Recruiting in a Recession
Actually, I think that the recession is technically over, but I’m not sure that the job market knows that yet!
I’ve had a few interviews and invitations to office visits, but none of that tells us students how many entry-level positions the accounting firms have open. This situation is probably good for the smaller accounting firms, which had some trouble competing for recruits with Big4 in the past. However, with some of the Big 4 offering 0 jobs, the regional firms have a chance to be selective.
However, one of the smaller firms I attended several social events with and interviewed with seems to not have invited anyone to office visits. Essentially, they decided they weren’t really going to hire any new audit staff. That’s a little terrifying for us!
We’re supposed to be picking the firm that we fit in best at, but I wonder how many students this year will just accept the first offer they get.
Related posts:
- Back to recruiting!
- First accounting recruiting event of the season!
- Questions for Interviewers at Office Visits
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I was lucky enough to get an offer from exactly the firm I wanted when I graduated… and a year later, was laid off along with approx 50 other accounting staff (firm-wide). I gather they’re doing interviews, but not office visits, this year.
My guess is that you’ll see the effects of this recession in the job market for some time to come. Many of my clients currently area looking to layoff more employees, and almost none are doing any real hiring. Everyone seems to be taking a “wait and see” attitude.
There are tons of Big 4 layoffs in the market right now. I think Jenny is right, that public accounting (the recruiting side) will see the effects of the recession for a long time. At least one regional firm where I am at has laid off people in the last month.