The Big 4 Accounting Firms – How to Get That Perfect Job With One of the Big Ones
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Home Page > Finance > Accounting > The Big 4 Accounting Firms – How to Get That Perfect Job With One of the Big Ones
The Big 4 Accounting Firms – How to Get That Perfect Job With One of the Big Ones
Posted: May 02, 2008 |Comments: 7
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The Big 4 Accounting Firms – How to Get That Perfect Job With One of the Big Ones
By: Big 4 Guru
About the Author
For over two years, Big4Guru.com has been helping accounting students, graduates and professionals land their dream job with one of the Big 4 public accounting firms.
Big4Guru.com was created by Big 4 alumni with the sole purpose of helping the next generation of public accountants. We’ve been there, done that and want to show you how!
(ArticlesBase SC #402186)
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – The Big 4 Accounting Firms – How to Get That Perfect Job With One of the Big Ones
Industry professionals, recruiters and college professors are unanimous in their belief in one thing: there is no better way to start a career in accounting than experience with a Big 4 public accounting firm. If you are reading this you no doubt are well aware of who these guys are:
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte and Touché, KPMG and Ernst & Young.
While each of these companies has various strengths and weaknesses, they are all alike in the fact that they provide the recent accounting grad with a world class experience. First year associates at these firms are given a level of responsibility that is truly remarkable. When I was a first year I remember thinking on an almost daily basis “I can’t believe they’re letting me do this.” As I strolled into the CEO’s office of the firm we were auditing, as I tallied up a multi-million dollar mistake I’d found in another company’s books and as I traveled the country with my very own American Express Corporate Card, I kept repeating this thought:
“I can’t believe they’re letting me do this”
Truly the world of accounting is at your fingertips when you are employed with one of the Big 4. There is an air of respect in those names: PwC, E&Y, KPMG and D&T. There is camaraderie and there is pride. These are the truly elite in the accounting field, and the top of the business world.
Starting your professional career at one of these companies is a ticket to a career in the fast lane. The experience you receive at a Big 4 is, literally, priceless. Many beginners at these firms admit that they would be willing to work for nothing: the experience is that valuable. Land a job and you will guarantee yourself the following:
– For the rest of your career your resume will automatically move to the top of the pile
– For the rest of your career you will have access to a network of professionals that is staggering in its depth
– You will earn an industry busting salary, putting your friends at regional and local firms to shame
– Your resume will contain experience that is recognized and respected globally
– An opportunity to travel the world
At a speaking engagement in 2004, Martin J. Whitman, billionaire and namesake of the Syracuse University Whitman School of Management, was asked the single best piece of advice he could offer college graduates. His reply? “Begin your career with a Big 4 Public Accounting Firm. Period.”
Of course.
Think this all sounds good? Of course you do. You’re probably thinking to yourself – there must be a catch? Unfortunately, there is. The benefits of working for a Big 4 are widely known and the demand for these positions is higher than ever. These positions are EXTREMELY competitive and often IMPOSSIBLE to obtain without an edge. A great GPA and resume are no longer enough.
If you are serious about your career and want to maximize your earnings potential, you need an edge. How do you land an interview with a Big 4 when there are thousands of others just like you? Once you get the interview, how will you be prepared for the barrage of questioning you will face?
When I graduated from college I had one interview and one interview only: I landed a job with PricewaterhouseCoopers on the first shot. How did I do it? Good grades? Charming personality? Incredible experience? No! I had an insider at PwC who knew the ropes and coached me through the process, from the application to the signing bonus! When I learned these secrets I just watched as my peers struggled and I jumped easily through all the hoops. Unfair? Sure, but life in a world class industry is not fair. While working at PwC I also experienced the recruiting process from the side of the recruiter.
For more information please visit The Big 4 Guru.com
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(ArticlesBase SC #402186)
Big 4 Guru -
About the Author:
For over two years, Big4Guru.com has been helping accounting students, graduates and professionals land their dream job with one of the Big 4 public accounting firms.
Big4Guru.com was created by Big 4 alumni with the sole purpose of helping the next generation of public accountants. We’ve been there, done that and want to show you how!
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Comments on this article
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7. Muneshwar 03/09/2010
test
0
6. Quyen 08/08/2009
thanks so much for this article, because you showed me the hope for my job after I’ll graduate in next year. thanks so much!
