Dawgie

Experience does not count the most for campus recruiting for Big 4 entry level positions. Considering as a Junior you apply to Big 4 internships, how much experience can you possibly have?

ag54

My son is in the middle of his 10 week internship (that is part of his MPA program). He has a 3.6 right now, spring of senior year with one year to go for the program.

His interviews were all set up at the school -

Good luck.

Inmotion12

I wasn't referring to that specific situation. I meant as a recent college graduate. Sorry for being a little off topic.

Inmotion12

Just read goose's thread and it is right on. What he has done is exactly what my goal currently is. I have a 3.93 gpa and I just founded and am acting president of an organization. Building something like that completely from scratch and gathering a set of diverse strangers into a cohesive group has been an incredible challenge. Fighting through the paperwork riddled bureaucracy in order to get the organization officially recognized has been very eye opening. And creating the marketing materials, planning events, coordinating different people's schedules, and balancing all that with a full time job and 13 credit hours has all been a great experience. I'm just hoping it all pays off like it did for goose.

spacekillers

I know there is the "in your major" GPA then your overall GPA.
I have a 3.5 overall GPA because i failed an elective class freshmen year...

If I were to get a 3.8 or higher GPA in my accounting/business classes, you think they'll look less at my overall GPA?

I heard they look more at your GPA for your accounting classes. is that true?

Dawgie

Cumulative is more important, also don't worry too much about extracurricular junk. Better off getting random work experience. Remember kids, GPA is king. Of course, we're only talking about getting the initial interview. After that it's all interviewing skills.

bebebong

What to do if I'm a horrible at interviewing? I consider myself the greatest failied interviewee not being able to land one internship after 4 interviews(small to middle to big 4 () Is there anything I can do to be good at that? What interviewers look for from candidates?
Thank you for any advice.

Dawgie

Well, first you can learn how to interview and then you need to practice it. Practice these techniques at phone interviews, networking events, or career fairs. To learn, you need to know what they are looking for and how to present your experiences to cover every area. The most important thing you need is confidence. You have to exude confidence. I know people like angryengineer can't because he is geeky looking and a quiet little punk in real life, but you have to do the opposite.

bebebong

Haha his look does match my imagination of a typical engineer person. Sorry if it offended any engineer but it's just common sense stereotyping/joke.
I will keep practicing at appearing confidence at best like you suggested, because it seems like I don't have a lot of that.
I wonder if I should take a sales class just to learn their speaking skills. Those people talk like gun machine.
Interviewers also said I have a great smile but...it's just that.
Some of the things I screwed up on interviews that I suggest first-time people should seriously avoid:
- not having done enough researches of the company beforehand. Some interviewers might pretend to be sleepy when you get to ask about their companies, I guess, to test how much about them you know. Not cool.
- Check yourself in the mirror before the interview. For the sake of God I was not aware of a big white scratch on the back of my vest and just walked like an innocent goose to the interview room. OOps
- Be decisive. I was applying for a Cost accounting position at one company and they ask if I am interested in financial service job from my description of career objectives. I was saying I'm interested in both. Big no-no
- looking elsewhere when talking to them. even if you are tempted to.

Btw,thank you Dawgie

rusoboy23

I definitely agree with Dawgie about confidence. You don't need to walk into your interview thinking that you're the s**t because the interviewer will see right through that, but you should be there feeling like you belong and that you are the best person for the job. If you can't convince yourself that, how can you convince your interviewer?

I would also say know your resume like you know your multiplication tables. For every bullet point for every activity you have, be able to give 3-4 sentences to elaborate. Know how to intertwine those bullet points and the behavioral questions that you will be asked.

Finally, be yourself, be enthusiastic and have a good time. If you have a good time, your interviewer will also have a good time and will have a good feeling about you after the interview is done. This is exactly what you want.

ipam45

i don;t know if someone has already mentioned this but location of your university...which is hard for you to change now...DC's not too bad. But in the mid-west, Chicago and Minneapolis is the place to be for big 4. I'm a finance guy but i see accounting recruiters throwing themselves at average students everyday. There is every chance you could have to meet a Big 4 recruiter and if you are good enough, you will definitely get a deserving look here. Chicago will be harder because of the higher competition, but it is pretty common to see someone intern or work for one of the big 4 (& grant thorton) from the twin cities campus.

spacekillers

My friend got a summer internship at PWC with a 3.67 GPA, one previous internship at Washington Post. He told me that GPA is mostly just to get that initial interview and anything over a 3.5 is okay. After that threshold, it's basically how you answer questions and your personally.


My school, George Mason, does have on-campus interview with all the major firms except E&Y.
Does "class rank" matter at all? Because at Mason, I believe I am in the top 50 of my year (I have a 3.53 GPA. Would have a 3.93 if I hadn't fail an elective class because I had to seek depression treatment during one semester).
Does recruiters have to hire a certain amount of students from a school? Or can they choose to hire none? If recruiters usually hire a certain amount of students at a school and being in the Top 50 with good extracurricular activities (V-P of tennis club, founder/President of club), would I have a good chance to get interviewed?

I'm really concerned about getting into the Big 4.
I failed one class and it totally tanked my GPA from a potential 3.93 to 3.53

Dawgie

Failed one class and tanked your GPA that much? That means you have like 15 credits.

spacekillers

I have 33 credits from AP credits and the 3.53 GPA is with only 33 course credits.
By the end of this semester, I'll most likely have a 3.67 with 51 course credits.

Dawgie

So why are you concerned and how'd you fail? You can withdraw you know?