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.

Last week was the first week of on-campus interviews for accounting. So far, I have not had to tackle too many of the dreaded behavioral questions. As long as we stay away from those, interviews feel more like a normal getting-to-know you conversation, rather than a psychological exam.

Many firms also have pre-interview socials as a way to get to meet you in a slightly more relaxed setting before the big day. If you’re really nervous about interviews, making a good impression on the right people at the pre-interview social might be a way to compensate  little bit. However, keep in mind that after your interview, the interviewer takes notes on you, whereas they don’t write anything down at dinner, so you’d have to make a really great impression that will be remembered.

The interviews and social events continue next week. Hopefully they will ultimately result in a job at a great firm!