0
5. Quyen 08/08/2009
I really hope to work for one of the big 4. Now, I am the 4th years student at Academy of Finance, with much feeling, much fear because of economic crisis. thanks for this article because you showed me the hope
2
4. Dawood Mamedoff 31/05/2009
Thanks a lot for information! I’d also recommend the following article for those who want to be hired by Big 4 company:
http://www.myhowtoos.com/en/at-work-howtoos/68-how-to-get-job-in-big-4
2
3. Dan 29/04/2009
This article is actually not misleading at all, KPMG is a huge multinational accounting firm, professional liability suits? that surprises you? Do you know the shear scale of these firms? how easy it is to make a mistake that would lead to million dollar liability settlements? Jesus you are dense.
1
2. John 12/02/2009
This article is actually pretty accurate. The KPMG tax shelters were thrown out, PwC and Deloitte had huge lawsuits against their audit practices, etc. And no, many of KPMG\’s clients are not suing the company. All 4 are considered the best places to start a career by Businessweek. And KPMG audits Department of Justice. Get your facts straight.
0
1. Saria 18/08/2008
This article is very misleading. How about KPMG tax shelters? KPMG had to pay 0 million dollars to IRS as they were selling illegal tax shelters. Many of KPMG\’s clients are suing the company.
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For over two years, Big4Guru.com has been helping accounting students, graduates and professionals land their dream job with one of the Big 4 public accounting firms.
Big4Guru.com was created by Big 4 alumni with the sole purpose of helping the next generation of public accountants. We’ve been there, done that and want to show you how!
Let the Schools and Universities go Banckrupt For the whole speech go to : peterschiffchannel.blogspot.com http
Video Rating: 4 / 5
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STORRS, Conn. – The University of Connecticut and its Division of Athletics is proud to welcome Texas Christian University as a member of the BIG EAST Conference.
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Question by curious person: Have great scientists always gone to big famous universities ?
Do you have to go to a big university like Harvard or Princeton (or a state or major city university)to make a great scientifice discovery ?
Hasn’t there ever been great scientists who have only gotten degrees from local or community colleges
Best answer:
Answer by neniaf
The problem in the sciences is that in order to do state-of-the-art work, one needs state-of-the-art facilities. That can only be accomplished if one is at a wealthy school or if one gets a generous research grant (which one is also more likely to get if one is at a top university). I would guess that there have always been fewer successful graduates of secondary universities in the hard sciences than, say, in the arts, social sciences, or humanities.
Add your own answer in the comments!
Posted in Big Universities
I’m a home owner in OH. Home prices were fraudulently inflated, to get higher taxes for the schools, teachers pensions, teacher unions, entitlement programs, etc., etc..
When I went to school, we had 30 to 36 students in a class. Now the class sizes are 14-18, twice as many teachers have been hired resulting in larger teacher unions, 2 annual salary increases, & a lower education standards for our children. I’m voting ALL tax levies down until the waste is curbed,& fiscal sanity is restored!
What an idiot. Of course colleges would go bankrupt. There’s no way big research Universities could subsist on affordable tuition.
I know the Libertarian party is great. Who in the world could read about the party platform and it’s principle and not agree? So then why is it so unpopular? I hear people complain about things all the time but they always go crazy at the last second and vote Democrat or Republican. Are we the only people left on Earth who can actually think for ourselves?
never said Somalia was anarchy. I said Somailia doesn’t have a functioning government. My god dude THailand doesn’t have a functioning gov’t it doesn’t mean its anarchy. The difference is Somalia is controlled by a number of warlords that have territorial claim in different areas. There is still law and order there, but they don’t have a real formal economy, and most economic activity in Somalia is informal. I’m not ignoring Somalia’s past. I am just telling you it’s condition today.
Also, in 2006 the CIA funded secular warlords so part of the warlord problem is caused by us.
Law ad order is provided privately by Somalian customary law. The diya defines the laws regarding such acts as murder and theft. Some secular courts exist but sharia courts are more instrumental in ensuring the legal order. Other private courts are supported with the donations of successful businessmen who find it beneficial to fund the pressence of courts in urban areas. Dispute resolution is free and speedy by international standards (Nenova 2004 and Harfod 2004).
“Somalia boasts the cheapest, clearest cell-phone calls on the continent” The Economist 2005
Somalia’s export of cattle to Kenya has doubled since 1991.
Their Airline industry has gotten better since 1991(Nenova 2004)
The Somalian shilling has gotten more stable post-1991.
Taxes and restriction on trade and movement are lower post-1991.
There is no longer a central bank to cause hyperinflation post-1991.
