Recruiting, Interviews, and an Internship

A few weeks ago I wrapped up the public accounting recruiting process. It all started spring of 2012 during my first semester at the University of Utah in Marci Butterfield's accounting class. During one class she brought in the recruiter from Ernst & Young, Joni Lusty, to talk about public accounting. I already was starting to think about pursuing accounting. As Joni talked about the opportunities in public accounting it really caught my interest.

A few months later I was accepted into the accounting program. When I was accepted they encouraged me to meet with my career counselor. I would have never thought this meeting was that important. It turned out to be critical because of the complex structure of the recruiting process. Mellissa Kraft is the accounting career counselor and she is awesome. She helped me rework my resume, explained the public accounting recruiting process, and pushed me in the right direction. It is easy to get behind in the recruiting process, but with Mellissa’s help I didn't miss out on any opportunities.

When I was accepted to the accounting program I also joined Beta Alpha Psi (BAP), a professional organization geared toward accounting majors. Marci is the student advisor and told me BAP was a must. BAP helped me understand the recruiting process, stay on top of deadlines, and grow my network. I made membership fall of 2013 and attended the initiation banquet. At the banquet, I sat next to Mark Peterson, a senior manager at Ernst & Young. I got to know him a little bit, but I didn’t think much of it. The next semester Mark taught one of my classes, and I didn’t even remember at the time that I met him at the banquet. He took an interest in me and helped me quite a bit as I recruited with EY. Mark became a mentor to me and was one of the most influential people I met during the recruiting process.   

The next step took place during the spring of 2013. I applied for summer leadership programs. Summer leadership programs are held by each of the big four global accounting firms and Grant Thornton (a firm a step down from the big four). These one or two-day programs bring together talented students who have an interest in working for the firm. You can apply with the local office of the firms (all of them have offices in Salt Lake) or you can apply to an office at another location. At first, I thought I wanted to look at locations outside of Utah, maybe somewhere in the bay area. After discussing it with Alison we made the decision to stay closer to home and pursue recruiting in Salt Lake City. In the end, it was the best decision we could have made. I applied for summer leadership with all four of the big four and with Grant Thornton. After I applied I got interviews with all five firms. The interview process was a learning experience. These interviews gave me a chance to be comfortable with the way public accounting firms conduct interviews without a job opportunity really being on the line. I also met a lot of people who I would get to know really well during the recruiting process. The efforts I put into school and building my resume paid off and I was accepted to all of the summer leadership programs.

The majority of programs took place during May and June of 2013 with one final program during August. For the most part, the programs were very similar. Each firm had several presentations differentiating itself from the other firms, both globally and in the Salt Lake market. Most of them also had leadership training and team-building activities. Another common theme was food - there was always lots of good food. Each firm also made sure networking was a focus. I met so many people at the firms and got to hear about their experiences. A couple of the firms really went out of their way to do something unique. PwC held an amazing race competition during one day of their summer leadership program. It was just like the TV show - the students were split into teams and each team had a professional from PwC to drive them around. We were given a clue and then we spent the day racing around Salt Lake solving our clues and completing challenges. My team came in last place, but we had a great time. Grant Thornton had a fun balloon tower challenge. Each team was given tape and a bag of empty balloons to build the tallest freestanding balloon tower. My team won the challenge - it isn't pretty but it was by far the tallest. Grant Thornton also rented out the zoo one night. We had dinner there and then we walked around and saw all of the animals. Each program was unique and I was glad I was invited to participate. I came away from summer leadership with a better understanding of the culture and focus of each firm.

When school started in August recruiting became hectic really fast. For the first two and a half weeks of school, there were events on almost a daily basis. The firms held socials, barbecues, and open houses. Alison was a trooper and whenever she wasn't out of town she attended the events with me. Having Alison involved was so important - she met some people during summer leaderships, but for the most part, this was her first real impression of the firms. She had a lot of input. Most of the time she enjoyed the events, but some were disappointing. After events we would talk about the people we met, and whether or not we could see ourselves being friends with the people who worked for each firm. In a lot of ways, Alison's opinions of firms were the same as mine but she also had a unique perspective. I appreciated her input and the two firms I ended up seriously considering were both firms that Alison really liked.

Social events gave way to first-round interviews. At this point in the process, I knew the accounting firms and they knew me so these interviews were more of a formality than a necessity. I ended up interviewing at different six firms. At first, I thought I would take a shotgun approach and apply to every firm with offices in Salt Lake City. When it came down to it I knew what I wanted and I took a more focused approach. I applied with the big 4, Grant Thornton, and Mantyla McReynolds (a local firm). I went through first-round interviews and they all liked me enough to invite me to second-round interviews.

Each firm treated its second-round interviews differently. For some it was a simple business lunch – they just wanted to get to know me better. Other firms had a more formal process. The common approach was to hold a half-day event where they brought in the top candidates for a presentation about the firm, three or four interviews with managers or partners, and then a nice meal.

After second-round interviews, I got offers from the two firms I was seriously considering. There were a few other firms who I hadn’t heard back from yet, but based on the two offers I was given I had already narrowed it down to two firms. At this point in the process, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to rush it and I took about a week to really think about the offers and make my final decision. In the end, I called Mark at Ernst & Young to let him know I was accepting the offer. I also had to call and decline my other offer. This was extremely difficult because I liked the other firm a lot as well and I have some good friends working at that firm. I also let the other firms considering me know I had made my decision and asked them to take me out of the running.

My decision came down to where I felt the most comfortable. The people and culture at Ernst & Young are a good fit for me. They also have a winning strategy and clients I want to work with. Ernst & Young is the right choice for me and I am excited to get started. The internship begins in early January and will run for ten weeks. I will be taking the semester off school. In Salt Lake, these internships normally lead to a full-time offer. This means that after I complete the internship I will go back and finish school with a full-time offer to work for Ernst & Young after I get my master's degree.