No Regrets: My Experience with the Big 4

For my last three posts, I know they sound so…well, so negative. Reading through it myself, I can honestly understand why some folks out there think it’s not worth it to go to the Big 4 (or for any auditing firms for that matter). If this is the case, I would like to apologize. Scaring you was not my purpose; I just wanted to tell it as it is so that you’re better aware of what you are entering into when you go inside any of the Big 4 or the other accounting firms.

With that behind me, I just want to write some (okay a lot of) positive things about my experience with the Big 4. When I started out here in iwanttobeaca, I mentioned staying in one of the big auditing firms for more than 8 years. Truth be told, if circumstances did not turn out the way they did, I would still be there until today.

Staying for 8 years was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’m not exactly the type of person who knows what she wants and goes for it. I’m more of wherever-the-wind-blows-me-I’ll-be-there type of person but I’m sure glad I was blown over that auditing firm. Suffice it to say that I have absolutely no regrets in working for that firm and given the chance to do things all over again, I would have gladly worked for that firm again.

Why did I say I have no regrets? Well, there are a couple of reasons. Let me just go through them:

First of all, I learned how to handle or deal with different people (with different personalities) during those 8 years. I’ve been assigned under partners and managers who had the temper to match a raging volcano (figuratively, of course) and who can quell their staff with a single glance. I have also been assigned under partners and managers who are the opposite of the previous ones. And I count myself fortunate I was able to survive the first and thrive with the second.

What about clients? I have handled some that are really in the extremes. I have a client whose Controller is really somebody avoided by everybody, even our partners and managers! In fact, when I was about to leave, my partner and the other partners met several times just to discuss who will replace me as the manager of that client! I also have clients that are well-sought out by the other managers because they know the clients are kind and accommodating to their auditors. Extremes? You bet.

Second, I got a lot of invaluable and extensive trainings. I attended trainings from basic auditing skills to managerial skills to audit updates to tax updates to accounting updates and (the last) to the IFRS. To top it all, they were all free! When you go out, you will spend your hard-earned money just to attend these types of seminars or trainings (unless you go to another company offering the same kind of training, lucky you). 

Do you know how much these trainings cost outside? You can literally hear your wallet or purse screaming as you pay the fees. So if you’re with a Big 4 right now or any other accounting firm offering free trainings, treasure the times when you get to attend those trainings (and your manager or partner leaves you in peace because of this) because these are part of the benefits you will receive from the firm.

Third of all, I was exposed to different industries or kinds of businesses. To name a few: hotels / resorts / restaurants, supermarkets / hypermarkets, service companies, export companies, transportation, newspapers, manufacturing, construction, real estate, parent companies, and even, to some extent, banks. Now how many other companies can offer this type of experience to the accountants out there? 

Staying with the auditing firm helped me become more aware of these types of businesses and their issues in auditing and accounting. And if you’re going to set up your own firm after your stint with the Big 4, you will surely see the value of what you have learned while you are still with that big auditing firm.

Fourth, financial analysis and financial statement understanding is a lot easier for me since I worked for the auditing firm. Because I was exposed with different financial statements, different reporting structures and different financial information (including disclosures), I became used to analyzing and understanding the financial statements. The more financial statements I get to read, the more knowledge I got and the more ‘trained’ my eyes and mind were in reading (and understanding) these financial reports.

Fifth, the networking. When you’re a junior, you get to deal with the client’s staff, managers and even the controller. But when you’re already a senior or a manager, you start dealing with the CFO, the VPs and even, the Presidents of your clients. So this is your chance to establish your networks. When you go out, don’t lose touch. Who knows? You might get a job or some business with that former clients of yours.

And these are just some of the things why I don’t regret working for a big auditing firm. Sure, I also got the late nights (even the overnights!), no-rest week-ends, low pay, cr@ppy boss, hardheaded staff and scary clients, but in the end, they were just all part of the experience. 

So if you are already working for a Big 4 and you have the chance to stay for a longer period (like 3 or more years), then do so. I can assure you, you will really learn something from your experience there. And no, I’m not giving you an empty promise on this one. Trust me, your experience will be well worth it. And that’s a promise.

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Freedom or Face?

I will be perfectly honest. There have been so many times where I’ve contemplated leaving, and just decided to stick on for a little while longer. I’m a relatively young guy, and to be honest, I face the same dilemma, I’m sure a lot of you do.

I am a young ambitious person. Throughout my university career, I always knew accounting wasn’t really what I wanted to do. However, I stuck around, and I’m still around, wondering when I should make the move.

I think a lot of our readers face a dilemma of freedom vs. face.

A lot of us want freedom, but we don’t want to lose face.

We want to quit our jobs, but we don’t want to face the embarrassment.

