Tip of the Day: The difference between a Campus Interview and an Office Visit

Campus interviews are typically held on college campuses or 3rd party sites. They are not often conducted at the office of the Big 4. For the campus interview, you will likely be dealing with a recruiter who does this everyday. He is the gateway to the firm - the first level of screening between you and the office visit/ follow-up interview. He knows how important this interview is to you and will want to see how you handle yourself under pressure. The tone of your interview is likely to be more conversational than fact based. Don’t expect to get any technical accounting questions unless it pertains to something on your resume. Like the meet and greet, the recruiter will be attempting to judge how you handle yourself in a social setting. Campus interviews are typically the first step in the interview process. If this goes well you will be invited to a follow-up interview in the office of the firm. These interviews are typically with actual Big 4 staff, not recruiters. You will likely speak with both a mid-level employee (senior associate or manager) and a senior manager or partner. These interviews are designed to measure your accounting aptitude, skill set and likelihood of success with the firm. Impressing the auditors is different than impressing the HR department. These people have been where you are and know first-hand what you are in store for. Because of this, they will be looking for a specific set of skills. In order to be successful in these interviews, it will be necessary to show them that you possess these skills. The learn more secrets about getting hired with the Big 4, please visit: Big 4 Guru.com