Send Students Elsewhere
Re: Advice to Accounting Students: Smile at the Big Five But Look Elsewhere for a Job
From: Allan S. Boress, CPA, www.ihateselling.com

In accordance with the salary figures, I noticed about five years ago the declining ‘quality’ of new college hires at the Big Five via my work with them as a sales consultant to the profession.  It used to be they hired the cream of the crop, but either the produce had spoiled, or less was available. These latest salary figures bear that out. 

Of course, I am not at all surprised. The one thing the Big Five have in common is GREED.  As with their peers in the Second Tier of accounting/consulting firms, the only way these people grade success is by looking at their W-2s. If it means losing the best graduates because we’re going to throw more money to the bottom line, let’s do it!

I completely disagree with Ed’s advice to college grads regarding working in private industry first. Fuhgeddaboutit! Here’s some advice to sharp grads from one who’s been on both sides, corporate and public: Go to work for a regional or smaller CPA firm first, if public accounting is your dream. You get lousy experience at the Big Five anyway, as the jobs are so huge they have you doing a teeny, tiny, piece of something you will never understand. BUT! If you work for a smaller firm, it is like being in the ER of business.  You will be exposed to so many different things, so much faster, that you will become a much better business doctor!  And you may like it so much you may decide to stay.

I totally agree with Ed about having the firm pay for the fifth year; many are not doing it anyway. In fact, I know of Big Five firms that are now recruiting in freshman year of college. I think the main reason big firms are hiring experienced hires for the first time is they HAVE to because the quality grads aren’t there anymore, due to a problem that they helped create.

What should educators do about the problem? Maybe they should start sending the smaller firms their best kids instead of only directing them to the Big Five! 

The real question is what should our profession do?

WE HAVE DONE A TERRIBLE JOB AS A PROFESSION IN SELLING TO KIDS IN COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL!  The engineering profession has a concerted effort to go to middle schools to sell their profession. We don’t even go to the colleges as a profession. AICPA where are you???

Dec. 26, 2000

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