through the whole articling/UFE thing.

Been there, done that, CA since 1992.

Assuming you're not going for your CA, do you have ANY background in accounting, education or otherwise? It's somewhat helpful after all. I worked for a firm for 4 years (KMPG) and we didn't do a lot of hiring for people without experience. Customer service skills and 6 languages isn't exactly useful in the accounting game. I think in Montreal you can get by with two languages and most of Montreal speaks those languages.

[Auditor]

Originally posted by celly
Sounds like you're going for your "CA" the way you mentioned the firm tours, cocktail parties etc. Is that correct? If so, they are only interested in those with a BComm (or equivalent) and you have to want to go through the whole articling/UFE thing.

Been there, done that, CA since 1992.

Assuming you're not going for your CA, do you have ANY background in accounting, education or otherwise? It's somewhat helpful after all. I worked for a firm for 4 years (KMPG) and we didn't do a lot of hiring for people without experience. Customer service skills and 6 languages isn't exactly useful in the accounting game. I think in Montreal you can get by with two languages and most of Montreal speaks those languages.

Times have changed I graduated 4 years ago and Big 4 were hiring 4-6 people. Last year I checked most of them were hiring 40+ a year ( I know of one hiring 55 in Calgary and 25 in Edmonton this year).

[blinkme_210]

Originally posted by Auditor


Times have changed I graduated 4 years ago and Big 4 were hiring 4-6 people. Last year I checked most of them were hiring 40+ a year ( I know of one hiring 55 in Calgary and 25 in Edmonton this year).

This place you speak of, are they hiring that many co-op/intern students? Not counting soon to be graduates. Rare for any company to ever even hire more than 10 students, if even that. If this place is hiring 25 people overall, that I can believe, but 25 students is unheard of.

Being a Deloitte & Grant Thornton alumni myself, GPA the only things that really matter with larger firms. That and they do want to see you are involved with extra-curricular activities. Have you tried applying to oil & gas companies? They're much more forgiving when it comes to GPAs, they usually accept anything 2.7+. Good luck.

[p177772005]

Currently I am pursuing my B.Com. I will graduate in April 2008. So, I was looking for a position as a CA trainee starting September 2008. My GPA is 3.48 and I am in the top 15% students of my university.

That said, I really appreciate your comments and advice. I am trying to find out what did I do wrong in my resume. So, listing six languages is not a good idea. Also, I do not have any extracurricular activities as I have been in Canada for only two years now. Most of the time was spent in studying at university and learning French and working.

I am not sure as not to mention customer service skills. All the firms have said that they are in service business, so they want to see this kind of experience. As auditors are not always very welcome and well treated at clients, they want to have people who can interact with difficult clients. May be I am wrong.

Also Mekeni, can you please elaborate on what I can be asking too much?

Thanks guys

[celly]

I don't think knowing 6 languages is wrong. I just don't think it's advantage at an entry-level co-op student. Same with customer service skills. As a peon, they pretty much have you working slave labour so all these other things mean little. Even first year CA students/employees get worked into the ground for little money with little exposure to the clients anyhow. The Seniors/Managers/Partners do all that. You would pretty much be doing all sorts of grunt work. That's the way it is in the CA firms. You have to bide your time. We've all done it before.

I can't honestly say why you're not getting looked at without seeing your resume. I don't mean how the resume was written, but what the content of the resume is. You might be overselling yourself. Also the fact most of your experience is outside of the country might be a turn off. I lived/worked in Bermuda for almost 4 years as a CA. When I returned to Canada, I found it hard to get work again because I'd been out of the Calgary market for that time. It was like starting over again. I needed to hook up with a temp agency just to get work.

There are so many variables that go into making a hiring decision. If you'd like, I could have a look at your resume. I'm far from Montreal, but I am a CA of 15 years and I do hiring for my own company. If interested, email me a copy of your resume and a sample of cover letter and I'll see if anything jumps out at me that might be causing the issue. You seem like a capable candidate based on your postings. Please keep in mind that I've been out of Public Practice since 1994 so I might not have an eye for what firms are looking for these days.

celly at yahoo dot com is my addy.

[Mckenzie]

Since the SOX 404 work has dried up and the market has slowed a little bit, there is a bit of a hiring slow down. I know the big 4 firms will be scaling back the number of students hired this year too. They are also very heavy in the pre-senior ranks so it might be a little bit more competitive than getting a job with half a brain like the pas.

It sounds like you have a great GPA and good enough experience for the job...I know AB is a great place to be for accounting right now so a move is something to consider if hiring is starting to slow down.

[Auditor]

The positions I mentioned are the type he his applying for- Sept/08 start.

Not to be an ass but honestly from experience I would guess either your english is really weak or you have zero personality. The big 4 are looking for people like crazy- maybe try contacting a small to midsized firm.

[blinkme_210]

Most of the Big Four firms' application deadline was today (27th). So don't lose hope yet.

[p177772005]

First, thank you celly for your offer. I have sent you my CACEE form by email.

Thank you for your support Mckenzie. The Bill 198 is the reason given by the accounting firms for hiring less people this year. I am hoping that it would not be a problem next year as firms can hire students for many departments other than audit. Moving to Calgary is not an option as my partner is from Quebec.

