Benavides - The Big 4 Playbook: The Insiders Guide to Earning a Job at a Big 4 Accounting Firm

Isat in the car, staring in disbelief. I could not believe what I was holding inmy hands. For 5 years, I dreamed of this piece of paper and now here it was sittingin my lap, the golden ticket for an accountant, a written full-time offer froma Big Four Accounting Firm. The long hours of study, the interview preparation,the internship. All of it had paid off. This was indeed the best moment of mylife and I was ready to sign on the dotted line so that I could join the ranksof the best accountants in the world.

Dream of working at Deloitte, Ernst & Young,KPMG, or PwC? Do you dream of walking into the partners office and beinghanded the ultimate prize in the accounting industry? Have you worked your buttoff for the past few years in hopes of obtaining a job offer from the Big 4? Doyou want a job that will launch your career from day one?

If so, then this book is for you.

Ill be the first to admit that earning aninternship or a full-time job at Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, or PwC (TheBig 4) is hard work, and it doesnt happen overnight. It takes good grades,strong leadership skills and a certain inner fortitude to push yourself beyondyour comfort zone.

Youcould be an ideal candidate for the Big 4 but ultimately fall short of a joboffer because you did not know how to sell yourself in the interview process.Or you could have the grades to work at the Big 4 but lack the necessaryleadership capabilities to succeed at the Big 4. Or you know you could kill aone-on-one interview if you could only pass the test of the firm social events.

Withthis in mind, I created The Big 4 Playbook for the aspiring accountantsin college, high school, or elsewhere who dream of working at Deloitte, Ernst& Young, KPMG, or PwC. It is my goal with this book to help make theprocess of earning a Big 4 job easier and less stressful for you.

Basedon my multiple years of firsthand experience, I will offer you tips and advice onhow to earn a Big 4 accounting job.

But before I continue, let me tell you a little bitabout my Big 4 experience.

I have been through the Big 4 recruiting processtwice, once while at Boston College and then again as a graduate student atVanderbilt. My first attempt to earn a Big 4 job did not go so wellunfortunately. Luckily, I regrouped while at Vandy and earned an auditinternship at one of the Big 4 Firms.

Theaudit internship went really well for me. I earned great ratings from myengagement teams and even received the highest rating an intern can receive onone evaluation. Because of this, I received a full-time offer.

BeforeI started full-time at the Big 4 Firm, I spent the summer studying for the CPAexam and ended up passing all four sections on the first try. As a result, Iwas able to earn my CPA license after a year of working as a full-timer, and Iam still a licensed CPA today.

Duringmy time as a full-time employee at the Big 4, I worked for over two years as anauditor and for almost another year as a tax consultant. In both instances, Iworked my way up from staffer to senior. In fact, I earned the title of auditsenior in less than two years.

Now,I have made it my priority to share with you all the lessons I learned along myBig 4 journey.

Itis my goal to provide you with the valuable insights and secrets that I learnedand utilized in my career to become a top notch employee at one of the bestaccounting firms in the world. Armed with this knowledge, I believe you can notonly earn the job you have dreamed about but you can also outshine the rest ofyour colleagues and shoot to the top of your class.

As you read on, The Big 4 Playbook willanswer the following questions:

Unsureof how the recruiting process works? I will walk you through each step of the Big 4 recruiting process starting atStep 6.

Fearfulyour GPA automatically eliminates you from consideration? You will love my insights on how to overcome thisin Step 3.

Wantto dominate the on-campus interview? Have a leg up on your classmates with my PROVEN answers to the most importantinterview questions in Step 7.

Terrifiedof the Big 4 social events like I was? Learn in Step 6 how I overcame this fear and convinced the firms I possessedthe social skills needed for the job.

Strugglingto decide whether to go into audit or tax? It can be a tough choice. I struggled with it myself. My insights inStep 5 help to determine which is best for you. I wish I had known about themwhen I was in school.

Alreadylanded a Big 4 Internship? Great!Now become a star intern like me with my PROVEN tips for interns in Step 10.

Stillon the fence as to whether a Big 4 Accounting Firm is the right career move foryou? Read in Step 2 what workingin the Big 4 can mean for your career.

Afraidyour school already eliminates you from consideration? Dont worry. It doesnt, and I will tell you whyin Step 4.

Cantdecide which firm to sign with? InStep 9, I give you the checklist I used to determine which firm was best forme.

Applyingto undergrad or graduate school? You will want to read in Step 4 the criteria I used to determine which schoolgave me the best odds of earning a Big 4 accounting job.

If any of these apply to you or you just want toadd these valuable secrets to your already strong resume, read on and you willbe closer to realizing your goal of earning a Big 4 accounting job.

TheBig 4 Playbook is divided into 10easy to follow action steps for you. The order of these steps was designed to firsteducate you on who the Big 4 Firms are and what an ideal employee looks like.Then from there, you will learn about the steps you must take to make yourselfinto this ideal Big 4 candidate. Each piece of the process is vital and shouldnot be overlooked.

Bythe end of this book, I am confident you will have a strong game plan in placethat will convince the firms that you are a person they NEED to hire.