What are the necessary requirements to enter the Big Four accounting firms?

It is well known that the career paths of the "Big Four" are not easy to follow. The high intensity and pressure of work often lead to high turnover rates among the “Big Four”. However, when people inside go out, people outside want to come in. The "Big Four" sign is, after all, a BigName in the minds of college students. What's more, the high salaries and famous talent training systems of the "Big Four" are often infinitely attractive to newcomers. So, how to chart your career path among the “Big Four”? Following the publication of Ernst & Young's college student recruitment plan for next year in the last issue of this magazine, this issue of "Workplace Guide" continues to focus on the "Big Four". He Wei, the HR manager of KPMG, will provide all college students who are interested in the "Big Four" We analyze the path of the “Big Four”. High turnover determines high recruitment volume. KPMG is not the largest among the "Big Four", but their recruitment efforts for college students every year are no less than the other three. He Wei, manager of KPMG's human resources department, revealed to reporters that next year they will recruit college students in Shanghai. The recruitment volume will remain at around 200 people, and the number of college student recruitment nationwide is expected to reach thousands. What is strange is that almost every "Big Four" company maintains a high recruitment volume every year. Compared with them, it is impossible for other foreign companies to provide hundreds of management trainee positions to college students every year. What's more, in the current employment situation where college students are obviously not in demand, why do the "Big Four" favor college students so much? In fact, He Wei told reporters that they recruit so many students every year, which is actually a loss in terms of labor costs. If there are enough experienced talents recruited in the talent market, they may not recruit so many college students. "But there are too few such people (mature talents)." "The development of the 'Big Four' in recent years requires us to constantly replenish new middle-level people, but the market cannot fill them, so we can only train them ourselves." In the field of auditing, the "Big Four" talent training camps have always had a good reputation. Generally, under the "Big Four"'s "nurturing", an ordinary college student can grow into a mid-level talent with the ability to lead a team in two to three years. Big” just wants to use its strong “blood-making” power to make up for the “shortage” of mature audit talents in the talent market. "For us, we are looking at these people after three years." He Wei's words explain the high turnover rate of the "Big Four" on the other hand. Although thousands of college students are recruited every year, in fact, it is not realistic for every college student to achieve the ultimate career goal of becoming a partner in the "Big Four", not to mention that many of today's college students are It takes two or three jobs to stabilize. For "Big Four" HR like He Wei, their job every year is to recruit as many college students as possible, and then let them "metabolize" automatically. Basically, after three years, under the high pressure of the "Big Four", the The mobile people have left, and those who remain are the middle-level talents that the "Big Four" rely on. Excellent students may not be suitable for the "Big Four". According to convention, the campus recruitment of the "Big Four" is concentrated in October every year. In previous years, they were the protagonists in campus recruitment. However, this status has been challenged by other foreign companies in recent years. As many foreign companies in China pay more and more attention to talent reserves, universities, the place where future talents will accumulate, have naturally become a "must compete". As campus recruitment approaches every year, many foreign companies bring their "MT" (Management Trainee) projects to colleges and universities to give presentations. This also challenges the "authoritative status" of the "Big Four" in the minds of outstanding college students - the more top-notch College students often have offers from many well-known foreign companies, and the "Big Four" are no longer their only choice. “Our annual signing rate is around 70%,” He Wei said. This shows that every year, nearly 30 college students who applied for KPMG jobs are hired by other foreign companies. This does not include the number of newcomers who change jobs after one or two years of working. Facing talent competition from other foreign companies, the most direct impact is that the best students do not necessarily have to choose the “Big Four” now. He Wei also admitted, “There will be some discount in terms of talent quality.