Thank you for your reply Auditor. I cannot say that I have zero personality or not as it is a perception by others. But I speak English fluently. How would you suggest I go about improving my personality?

Thank you blinkme_210 as well. I am not losing hope, atleast not yet. There is always next year. I am very determined to become a CA.

[KappaSigma]

Originally posted by p177772005
Today is the first day for interviews. Many people I know have already received calls. I am not assuming that I will not be selected for an interview (I so would like to proved wrong). All the firms told us that they will make calls on Monday and Tuesday only and will start the interviews from Wednesday.

And no, I was not drunk.

That is BULL. They are NOT scheduling interviews until the deadlines have passed in Alberta. UofL deadline is october 1st.

Heck, they don't really start reviewing applications until the deadline to submit applications is over. You are getting yanked around, especially when during all info sessions I have attended in the past have stated interviews don't start till around October 8-13 week.

[KappaSigma]

Interviews are being scheduled this week with applicants and will be held next week.

[DUBBED]

^^^ Yup just got my invite from KPMG!! schweeeet

[PeterGTiR]

For an articling position, most firms hire from their previous co-op pools - meaning that if you don't have previous experience at that firm, they won't consider your application.

I know that for one big four firm in particular, they let some people go this past year because they were overstaffed and they are being particularily picky with their hiring for Sept 2008.

Tax positions on the other hand, they are looking for workers. Tax is an option now - many firms will accomadate you and work to get you your audit hours if you intend on pursuing a career in tax.

[KappaSigma]

Originally posted by PeterGTiR
For an articling position, most firms hire from their previous co-op pools - meaning that if you don't have previous experience at that firm, they won't consider your application.

I know that for one big four firm in particular, they let some people go this past year because they were overstaffed and they are being particularily picky with their hiring for Sept 2008.

Tax positions on the other hand, they are looking for workers. Tax is an option now - many firms will accomadate you and work to get you your audit hours if you intend on pursuing a career in tax.

I have never COOP at any of the big 4 nor mid stream and I have interviews at 6 places. AS for letting people go??? Every infosession I have went to everyone is hiring new grads. The big 4 were all around 50-70 people throughout the year and the midstream were around 20-40 throughout the year.

So not sure where you heard that from???

[Mckenzie]

I know that the Big 4 firms have no bias for Co-op or not...although the co-ops will 99% of the time be offered full time employment anyways.

I never went to any of the recruiting events when I got hired either...

And yes, they are over-staffed this year. They are not going to be hiring the same amount of people this year. The last 2 years were the biggest years for the firms and now they have a huge number of intermediates and juniors with little need to keep expanding beyond what they have now, except to find some new talent.

[PeterGTiR]

Of course they're always going to hire...I was just saying that the one I'm thinking of was going to hire less than last year because of the circumstances.

You guys are right, they don't hire exclusively from their co-op pools, but there is a greater chance of someone starting their articling if they were a previous co-op. I was just offering one more reason why the guy might not be getting any interviews.

[SilverKast]

I left public practice 2 1/2 years ago, but used to be actively involved with our recruiting process at the Big4 firm I worked at.

Of particular interest to us was always how well candidates interacted with our existing staff. Since you would potentially be working long hours with each other it was important the candidates fit in well with the firms "culture" and more importantly with the other staff.

I always felt that once you were over a certain GPA threshold you didn't worry about the marks, but more for the other intangibles. That meant the sessions the firms put on were important because it was the candidates opportunity to show they could interact with our staff.

It made it a lot easier to pick someone for an interview if you could remember them from an event. The wallflowers never got picked first because they didn't show anything that would help us remember them :)

Late post on my part FTL, but I always told people to go out and enjoy themselves and make sure the firm was the type of environment they would be able to work in. Especially imortant given the long hours.

[riceboi]

Just of out curiousity what is the typical salary that a CA in calgary makes these days??

80+ 90+ or 100+

[tenth]

Originally posted by riceboi
Just of out curiousity what is the typical salary that a CA in calgary makes these days??

80+ 90+ or 100+
The moment you get your CA you'll either be at, or will be shortly at the 70-80k range. Of course, this increases with experience and after getting your letters salaries will obviously vary wildly depending on your job. Average in Calgary is 100+ easy.

[DUBBED]

Average CA salary in Calgary is $180,000. The source of that information is a Partner of a CA firm who was recruiting me however so I'm not positive on the accuracy of that. However, I have heard that number before.

[adamc]

180k? is that it?

[whodiman]

This post has already been done a few times but in case anyone wasn't around for that one:

Just keep in mind average and median salary are very different. If you are not making 70k with any designation something is seriously wrong. median salary is somewhere around 120k. The average is much higher but that's because you have CEOs and CFOs who seriously pull that average up. You also have consultants that make 200-300k/year that also skew that average.

[blinkme_210]

CA's essentially work in every single industry there is, so it's hard to get an accurate average salary.

The $180K+ figure quoted from above may be a bit high, but that does sound about right if you work with any of the Big Four or other large firms. From my own personal observations, the average is closer to ~$160K.

[IntegraG2]

to get to 180k you would need to be a partner or something equivalent. It would take atleast 7-10 years for an SA1 to become a partner. I was showed the salary map at a big four CA firm when i went to get my employment offer. I may be wrong but like i said it was showed to me.