Trying to break into Big 4

Hey all, I have an informational interview with BKD in a few days. If i can get an internship there, will that help my chances to get into one of the Big 4?

Whether its KPMG Deloitte PwC or EY, as long as I get Big 4 experience I will be very pleased.

Is an Internship at BKD good enough? If I end up not getting Big 4 experience, would BKD be a good enough career to land a controller or CFO spot later on in life?

If anyone knows more about BKD I would love to hear.

I have heard they are a sweat shop and don't care about their employees, but I won't judge before I know first hand. I have also heard their salaries are well below that of Big 4.

Thanks for any insight!

6 Comments
 
mattbenningfield

Hey all, I have an informational interview with BKD in a few days. If i can get an internship there, will that help my chances to get into one of the Big 4?

Whether its KPMG Deloitte PwC or EY, as long as I get Big 4 experience I will be very pleased.

Is an Internship at BKD good enough? If I end up not getting Big 4 experience, would BKD be a good enough career to land a controller or CFO spot later on in life?

If anyone knows more about BKD I would love to hear.

I have heard they are a sweat shop and don't care about their employees, but I won't judge before I know first hand. I have also heard their salaries are well below that of Big 4.

Thanks for any insight!

Join the big 4 group here as a member just posted something useful pertaining to your question. If you internship and then look for a full time position you should be set up nicely as long as you explain why you didn't accept your BKD offer because they will probably assume you then didn't get a offer.

 

Thank you very much for the advice

Indiana University Bloomington - Ph.D. Statistical Science High Dimensional Statistics/Machine Learning/Deep Learning
 

Big 4 is definitely a step above BKD, but it doesn't mean that it is required for CFO. Additionally, many people transfer from national/regional firms and work for a big 4 after 2 years or so. Don't kill yourself if you don't get an offer.

Your "chances" at getting a FT offer with a big 4 will largely depend on your schools recruiting. Having an internship is definitely a plus. If you go to a school that the big 4 recruit heavily from, your chances are good depending on your resume. If they are not actively recruiting at your school, you will need to network in.

Big 4 Accounting Recruiting Guide Interview Questions and Answers, Networking Guide and more - Complete 50 page guide.
 

Ok perfect, I have a couple of people from a KPMG firm that are talking with me and helping me with networking. I wouldn't mind KPMG even if they are at the bottom of the Big 4 food chain. I hear that they are actually pretty laid back, so it attracts me to it even more.

I like the idea of maybe working at BKD for a couple years and then transferring into a Big 4. That will give me experience in both a Big 4 and a large top 10.

EY just started coming to OCR at my university this year, so I'm pretty pumped about that.

Thanks for the advice

Indiana University Bloomington - Ph.D. Statistical Science High Dimensional Statistics/Machine Learning/Deep Learning
 
Best Response

You really can't project generalizations onto different offices. I remember hearing the same stuff (PwC is stuffy, KPMG is more laid back) but it 100% depends on the individual office. I remember interviewing with a firm similar to BKD and they were the most stuffy/geeky people I had met.

Also KPMG is at the bottom in terms of revenue, but that really only matters for bragging rights within the big 4 (although the top 2 have a larger % of the F50).

Definitely go for all options available and see what works out.

Big 4 Accounting Recruiting Guide Interview Questions and Answers, Networking Guide and more - Complete 50 page guide.
 

Fugit ut quisquam totam hic. Ad quis voluptatem nesciunt minima sapiente nihil libero. Et ut officia autem quia eos dolor. Suscipit aut harum quia dolorum debitis.

Eaque perspiciatis rerum atque et. Delectus officia recusandae officia ducimus. Provident veritatis et ipsam aperiam. Sed quasi debitis enim non qui.

Sint voluptas illum itaque aspernatur nihil qui. Non atque odit quaerat cum illum aspernatur dicta. Quia in sed quam est. Eveniet laudantium minus similique et excepturi. Consectetur fugit dicta quia ullam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (66) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”