Target schools in Accounting
Do target schools exist in Audit or tax? Do you need to finish University of Oxford or University of East London is more than enough to land you a job in the big four. Write your thoughts and experiences below. Especially about postgraduate degrees.
At least in the US, breaking into the Big 4 is all about having a good gpa and being likeable during interviews. My friends that made it to Big 4 didnt go to target schools, but had good gpas and applied and got interviews.
Not sure how it is in UK, but for US I would recommend to pick the cheapest school with the best name in the state you want to work in, and focus on getting a gpa as high as possible. Example: In NYC Baruch kills it in accounting, and it's 1/9 the cost of NYU or Fordham/Columbia. Accounting is one of the few industries where a good gpa will get you a job at a Big 4. Focus on GPA and try to reach out to HR people or current employees at Big 4 and you will be successful.
Thank you very much for your answer! Currently I am in my senior year of my bachelor in European economic studies . At the same time i am studying for an associate degree in accounting. My plan is to continue my studies in the university i am currently enrolled in Greece to pursue an master in accounting with a full tuition scholarship( i will get full exam exemption for both ACCA/ACA). My main question was if accounting had the same "target school" system with consulting and IB and i would put myself in a serious disadvantage by going to a non target school. Following your advice, i will put best self to get the best GPA in both degrees!
Congrats on the scholarship. Why not try to apply for auditing roles now? I'm sure you can get a corporate finance role at a Big 4 if you have a good GPA? In my opinion there's no point to spend time on school if you can get a job, and with an economics degree and a good gpa a corporate finance role at a Big 4 is definitely achievable!!
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The truth is i don't know how to get started. First of all I don't know if any auditing company would want someone without a finance and accounting degree. Secondly i don't know where to look for. I don't know any auditing company aside the big four. And in the big four i don't know where to look for , nor how nor who to contact. Generally i don't know who to enter this market.
School wont help you with that. Go on their website and apply, apply apply. You dont have to do auditing roles, you can do a corporate finance role with your background too. Reach out to people on Linkedin from your school that broke into the firms and ask for advice.
Thank you very much! I will put my best on networking.I don't know about corporate finance but i will give it a try.I have my concerns about my employability on those roles with my degree.My initial conclusion is that spending 100K+ dollars on a simple master degree for accounting doesn΄t worth the effort.Thank you very much for your advice!
One more question.If i get a job in audit or tax in a big 4 could i laterally go into IB?Can i do the same thing through corp finance?
While there's no target school system for Big4 firms, it does matter if you are in the country you're applying to. You mentioned you're finished a bachelor in Econ in Greece and plan to continue there with a master in accounting. A master in accounting isn't needed for Big4 in Europe anywhere as far as I know, but applying from Greece for a graduate Big4 role in London will be difficult. If you want to work in the UK, go for a master there (or an exchange, which I did in my final year of uni).
Also, corporate finance is the "IB" arm of the Big4, so it's harder to get into, but you can also lateral from there to IB (if you want to do that). Going from audit/tax to IB is very hard (although I've seen it done several times as FS audit to FS IB boutique in London).
I'm also surprised you haven't had any interactions with Big4 at your uni. How well is it ranked in Greece? Big4 engage with the top econ schools in all countries.
A monkey can get into Big4 audit
You give me really high hopes , man!
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