I recently found myself interviewing for a Senior Accounting position with one of the top 10 public accounting firms within the U.S. For any highly competitive position and accounting firm, it is important to do all that you can to stand out among the many candidates that are all competing for the same job. I’d like to share some of the things that I learned throughout this process, including how long the process took, who I interviewed with, what kinds of questions were asked, what was expected of me, and what types of questions I asked in return. Spoiler alert: I got the job!
How Long Did The Process Take & What It Looked Like?
The entire process from the time that I submitted my application, to when I received my offer was a total of 10 days! So a little over a week. I submitted my application on a Wednesday night, received an email by one of their recruiters the next morning to set up an interview the following Monday. There were a total of 3 interviews with 5 separate individuals conducted on three separate days of that week. I was then offered the job Friday morning.
Interview #1: Recruiter/HR Screening
The first interview was in the format of a Microsoft Teams call. It lasted about 30 minutes and was conducted with the recruiter who originally reached out to me via email. Most of the questions involved were general inquiries about who I was and what I was looking for.
Some examples of the types of questions I was asked were……..
- Why do you want to work for our company? What is it about our firm that stands out to you?
- Why are you leaving your current job?
- What industries are you interested in working in?
- What industries do you have experience in?
- How proficient are you at Microsoft excel?
- What accounting software are you familiar with?
- Are you ok with coming into the office? Or are you looking for a remote arrangement?
- When would you be available to start if offered a position?
- Desired salary?
Interview #2: Partner Interviews
My second interview was conducted the same week as the first, but on the Wednesday. This interview was also a Microsoft Teams call. The total interview lasted 1 hour, and it was split between two people, so I met with the first individual for 30 minutes, and then I met with the second individual for another 30 minutes. I did not have to meet with them together.
This interview was also very conversational. In fact, for being a Senior Accountant role, I admittedly was expecting to be tested more on my prior career knowledge. However, instead a lot of the interview was more about getting to know you.
I should make note, that when applying for this job, I had a very specific industry in mind that I was looking to work in. It happened to be in line with what teams from the company were looking at hiring, so the timing was well played on this one! Therefore, with that in mind, the majority of the questions they asked me were mostly related to the industries I had previously worked in. These two partners were each in charge of a team that I had experience in with my previous employer. So that lead most of our discussion.
Some of the specific questions they asked:
- What specific clients did you work on with your current employer?
- What do you like about the industry?
- Which areas of an audit (applying for an audit senior position) do you have experience with?
Interview #3: In-Person More Partner Interviews
At long last I was asked to meet in person at their office location. There I was able to meet with two more individuals. One Partner, and one manager in the office that I would be working at. The prior two people I spoke with oversaw some of the teams, but they actual worked in offices in different cities. These people that I met with last, were actually in the same office as me. We had the interview the very next day from the prior interview. It was held Thursday morning.
Very similar process to the 2nd interview. More get to know you questions, specifically about my accounting experience and industry experience. One of the interviewers asked me a few in-depth skill questions. These interviewers also asked me a few behavioral questions as well. But I’d say the majority of it was more of a casual conversation.
In addition to the same questions asked in my 2nd interview, some of the specific questions they asked:
- What are your specific strengths?
- What would your managers/supervisors say is something that you need to still work on?
- Describe a time when you had to deal with a difficult situation at work, or in life, and how you handled that situation?
- Do you have experience auditing financial statements?
- Have you been to any board meetings?
- Explain to me how you would go about auditing accounts receivable?
Questions that I asked during the various interviews
Since most of the interviews were very conversational, I was able and encouraged to ask my own questions throughout the interview process. I tried to gear my questions around understanding who the people were that I was interviewing, questions related to the specifics of the role and what the expectations would be, and questions related to company culture.
Some examples of questions I asked included:
- How long have you been with the company?
- What do you like most about the company?
- What is the expectation of a Senior Account at your company? What qualities are you looking for in someone for this job title?
- Do you conduct official performance reviews? How does that work?
- What was the last company event that you had? What other company events do you have?
- Are there any specific office traditions?
- What is the dress code in the office and at clients?
- What is your policy on remote work?
General Tips & Tricks For The Interview Process
- Show your personality – Most public accounting interviews in my experience are more focused on getting to know a person and determining the right fit then they are about asking indepth technical questions or behavioral type questions. Put your best foot forward, but also show them that you are a genuine human being and not a robot!
- Make it a conversation – If the interviewer is asking all of the questions, then that is generally not a good sign. You should be asking questions back and forth. You are interviewing the company and making sure it’s a place that you want to work for just as much as they are interviewing you. Make it a conversation. However, on the flip side, don’t take over the interview! If you take too much control, that could come off as arrogant. It also could lead the interviewers to do all the talking and not get the opportunity to discuss why you should get the job.
- Ask the right questions – Typically asking about benefits or pay is not a good idea during the interview, unless the interviewer brings it up first. The time to ask those questions is usually after an offer has been extended. Also, don’t ask generic questions about things you can easily find on their website, or shows that you didn’t do at least some research before coming into the interview. Good questions should be focused around understanding job expectations, qualities they are looking for, what the company is going to be like to work for, and other questions that will allow you to build a deeper connection with the interviewer and that will also pave the pathway to emphasizing your own strengths and reasons for why they should hire you for the job.
Good Luck!
Hope this helps! Each company’s process will be slightly different, but most public accounting firms will have similar processes for vetting and hiring qualified candidates. Hope these tips will give you ideas in your own job search and interview process. Good luck!