[Seminole]

Originally Posted by Grauss

Just as an example, I was told by the greeter that they make the selection that afternoon. So if you interviewed Tuesday, then Tuesday at 5pm they already knew who was going to office interviews.

True and non true. With my firm we don't make the decision for office visits until a few days, maybe even a week after the on campus interview. That way we can get together and talk about each of our people, do pros/cons, and compare them to other schools we recruit from. If FSU has a higher talent pool this time around compared to UF, then we'll take more people from FSU and vice versa. It's not a set amount of spots per school.

Now with office visits at my firm we'll get together while the recruits are taken out to lunch and basically rank them. The top 1 or 2 will get an offer as soon as they get back from lunch, the rest will be communicated to in a week or so after we have all our office visits. We offer the top 1 or 2 the position then so they know how interested we are. The rest might not be bad, but we are waiting to see who else is coming.

So just decisions aren't always made that day and if you don't hear something right away it's not the end of the world.

And with office visits, you aren't a "shoo-in" at all. Are you in a good position? Absolutely. You gotta figure that at least 4 or 5 schools feed into that office, and at each school they probably got (depending on the size) 100-300 resumes, of which they might only do 20-40 on campus interviews, of which only 5-10 might get an office visit. So the 25-50 remaining people at the office visit were narrowed down from maybe 500-1000 people. This of course varies by office size.

But don't let anyone tell you that you're in just because you have an office visit. The whole point of the office visit is other people can confirm what was seen in you on campus. We've had many recruits who did very well on campus, but once they came for an office visit they fell on their face and weren't offered a job. You gotta keep your A game up and knock these interviews out of the park as well. Not only that, but even if you do well you aren't guaranteed an offer. A good size office might only have 10-15 spots open for interns, so if everyone does awesome in the office visit, they're going to have to cut someone. Hell, it's happened to me. I've had the partner call me to personally apologize and say they just didn't have enough spots and all though I was a strong candidate they just didn't have room for everyone. That firm has been trying to get me to move over to them now non-stop, but that's another story in itself.

So basically keep up on your A game, don't get cocky or over confident and you'll be fine. If you don't hear something right away either it's not cause for concern. I had a friend with KPMG who never even got a call to tell him he got the job, he was sent a letter in the mail which he got a week after the interview.

[Joekerr]

Agree with the personalized email, helps you stand out. Actual cards are a GREAT idea, IF you have the time - but only if.

I work for one of the Big 4 myself, have been there full time since '05, and was a coop before that. I was involved in campus recruiting a few years ago, and I can tell you the decisions are made pretty quickly. We used to have dinner as an interview team right after the interviews (they do them in blocks on campus) and we'd have a rough list of who we were going to make offers to that night. Now that could change slightly over the next day or two, but no major changes.

The only changes were the people we were on the fence on - invariably there was 5 or 6 great candidates, but there was always an additional two candidates that were both good, and were just squeaking in, but we would only want one...so we had to choose. Anything those two did that made themselves stand out would help us decide - so if you get into that position, you want to make sure you are standing out.

I'd emphasize that most often I looked for soft skills. I can teach you technical, but I can't teach you soft skills as easily. But everyone realizes that the candidates are nervous during interviews.

[Grauss]

Thanks for the responses Joker and Seminole. I really was wondering what it's like from the other side of the table. Looking back into the past, can you give a couple of examples of what people in those #1 and #2 slots would do to come off that well in office?

Sorry for thread jacking btw.

[Seminole]

Originally Posted by Grauss

Thanks for the responses Joker and Seminole. I really was wondering what it's like from the other side of the table. Looking back into the past, can you give a couple of examples of what people in those #1 and #2 slots would do to come off that well in office?

Sorry for thread jacking btw.

I was one of the ones who got an offer right after lunch, and to me I didn't do anything special except be myself.

It really comes down to personality. If you are at the office visit you have the grades, now it's all about fit. The people who turned me off, and the sentiment was echoed by coworkers, were the people who came across as arrogant and over confident. We've had recruits go into the Office Managing Partner's office and say "Hey Bud!". Needless to say, something like that isn't recommended. Another time I took intern recruits out to lunch and was asking them how they thought their interviews went. One of the kids when it was his turn kind of rolled his eyes and said in a cocky tone, "I was already given an offer, I'm just here to meet more people." While that's great for the kid, 1) the other people at the table don't have offers, so saying something like that is rude to them and 2) I couldn't give two shits if he had an offer or not, he's still not an employee yet and shouldn't be acting like he owns the joint. That left a bad taste in my mouth with him and it carried all the way forward to when he actually became an intern.

Be yourself. Be polite, respectful, relaxed and natural. Don't be a kiss ass, but also don't be cocky. It's kinda hard for me to describe. I was always very polite in my interviews, came across as sincere and humble, and carried on a good conversation. If you can do stuff like that you're golden.

[Joekerr]

+1

Seminole summed it up nicely, nothing to add.

[joshtimber]

That must have been a great interview.

[335i101]

Originally Posted by silvergray545

I'm gonna have my first professional interview next week for an internship at an accounting firm. I know there are many professionals on this board and I was wondering if there are any tips you guys can provide me with.

Firm handshakes, look them in the eye. Remember there names and use there names when you speak with "them"

[Seminole]

Originally Posted by 335i101

Firm handshakes, look them in the eye. Remember there names and use there names when you speak with "them"

And don't spell "their" as there...

[BOOSTFTW]

Just curious--What kind of behavioral questions did they ask? Do you guys mind listing them? TIA