"However, this does not mean that the "Big Four" will lower their recruitment standards in the future. After all, there are too many resources as a group of college students. Even if someone "breaks the contract", the position can be quickly replenished through re-recruitment. In fact, although every year during recruitment, You will meet a few such "good people" at some point, but for He Wei, what is more important is whether the person is suitable for KPMG, rather than how good he is. If they can't resist the "temptation" from outside, it's better to let them go now and let some people who are more suitable for the "Big Four" come in. What kind of people are suitable for the "Big Four" according to He Wei? , not the smartest, but the most practical. Although this may not be a comprehensive answer, it speaks of the characteristics of the "Big Four" people from the most important perspective. It is conceivable that the "Big Four" have high-intensity work. Not everyone can tolerate it. Many college students choose to work in other companies with less pressure for this reason. More importantly, auditing is a very step-by-step profession that requires meticulousness not only in work but also in professional life. In terms of career, it is a career with a bright future. He Wei said that in the "Big Four", you often have to work with people who have worked for 3 or 5 years or more senior colleagues, and from them, you can You can directly see your future career. Sometimes, even if it is your boss, you can see that he is so busy every day and even works overtime on Sundays. Therefore, you can ask yourself at the beginning. I don’t want it to be like this in the future. Although an overly transparent career has caused many people to give up, there are also many people who are willing to stick to the "Big Four". These people are the people who are suitable for the "Big Four". In other words, outstanding students may not necessarily be able to go on to study in the 'Big Four'. He Wei finally said. A five-year career faces three hurdles. However, compared with other foreign companies, the advantage of the "Big Four" lies in its high success rate. He Wei told reporters that generally in the "Big Four", as long as you persist for five years , a newcomer can basically achieve the position of Assistant Manager, but in other foreign companies, their MT project elimination rate is relatively high, and it is not easy to achieve the corresponding management position thanks to the high growth rate of the "Big Four". The training capabilities of their "talent schools". In the "Big Four", even a college student without any accounting background will grow up within one or two years. He Wei described their training method as "cultivating growth". "At KPMG, In the first year, you will do very basic things. The leader of the group will teach you how to do things. In the second year, you will be asked to do things independently. In the third year, you will need to lead the group and teach other newcomers how to do things. "The rapid changing of roles in the "Big Four" makes the growth of talents almost forced. Every year, the HR departments of the "Big Four" prepare different trainings for employees at different stages. In the first year, some Basic courses, and in the third year, some leadership courses will be conducted. "The first 5 years are the 5 years to lay the foundation, so they are the most important. If you want to develop in the 'Big Four' for a long time, these 5 years are the most important." Never change jobs during the year. "He Wei said. After 5 years, the "Big Four" employees began to work hard for senior management and partner positions. However, in these 5 years, the "Big Four" people faced three "career hurdles" , appeared in the first, third and fifth years respectively. "Many people change jobs in the first year, mostly because they can't stand the high-pressure environment of the 'Big Four', so many newcomers choose to work after learning something. It is not difficult to find a job in other companies. After all, with the "Big Four" brand name, it is not difficult to find a job in other companies. "He Wei analyzed. By the third year, new people basically have certain management capabilities. At this time, most people begin to consider the transition of their careers. "Many people consider their careers for two or three years. First stage, therefore, at this time, many people’s idea is to change the environment. "At the fifth-year level, it is a stage of automatic selection. "At this time, it can already be seen whether a person is suitable to continue on the road of auditing. If they feel that they are unable to do so, they will choose to take the initiative. Resign. "He Wei said. No matter what stage of talent flow, the "Big Four" rarely take the initiative to eliminate employees.

He Wei said that at KPMG, few employees will leave due to poor performance, and they usually provide employees with a very relaxed environment. Even if there are employees who want to leave, they will try their best to persuade them to try again and learn more before making a choice, which may be more beneficial to job-hopping in the future. For the "Big Four", talent mobility is not a big deal. On the contrary, they often respect employees' choices. KPMG expects to recruit nearly a thousand people in the coming year. In China, KPMG mainly conducts campus recruitment at universities in five cities: Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. He Wei told reporters that statistics on the recruitment of college students this year showed that the Shanghai General Administration provided 240 offers, and the numbers in Beijing and Hong Kong were not much different. The recruitment of college students in Guangzhou and Shenzhen was relatively small among the five cities. . The total number nationwide is estimated at around a thousand. This number is basically similar to Ernst & Young’s hiring volume this year. The competition for offers from the “Big Four” is equally fierce no matter where they are. Although the number of offers in Shanghai is only 240, KPMG received more than 4,000 applications last year. The elimination rate is cruel. College students who want to apply for KPMG positions in the coming year need to be mentally prepared. However, good news for college students who graduated in 2006 is that KPMG will also maintain a large recruitment volume of nearly a thousand in the coming year, and the Shanghai area will also provide 200 positions for college students. One news worthy of attention is that KPMG is preparing to open a new office in Hangzhou, and may also conduct related recruitment in Hangzhou. High salary is a magic weapon for the "Big Four" to attract talents, and it is also the reason why many people are willing to endure high-pressure work. There is not much difference in income between the "Big Four". He Wei revealed that at KPMG, the monthly salary for undergraduates who entered this year is 5,000 yuan, and that of graduate students is 5,300 yuan. As the working years increase, the "Big Four" will make a salary increase in July every year. In order to prevent each other from poaching people, the "Big Four" will communicate with each other to determine the salary level for the year. Therefore, the phenomenon of poaching people through salary increases is not common among the "Big Four".