Sun Tzu, the author of Art of War, said, “If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.” Based on my experience, this is one of the valuable lessons accounting students can embrace as they participate in the CPA recruit.
I first participated in the CPA recruit in 2015 where CPA firms hired accounting students for full-time, summer internship, or Co-op positions. My first attempt was unsuccessful as I couldn’t secure a position. As a 4th year accounting student with only 3 semesters remaining before graduating, I panicked. What did I do wrong? Am I going to graduate without a job? Am I that terrible?
Despite the disheartening turn of an event, I knew I still had one more chance to pursue my career in accounting. However, what do I need to do? I was clueless. What did successful candidates possess that caught the firms’ attention?
I was just a student with limited knowledge about the recruiting process. Thus, I sought knowledge of experts who have more experience about CPA recruit, our BBA Career Advisors. Through talking to the advisors, I was able to have better understanding of what I lacked. My grades were satisfactory and I had one year of work experience in an accounting firm. However, despite my demonstration of technical knowledge and skills, I failed to display my soft skills. I was not able to network well. My interview answers and resume were not polished enough. I also did not participate in extracurricular activities.
With these findings, I could now see why the firms were not keen on hiring me. Accounting in the end is about serving a client. If I can’t present myself well in front of the firms’ representatives, how can they trust me to serve their clients well?
Then, I knew what I had to improve on before the next recruiting season begins, but how? The solutions came from many different opportunities.
Burnaby Mountain Toastmasters
- I joined SFU’s Burnaby Mountain Toastmaster Club where members can practice their public speaking. Here, not only I was able to improve my confidence and speaking skills, but I also contributed to the club as a treasurer.
- I participated in CPA Student Leadership Development Program which included opportunities to meet a mentor who has been working as a CPA. My mentor recognized my desire to improve my networking skills and for an entire semester we had weekly meetings where I was able to learn and practice networking skills.
- Between the two recruiting seasons, I applied to many accounting jobs and failed on all of them. However, through each posting and each interview, I gained chances to polish my job applications and my interview skills. Also, our BBA CMC advisors were available to help students like me.
- I actively participated in networking events showing my passion for the firm and a career in accounting. Some networking events were a huge success while others were not. However, I kept notes on what I did great and what I needed to improve on.
Beedie Community’s Job Posting page provides numerous job opportunities for students
A year went by after the first recruit and in the end, my work came to fruition. Through improving my interpersonal skills, I was able to successfully present my passion, professionalism, and technical skills to KPMG who recruited me as one of their new full-time accounting students. At the end of this journey, I look back and realize it was the journey of discovering myself and the others which is the first step to the Art of Recruiting.
Interested in a career in accounting? Join CPABC representatives and CPA professionals from public practice and industry at the Careers in CPA event to learn more about becoming a designated accountant. Visit Beedie Community to register or come visit the Career Management Centre on the 2nd Floor of WMC.
Jewook (John) Song is a 4th year accounting student. He has participated in both the 2015 and 2016 CPA recruit and will be joining in KPMG’s Enterprise Group in 2017. He was able to develop his career as an accounting student with help of the BBA CMC and strongly recommend others to do so as well. If you have any questions, please email at jewooks@sfu.ca. If you are interested in knowing more about SFU’s Burnaby Mountain Toastmaster Club, please visit https://www.facebook.com/burnabymountaintoastmasters/.