hey everyone welcome and welcome back to my channel my name is emily nastroza how are you guys doing so in today's video i'm going to be talking about how to get a job at a big four firm for those of you guys who are new here thank you so much for subscribing and for being a part of this platform i hope that through these videos i can ultimately help you by providing you with some advice and some knowledge on how to land your dream job i just graduated from the university of southern california and thankfully during my time in college i was able to land a full-time job at a large consulting firm which i will be starting in just a few weeks and so having gone through that process i know that it's not easy so i really hope that i'm able to help you guys through these videos a lot of my videos are focused on my post grad live and any college and career advice so if any of those topics interest you make sure to hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more videos alright so now let's jump right into today's video on how to get a job at a big4 firm and so i want to give you guys a step-by-step process as to what you can do to ultimately land the job and i'm gonna be splitting up this video into three main sections first i'm gonna be talking about the preparation then i'll be talking about the recruitment and then lastly i'll be talking about the application and interview process okay so let's get started with the preparation the first thing that you need to know about recruiting for a big four firm is knowing about the recruiting timelines so the big four's main recruiting season is during the fall semester and during the semester is when the firms will be out on campuses or will be opening their applications to recruit students from freshman to senior year for their internships and full-time programs but if you don't get an opportunity in the fall semester or if you miss the recruiting season it is okay the big fours still recruit in the spring semester usually during the spring semester the big4 will focus on recruiting for their slps which stand for summer leadership programs and their diversity internship programs now the second thing that i want to talk about in your preparation is gpa so you want to do your best to maintain at least a decent gpa i would say that a good gpa would be like a 3.3 and above but if you do not have that it is okay there are still students who have less than that and still get an opportunity at a big fourth but usually those students will often balance out their gpa by having some relevant experience skills or through their involvement and so that leads me to my next point relevant experience having some relevant experience would definitely be beneficial towards helping you to get that job but you do not need to have any in order to get the job what's most important is having and being able to highlight some of those transferable skills such as leadership teamwork communication skills analytical abilities problem solving now the next thing that can help you get a job at a big four is being involved on campus the big four are looking for well-rounded candidates and they want to see that you are involved in student organizations but keep in mind that the big four don't care about how many clubs you are a part of what they care more about is what role you have in these organizations and what leadership and teamwork abilities you have gained through these experiences so if you have the time definitely do your best to be a part of an organization and take on a leadership role overall you just want to be able to highlight that you have some of those soft skills that would be crucial for getting the job now the last thing that you definitely want to do in your preparation is research the company the best way to do your research is by talking to interns new hires and professionals that work at the company and know what it is like you definitely want to familiarize yourself with the company culture what the company does and then knowing about the job roles to kind of figure out what you want to do there are so many different practices and groups within the big four so definitely do your research and get an idea of which group you want to be a part of which industry you're interested in and then which big four would be the best fit for you all right so now the next topic that i'm going to talk about and how to get a job at a big4 firm is the recruiting process so my first major piece of advice is to be present you want to do your best to be consistent and attend as many events as you can try to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early before the event starts to be able to meet talk to people and also ask some of your questions and kind of get a head start on that networking process you also want to make sure that at these events that you are not shy and that you take the initiative to meet recruiters and professionals be sure to also participate in presentations and discussions i suggest preparing a list with four to five questions to ask at networking events now my second biggest piece of advice is building valuable connections so take initiative to reach out to people recruiters and professionals want to see that you are eager and excited to connect and learn about the firm when you attend an event you want to network with as many people as you can but you also want to make sure that you foster a genuine connection and relationship with those people that you meet if you already have an idea of which job role you want to apply to then make sure to build a strong relationship with people who work in that industry or practice and then lastly keep in mind that these professionals are human too they want to meet and hire people who they're going to get along with and work well with in their teams so do your best to develop a genuine relationship because these professionals will likely put in a good word for you and that'll ultimately help you to get your foot at the door and then my last piece of advice in the recruiting process is to follow up so if you meet a professional at a networking event be sure to take down their name their email or their business card and then after the event is over connect with them on linkedin and then send them a dm or email to follow up with them and maintain that relationship overall you just want to make sure that you follow up so they can hopefully remember who you are and so that they can recommend you to the recruiter to hopefully get you to that first round of interviews all right and now the last thing that i'm going to be talking about is the application and interview process so firstly you want to make sure that you take down the application deadline know when the application is due and make sure that you submit your application in a timely manner also note that the application deadline for the big four are usually all on the same date so make sure that you have your documents ready to submit for all of them okay so next i'm gonna dive into the resume make sure that it's short sweet and to the point and that it highlights all your relevant experiences if you are looking to sharpen your resume i have a video on how to write a solid resume i'll be sure to link it up here and i think that video is really useful for how to prepare and make sure that your resume is ready to go so after you submit your resume if you do not hear back after a week or so i highly recommend that you reach out to the recruiter to ask them what is the status of your application and if you do not make it to the interview process it is okay still email the recruiter and the professionals and let them know that it was a pleasure recruiting with their company and connecting with the professionals and they look forward to applying again in the future now the next thing that i briefly want to talk about is cover letters so in your cover letter you want to talk about who you are what relevant skills qualities experiences you have to offer and then lastly why that company and that job role is a good fit for you if you developed a strong relationship with a professional i also highly recommend that you name drop them in your cover letter just to show that you took the initiative to connect with professionals at their firm and then i also want to note that if the cover letter is optional i think it is still beneficial to include it in your application but you definitely do not need to have one in order to get the job and now the last topic that i'm going to be discussing is the interview process so if you are applying to a job role in audit or tax then your interview process will mainly consist of behavioral questions however if you are applying to a job role in consulting then your interview process will be a mix of both behavioral and case interview questions additionally if you are applying to their freshman or diversity internship programs then those will also consist of only behavioral questions alright so that is all that i have for today's video i know that was a lot of information if you guys have any questions please drop your questions in the comment section below and i'll be sure to answer each and every one of them if you enjoyed this video make sure to give this video a thumbs up and if you want to watch more videos that revolve around my post-grad life and any college and career advice then make sure to click that subscribe button and also hit that bell button so you can receive notifications next time i post a new video i'll see you guys in my next video thank you guys for watching