Since anarchy took place life expectancy, child immunization, number of physicians, access to sanitation, access to health facilities, (non government) GDP, # of people with radios, tv, telephones, has all increased, Infant with low birth weight, infant mortality rate, materanal mortality rate, extreme poverty (less than 1$ a day), and fatalitie due to measles has all decreased as a result of the government collapsing.
Also, Somalians have substantially more civil liberties post-1991.
Somalia is not anarchy because voluntary agencies do not replace government throuh rational argument. The government is gone because of collapse. Anarchism wants the “controlled demolition” of government. Somalia is like a city suddenly collapsing.
And when you go to NOT COMPARABLE countries as proof anarchy is not better than statism such as South Africa you are completle ignoring the fact that Somalia was suffeng though a Marxist regime for 21 years before the government collapse.
actually no. I can point out African countries with economic success stories. South Africa, Botswana, etc. I can name African countries that aren’t economic success stories one of which is Somalia, but sure we can name The Democratic Republic of Congo, but of course its worse off its going through war. SOmalia quite literally has no real formal government. Mozampique is more likely a better place to live than Somalia.
No that’s backwards. Somalia is better than comparable African countries in standard of living.
somalia isn’t even agricultural. Its just a country that has no functioning gov’t. You are right there is no comparison. Agriicultural based countries are better off than somalia in quality of living.
Somalia is not anarchy and even if it was pointing out how bad Somalia is compared to the United States is like pointing how any middle age man can beat up a baby Mike Tyson. You’re comparing an agricultural, primitive, and tribal society to a democratic, industrial, Post-Enlightenment society. Somalia is better than comparable African countries anyway.
War predates socialism by at least 6000 years. Corporations and spying without a warrant also predate socialism.
War is a product of SOCIALISM.
Corporations are products of SOCIALISM.
Spying without a warrant is SOCIALISM
Bush was too socialist, not too capitalist.
European countries are under so much tyranny that their economies underperform ours and they have little confidence in their own future. European is exactly what we should be running away from.
It’s also funny how a person who claims to be a Christian is a follower of an admitted atheist, which Miss Rand was. Is that in the King George(Bush) Bible? You know, the version that supports pre-emptive war for profit, torture, no-bid contracts, spying on citizens without a warrant, secret prisons, unbridled corporate greed, etc?
Britain, France, Sweden, Germany, Holland, and many other European countries have socialism have higher standard of living than we do. Sweden and Norway definitely do. Do you see misery or tyranny over there?
Read ATLAS SHRUGGED if you want to know what your socialism and forced unionization leads to: misery, tyranny, corruption, and poverty.
I’ll take work over socialism every time.
The complexity of the economy is all the more reason why the government should never have the power to arbitrarily impose restrictions, choose winners and losers, and subsidize pet projects. Freedom is more important now than ever.
Those limits might’ve worked when our economy was mainly agriculture and most people were subsistence farmers, but I’m pretty sure it won’t work today. If we remove most or all government regulations in business, etc, what’s gonna keep unscrupulous or greedy business owners from taking undue advantage of their workers and cutomers for their own gain? You might wanna read Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” for a glimpse of what things were like under laissez-faire economics.
Let’s restore the federal government to its Constitutional limits: national defense, foreign affairs, justice, treasury, arbitrating between states and nations. Nothing else. No involvement in education, health care, or economy (other than interstate disputes).
OK, let’s get rid of government altogether. Anarchy is the way to go, right? Look how well that’s working out in Somalia. Of course Iraq and Afghanistan aren’t too far behind.
The irresponsibility of local and state governments does not in anyway excuse raising taxes. In fact, the irresponsibility of state and local governments shows all the more clearly that they NEVER should have received that much in tax money from honest Americans.
Government is a thief that steals our productivity and our property. Agencies that cannot maintain their services should be shut down and replaced by private organizations that can provide services more efficiently.
Look what those tax cuts did. Cities and school districts are going bankrupt, schools, libraries, and museums are closing, teachers, nurses, librarians, street/sanitation workers, museum workers, bus drivers, police and firefighters are being laid off, streets are going unmaintained, garbage isn’t being picked up, … But I guess we just gotta bankrupt that nasty old government, don’t we? Here’s a clue- the government answers to US- if you don’t like what they’re doing, you can vote them out.
They don’t always go to great universities. A young girl in my community created a spectograph for about a thousand dollars. They usually cost hundreds of thousands. Granted, I’m sure the young lady will end up at MIT or Harvard, but the point is she is a great scientist right now without ever having gone to college.