We’ve built a sort of pride that we don’t want to lose. We got the 40K co-op jobs while our friends were making $12 an hour at Mcdonalds. When we graduated, we got the 60K senior staff accountant Big 4 job, when our other graduating friends were still struggling for work. Our friends and parents respected us and we didn’t want to lose that respect.

Our parents brag to their friends about us. We’re Big 4 Prodigies. My son is making 60K. Your son doesn’t have a job. Etc., Etc. I mean, what kind of 21 to 22 year old has a 60K job in another field?

We’ve built ourselves into our trap.

Deep down, we also know, that if we weren’t in accounting, we wouldn’t command the 60K senior starting salary, and the respect of our high school friends and parents.

Do we have the skills to even get an 40K job?

We’d be regular graduating Joes like everyone else.

We are on the inside and know it’s not that great. But because, the people on the outside don’t know, even if we secretly resent our jobs, we choose to be stubborn, and play the appearance game.

After all, it does feel good to blow your peers out of the water in terms of comparison.

No there is nothing wrong with you if you’re young and you hate accounting and your job. If you ever considered quitting, but felt something was holding you back, I truly believe it’s a matter of not wanting to lose face.

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Why They Left…Part II

Ok, I’m on a roll here. Just posted a new blog on the Big 4 and the recession, and now this. But then again, I’ll be taking a trip this week so it will not be possible for me to write new posts during the week. Plus, I just can’t help it, my fingers are itching to write this second part on the Why They Left post.

In my first post Why They Left, I wrote there the reasons I noted why my officemates (and ultimately, I) left. These are my readily-observable-very-true-but-safe reasons. I received a couple of comments on this one, the notable of which came from an anonymous poster and to quote: “Some people leave just because the job just plain sucks.....vouching 200 invoices a day can really make you wonder about your purpose in life.....and they wanna give something else a shot”. Hmmm, telling it for what it is, I see. I was curious. Evidently there are more reasons out there than those I covered, hence this part II post.

Someone wrote me an email referring me to another site: www.jobvent.com. This site basically shows the reviews of various people (employees, both current and former) from all around the globe on their companies. Now, I know the site may be familiar to you but it is definitely new to me. So I browsed it. Of course, being an accountant / auditor, I promptly went and searched for the Big 4 auditing firms. What I found is quite…Er disturbing to say the least. All Big 4 firms have negative scores! EY has a -199 score, PWC a -26 score, Deloitte – negative 396 and KPMG has a -485 score! Wow! What negatives! Reading through the reviews opened my eyes to some of the possible reasons why these “reviewers” left (leaving the firm and leaving the negative reviews). Let me just summarize some of these reasons. A caveat first: these are based on the reviews I read and do not, by any stretch of imagination, pertain to my personal experience. So don’t quote me on this, okay?

Kiss @ss managers, bad @ss partners: Managers who retaliate because their juniors / staff do not worship the ground they work on. Partners who are being bad examples to their staff. Partners who have simply no heart and just give their staff their walking orders without so much as a by-your-leave. Managers or partners who have absolutely no ethics, who unfairly treat the staff and who do not seem to appreciate their staff’s work. Need I go on?

Not so good work environment: No work – life balance (even though this was one of the things promised when they were recruited). Stressful work atmosphere. Strict policies / stifling work atmosphere.This also includes bad technology, slow IT people, slow materials procurement, etc.

People problems: Other than the manager or partner, that is. Lack of young people working within the same office (the one who posted this may still be young and wants the company of people his / her same age). Rampant drug use (what the…? Hope this is not true). Brutally honest people (so brutal, they can reduce you to tears). Hypocrites who say one thing and do another (aren't these people found everywhere?).

Low pay. I guess I was too kind in my previous post. But some of the comments here are really negative when it comes to this aspect. Salaries / rates are too small. There are times when salaries were delayed (that hurts, you work your @ss off just to get your pay three months after!). Overtime pay virtually non-existent (this after working 7 days for the whole week!). And what about the benefits? Not so good and even sometimes, they suck.

There are some more reasons I no longer included here. Suffice it to say that the above are the most cited reasons. But they are also quite the eye-openers. I guess I was just lucky enough not to have experienced these things (except for the low pay but our benefits were okay).

Another note: This blog is not to discourage those who want to go into the Big 4. It just shows how it is inside BUT you don’t really want us who used to work in these firms, to sugar-coat it for you, do you? In my next blogs, I will write positive stuff about the Big 4, promise. Till then, bye and see you!

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The Big 4, the Recession and the Redundancies (My Perspective)

Let me just say this first – to those who lost their jobs, whether in the Big 4 or not, you have my sympathies. In these difficult times, losing one’s job is a very difficult (and scary!) experience. For those people’s sakes (and for others as well), I really hope that the recession will end in the (very) near future.

