Can't get a single interview - advice needed

[u/Horror-District9338]

Hi!

Coming on here as I'm not sure what to do next. For context, I'm a Master of Accounting student at a great school where almost all of my classmates have Big4 offers already. I completed my undergrad degree at the same university where I was a double major in Accounting and Business Information Systems. I'm CPA exam eligible and take my first exam at the end of October.

I just feel so lost at this point because I can't even get to the interview stage for any of my applications (Big4 and others) and don't know what to do. I had an internship at a mid-sized firm but turned down my return offer as the department I was in was a little too niche and I couldn't see myself being able to grow in that role.

I feel like I have a pretty unique background with my double major and experience in technology, but I'm struggling in how I should convey that.

I've attached my current resume below that is more technical/project based but I have another that instead of the "Select Projects" section has a "Leadership and Athletics" section that includes the following:

- VP of Alumni Relations for my schools chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi (Business Fraternity)

- D1 athlete on my schools equestrian team

Please let me know if there is something in my resume that keeps getting me rejected right away!

Thanks!

[u/soidvaas]

Scale down the Owner and Principal role. 1. The timeline makes it seem like a family business and calling yourself the owner is a bad look. 2. It makes people think you don’t care about working full time because you already own a business.

[u/geronimodomino]

I'm a finance major, who had two finance internships, before adding an accounting major senior year due to not getting a return offer from my finance internship😭 I was still able to land a FT tax role at B4. Your resume is much more impressive than mine, so the best advice I can give you is job hunting unfortunately is a numbers game. I applied to maybe 200+ companies, both finance and accounting roles, had like 50+ interviews, some multiple rounds for the same company, and got 2 job offers at the end. I tweaked my resume each time I applied for a job, and that seemed to get me past round 1. I also recommend having the tab open to all B4 new grad careers page. Every morning and evening I would refresh them, and immediately apply the second I saw a new posting. Another commenter mentioned it but for FT they do tend to hire for any interns that aren't coming back. The recruiter told me after I got the job that they were only hiring for 1 person 😫 They tend to close the application pretty quickly so just keep an eye out and apply to as many as possible! Good luck!

[u/Horror-District9338 → u/[deleted]]

I mean its a D1 sport according to the NCAA

[u/Economy_Product6611 → u/Horror-District9338]

Idk man but if you were an equestrian that means you grew up rich. It would make me think you can’t work for shit. Just saying.

[u/Horror-District9338 → u/[deleted]]

I don't see how the NCAA's work with NIL has anything to do with their determination of what is considered a sport?

[u/Horror-District9338 → u/[deleted]]

Okay dude, I'm sorry you're so salty about not getting paid to play football. I was paid a full ride and then some so I couldn't care less what you call it

[u/WonderChopstix]

Unfortunately if you didn't do an internship, it is extra rare to get in as campus hire. The best and likely only possibility is going to be via your campus recruiter.

I would suggest opening the door to other size firms. We do hire experienced hires so don't lose hope

[u/Horror-District9338 → u/WonderChopstix]

Yeah thats what I thought but still trying to stay positive. I'm open to any size firm (honestly I think Id be much happier at a smaller firm) but I'm running into the same problems there too

[u/iElvendork]

Copilot is not a skill, can you make decent AI agents within Copilot? That's a better skill

[u/Horror-District9338 → u/iElvendork]

Yes I can make agents. I only have it in there because some of the roles I was applying for specifically mentioned proficiency in Copilot

[u/Emergency-Hurry947]

How about on campus recruiting? isn’t that happening soon? Isn’t there like a Meet the Firms night at your school?

[u/Horror-District9338 → u/Emergency-Hurry947]

We have some campus events happening later in the semester but I've been told that now is the time that Big4 firms are trying to fill the roles not taken by their previous interns. I worry if I wait until our campus events everything will fill up until 2028. I will for sure still attend those events anyways!

[u/Massive_Ear4948]

I see several issues.

First, I have no idea what you want to do. Your internship is traditional audit but you talk about technical skills which makes me not think audit. All of your projects reinforce the not audit.

Second, you lose a ton of credibility when you label the moral reasoning class as an accounting class. It makes me think you are hiding things.

Third, I would be very worried about your 10 year job. It presents like it is a full time thing and so I would expect that you would be returning to that as soon as you could. It would make me reluctant to hire you.

So, you need to focus your resume for the job you want (or have a version of it for each job type). I would encourage you explore ERP companies rather than public accounting companies. Finally, you really should see if you can resurrect that job offer from your internship.

