Many of you may be scrambling around trying to find a summer internship, so that you can hopefully secure a full time offer, while also making pretty decent money. If you’re just starting to look now, your at a pretty big disadvantage.. you see most offers for summer internships are given out up to a year in advance. But, there is still hope. You will have to be pretty proactive, because they are surely not going to just come to you.
Keep in mind timing
Different firms do different things at each office, but the most typical progression (for the US) is:
Fall of your senior year: Interview with the firms and accept an offer to start the summer after your senior year and you’ve graduated. Once you complete your internship, you will likely be given an offer to start full time a year later, after you’ve completed your 1 year masters program.
This is obviously dependent on your situation, because some people may not do a masters program, and some others may do a 2 year program. The thing to keep in mind is to explain your plan. When talking to a recruiter or someone who comes to campus, the first thing we’re trying to figure out is what category to put you in – full time, intern, or keep in touch for next year when you’re ready for an internship. So what is important is that it is less likely that they give you an internship if you have 2 years to work after the internship.
Winter internships (Jan-March) are a little different because they require you to take a semester off, but they would want you to be able to start either the next January or August, unless you just have some summer classes to finish you, and you can start the same year.
How to make the most of recruitment events
Here’s a few tips to make the most of the office visits, leadership programs, and social events the firms are putting on.
1) Have fun and don’t put too much pressure on yourself
These events can be fun, at least I had fun at mine. You should be genuinely enjoying yourself and having good conversations. Being stiff and uptight is not the image you want to give off. Try to relax and forget that your professional future is being determined by your performance at the event.
If you didn’t get invited to an event (yet) then reach out to all of your contacts you have made via meet the firms or networking events, and just send them a simple email saying something like:
“Hey ____, I wanted to check in and see if your office was doing any summer office tours or leadership programs. I really enjoyed meeting with you and would love the chance to hear more about your office.”
If for some reason you haven’t yet made any contacts, reach out to your professors or career center and ask them to get you in contact with the firms. It’s really important to build connections as soon as possible and as many as possible. These summer recruiting events are probably full but they may can make an exception or someone may have a change of plans. If you don’t ask, you won’t get anything.
2) Ask good questions, such as:
What do you like about the job?
Do you enjoy working in the teams environment?
Do you get to travel for your clients?
What type of clients do you work on? Do you like that industry?
What industries does your office work on primarily? (If asked what industry you’re interested in – it is OK to say you aren’t sure yet. If the office is heavy financial services, and that is your interest, then express that interest)
Did you start with (insert firm) after college or did you transfer (transfers between firms happen somewhat often)
Remember that it isn’t really opportunity to show off your technical background in accounting. It really doesn’t set you apart, you’re in the candidate pool because you have good grades, so this is “fit” based and making sure you’re not a weirdo and someone they can put in front of their clients.
3) Follow up with contacts
Get business cards or emails, and follow up with them afterwards. Obviously this is a pretty basic thing you would be surprised how many of the candidates don’t bother to send a thank you email. Here’s a sample thank you email:
Hey ____,I just wanted to send a you a quick thanks for spending your time at (event) and talking with me (yesterday/today).
Try to plug in something that was discussed in the conversation, to reinforce a name to a face like:
I’ll definitely have to try out that sushi spot next time I’m in the area
I’ll have to remember to get tickets to that game/concert
Thanks for the advice on not taking partnership tax next semester.
The length of the email is judgmental, but I would prefer shorter rather than longer emails. It is OK to ask a follow up question to get the dialogue continuing, but don’t request something that will take them a long time to gather information and respond, because something will likely take priority.
So what can you do if you don’t have an offer?
If you don’t have an offer for summer it will be tough. What you are going to hope for is that there was an unexpected change at a particular firm, and they need to fill the slot. The firms hire out far in advance, so they may get a new client or an intern may decline or opt out of it after taking an offer, for some reason.
- Start with professors/career center – as I discuss in the accounting interview guide they are a great resource and often know when firms are looking to hire. But don’t make it too hard on them – tell them your situation and ask if they have any advice on getting a big 4 or accounting internship.
- Get the email addresses from professors or emails you have seen go back and forth from career centers to students, and email them directly. I describe some of these tactics in the guide but basically tell them your situation, what you’re looking for, and if they have a minute to talk with you.
- Get phone numbers and call the offices directly. I did this for about 40 offices and got in touch with about 2 recruiters which didn’t work out, but who knows, maybe you’ll have luck. When calling an accounting firm say (I’d like to talk to someone in charge of recruiting at XYZ school).
- Reach out to non-big 4 firms. They may have some non-standard hiring practices and have a need. If you’re dead set on big 4 or bust, it definitely looks better than working as a lifeguard and really doesn’t matter for an internship.
- Get on linkedin and connect with peers who have graduated, alumni from your school, or just people you don’t know but work at a firm you want to work for. People are surprisingly receptive to this. Since it’s late in the game, you probably don’t have a lot of time to cultivate the relationship and ask for coffee and all that, so just flat out ask if they have a need for an intern this coming summer.
If you don’t get an internship, it’s not the end of the world. Rock your grades, get involved significantly, go to every recruiting event and make a good impression, and you’ll be in good shape. Keep in mind if you have a terrible GPA, you get a reset in grad school, so you can make a 4.0 to cover up that 2.5 – hopefully they just never ask you about it!
Thanks again and enjoy the summer – I look forward to talking to you again at the next recruiting event.
