Are you riding the roller coaster of emotions!? Thought you had a chance, had made good connections, had a great GPA, even made it to the second round – but none of the firms made you an offer. Well, you are not alone!It is not unusual to have between 600 – 700 students apply for CPA positions in BC firms and only approximately 20% of those actually secure positions, with only 10-15% securing ‘full time’ positions. These numbers are both telling, as to the competitive nature of the process, and should be reassuring in that there are many students leaving the CPA recruiting season empty handed. This is difficult, emotional, frustrating, worrisome and troubling for many. These feelings are real and are valid. But there are some things that are not true for most of those who did not get invited for an interview or an eventual offer.

• “The public firms are not interested in me so I will have to go into industry!”
  This is an unfair and incorrect assumption for most. It is important to keep in mind that there are many students competing and few positions to be had. Many students have gone on to have careers in public practice that did not begin with campus recruiting. They obtained positions with firms through applying to positions that come up throughout the year when business requires hiring. Or, they went on to pursue firms proactively whether they were the Big Four, National Six, Mid-sized or the many firms that do not participate in campus recruiting activities. My advice has always been, “If you want to be a CPA – be a CPA and do not let the CPA campus recruiting define you or your career goals!” PS – There is nothing wrong with going into industry. Many have very rewarding careers in industry and often their passions are aligned with their desire to provide client services in accounting. These are decisions each person needs to make for themselves, rather than doing so in the midst of emotion following the recruiting mayhem.
• “It must have been my GPA that stopped me!”
  Although this may have been part of the reason, most firms are not that narrow minded in their criteria. Experienced people know that a good GPA does not determine a good employee or client services team member. The reason most people are not selected is due to a combination of things which includes the very important component of networking and relationship building with firm staff. One also has to consider the quality of the application, especially the cover letter along with the interview process. These all are part of the firm’s assessment process in locating the right students. Each year there are students interviewing with the firms that have percentages in the low 70’s and even some in the high 60’s. I ask, “Why would firm reps even meet with people with lower marks if they would not hire them? No doubt there are enough students above 90% to fill the available positions and more than enough over 80% to fill their interviewing schedules. Each candidates must take inventory of their entire approach and identify areas for improvement. If grades are part of that and there is still time, then bring up the grades. Just don’t get caught up in the idea that there is a cut-off and you were just simply rejected on GPA alone.
• “It must have been my lack of accounting or extracurricular experience?”
  Even though these two areas help with getting the attention of the firms, they in themselves are not determining factors alone. If fact, very precious few students have accounting experience. And, for DAP students, many do not have any recent extracurricular experience since their undergrad. So, these are not deal-breakers in themselves. However, one can add to their portfolio by gaining experience in a financial and client service environment by being intentional about adding work experience that adds to the aggregate value of the ‘skill toolbox’. As well, candidates can also look for ways to get involved in community volunteer work and get accounting experience there or simply add a volunteer component to their resume. At the very least, this would be a great thing to do with your spare time and add further quality of life benefit to your daily life as you give back to the community and people around you.
• “It was my interview skills!”
  If it is not everything else – then it must be this – right?! Not necessarily. Selections are not often made due to a poor interview or for reasons of nervousness in the interview. By the time firms invite applicants to interview from among the masses of students coming at them – each person selected could actually do the job and obtain their CPA successfully. Meeting with people for the interview is a way for the firms to help them confirm their choices and to further determine “fit”! This has less to do with the interview process than many realize. However, if a candidate has a history of being invited to interviews but rarely makes it past the first stage of interviewing, some coaching may be needed to address several areas including the conversational component of interview interactions, the way answers are being framed and the quality of the follow up. So an ‘interview check up’ with some role playing will act to confirm everything is fine and/or identify areas to improve for next time.

All in all, with the above considered (and a few additional things that would make this Blog waaaayyy too long), don’t be too hard on yourself. Address your concerns and move one. CPA recruiting is great, but it is only one avenue of hiring into public practice. Take heart, take responsibility and take action to move forward and achieve your goals. Oh yeah….and take a break….you deserve it!

Good Luck!