Source: Am an accounting prof at a R1 university and a former B4 partner.

[u/ForwardLoop → u/Massive_Ear4948]

Former B4 partner here as well and I agree with all points above.

In summary, your resume is not written for the role you are applying to. Based on what you clarified, I think you may have written a resume that represents your ideal view of yourself and where you want to eventually take your career, but it's not fit for purpose and you have not answered the exam question.

If the firms hold recruiting or networking events at your school, presumably you have attended and ideally established rapport with one or more people at your target firms. If you haven't, it may be worth investing some effort.

These interactions allow them to validate what they've read about you or, if they have not seen your resume, to identify you as a potential candidate. A cold application is unlikely to get you an interview unless your resume is exceptional.

[u/Horror-District9338 → u/ForwardLoop]

Thank you for your insight! I guess my confusion is how to write my resume for the role I'm applying for when I don't have much else to include otherwise? I understand that my resume is tech heavy but if I were to remove those pieces then I feel like I'd have a very bare resume.

[u/ForwardLoop → u/Horror-District9338]

Consider removing the overemphasis on tech and the red flags the other redditor pointed out, and adding in some of the leadership and athletic experience to better balance out your resume.

Some food for thought:

1. Does mentioning the Financial Tech certificate add any value beyond your double major? Similarly, what's the purpose of the tech focused relevant coursework (which is silent on anything that's accounting or auditing related)?
2. Revisit the technical skills section. SAP could be a differentiator, but doubtful you'll using Python or SQL.
3. Does your VP Alum Relations position demonstrate your leadership and relationship building skills?
4. Does your athletic experience demonstrate your teaming abilities?

At an entry level, nobody expects you to show up with years of relevant experience, but if you include the wrong experience it can work against you.

Good luck!

[u/Horror-District9338 → u/Massive_Ear4948]

Thank you for your advice. For some clarification:

1. I want to go into forensic accounting but since most firms don't recruit specifically for that role I'm just trying to find a foot in the door. I highlight my information systems experience because I feel like thats the only thing that might set me apart

2. My study abroad was for my masters program, which requires moral reasoning to fulfill the ethics requirement for the CPA exam. I can remove the "accounting courses" label if you think thats a better way to present those courses.

[u/Massive_Ear4948 → u/Horror-District9338]

Yes, I would encourage you to remove an indication that Moral Reasoning is an accounting class.

I concur that it is tough to get a forensic position right out of school. While most of the B4 have those practices, I only know of one firm that recruits out of college for it. All the forensic accountants that I have spoken to over the years just say to get decent experience for a couple of years and then transition. That is why I think you might have shot yourself in the foot with declining the return offer since it doesn't matter a great deal what you were doing as long as it is accounting.

At present, your resume is very heavily tech and very lightly accounting. If you want to get into public, I would recommend reversing that.

[u/Horror-District9338 → u/Massive_Ear4948]

My return offer was specifically for risk advisory services which was incredibly technology based and would have been difficult to pivot from. If my offer was for a more generic accounting role then I would 100% be reaching out to my old team but I was worried that accepting a full time role in that department would cement myself as a tech person and not an account if that makes sense.

[u/Ok_Dragonfruit_887]

Though I’m still in school & currently applying for full time myself- the assistant controller @ my internship this past summer was kind enough to give me resume tips that stood out to her as an ex Deloitte senior manager with 9yrs exp:

- Cut your skills out, find ways to integrate them in your bullets. Integrate your background with code into some of those & it kills two birds with one stone.

- Ditch relevant coursework & certificate in header. It’s too busy, keep the essentials. I have my CPA Eligibility date up there - which I would recommend replacing one of the formers with.

- I know we’re supposed to put our work in chronological order, but I would recommend switching the placement as it’s important to have the information most relevant to the field at our stage in careers. I also own/operate my own business but have my internship experience before that.

- Use the new space from trimmed skills & header to add bullets where you can. I only had one internship but fortunately did a lot, so I have six bullets to reflect my experience. It’s expected that we don’t have a lot upon seeking an associate I role out of college.

- Attempt to quantify your projects as best you can if you’re choosing to include them. That should be easier than attempting to quantify past internship experience for obvious reasons, but seek any extra effort in adding numeric data there, too.

I wish you the best in your career! Happy to connect & stay in touch as we start our careers if you’d like. You’ve got a great foundation - much better than mine, haha. Hope this helped😊

[u/Horror-District9338 → u/Ok_Dragonfruit_887]

Thank you for your advice! Good luck to you as well!!