Okay, so you just might say “What the…! What is this blog?” Settle down. I just wrote that first paragraph because well, these are really hard times and those working in the Big 4 are not immune to the effects of this recession.

In fact, after reading through some blogs / posts and some articles over the Internet, Big 4 firms around the globe announced employee reductions as early as last year and as late as the second quarter of this year! These firms may have been late in such announcements, but they are catching up in the redundancy wagon and they are catching up fast!

That said, I just really want to write a blog (a rambling blog, if you want to call it that) about the Big 4 and the effect this recession has on them.

In fairness to these Big 4 firms and from what I read, they tried (as much as possible) to avoid these redundancies. I mean private companies shut down or laid off as early as 2007, with the bulk of them (the most controversial ones at that) doing so in 2008. But the Big 4? They held it off for as long as they could, going to the extent of implementing other cost-cutting measures (like flexible working hours) just to avoid the staff cuts.

But alas, the hard times caught up with them and all four have no choice but to let go. Sure the redundancy rates are small but if you compare them to the thousands of people employed by these Big 4 firms, the number can also be quite large.

But then again, on a positive (if you want to call it that) note, I haven’t seen any indication that any of the Big 4 firms implement freeze hirings (unless I’m wrong about this, feel free to correct me) and I really don’t think they should. Why? Because it backfires.

When a certain continent experienced a financial crisis more than a decade ago, some Big 4 affiliates reduced their new hires to the bare minimum (like only 20% to 40% of the usual number of new juniors). After less than 5 years, this continent’s economy picked up and the Big 4 affiliates realized their mistake, a mistake even one country managing partner admitted in a speech. By reducing their new hires during the 1990s, they now had fewer experienced people to promote to seniors and managers, and even partners!

On the other hand, I remember when I visited my old office a few months ago. I talked to a friend of mine still working in that auditing firm. She was a manager when I left the firm, now she is a partner. I asked her how the crisis was affecting them. Her answer was the firm is still doing okay (not excessively well, but just okay) but…here comes the tricky part – they were now on the evaluation stage for the new juniors and they were going to be quite brutal about it. Meaning? They were going to weed out those juniors that they think are not good enough and replace them with a new batch of faces (which legally they can still do since these juniors are still classified as “casuals” or “temporary”). They can afford to because there are already a lot of applicants (unlike before when we had to scramble to get new ones) who may be better than the ones they have now.

The above just goes to show that in good times, being a good junior (or a good auditor) will guarantee you a place in the Big 4. In bad times, being a good junior does not cut it; you have to be an exceptionally damn good junior because there are other applicants out there who are more than willing (excessively eager, in fact) to take your place.

It’s harsh, I know, but this is how it goes. And this ends my ramblings, uhm, I mean my blog. Good day and cheers!

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Why They Left

Big 4 firms (and even mid-sized and small firms) are notorious for their high turnover rate. As a matter of fact, I just read that the average turnover rate in the Big 4 is somewhere between 15% to 20% every year while other industries are just averaging 5% (Note: the study was done two years ago, before the recession set in, the average rates may actually be higher during the crisis)! I won’t say if these rates are reasonable or not but turnovers have become so much a part of life of the Big 4 that they have targets for it and even have plans to lower the rate.

In my 8 years in a big auditing firm, I’ve seen my share of people who left the firm. From my co-juniors (when I was just starting out) to my co-managers and even to myself, it seemed like a never-ending exodus of auditors going out of the firm and even out of audit.

So why do these auditors leave? If the Big 4 is such a great place to work in and to get good training and great audit experience, why do we still see juniors, seniors, managers and even partners leaving the firm? I don’t have the hard and fast answers but in all those years, I had the chance to ask my co-auditors who resigned from the firm and I will share some of their answers here.

• The grass is greener…on the other side of the fence. The number one reason? Money or financial reasons. Don’t get me wrong, salaries in Big 4 are okay. But they’re not really that big and well, private companies pay bigger salaries. And if you have loans to pay or a family to support; or if you just want to live a better life, this can be a very good reason for leaving. Of those people I saw leave the firm, maybe about 60% to 70% left because of this reason.

• The other company’s (and even firm’s) offer is too good to resist. This is not only based on salaries, it also includes perks. Perks such as giving you a car, giving you company shares, more benefits, less overtime, giving you a chance to travel to other places and even in other countries. The list can just go on and on. I have a former senior (I was her manager) who resigned to become a chief accountant. Two years later, I saw from her Facebook account pictures of her visiting other countries (with her family in tow). Turned out she was sent there for certain job assignments and the company allowed her to bring along her family (the company subsidized some of their expenses). Lucky her!

• They don’t like their clients / boss. I had a fellow junior who, after finding out she’ll be assigned to the same client for the next busy season, promptly served her resignation letter to her boss! Obviously her reason was, she does not like the client (like may seem a mild word, okay, she hates the client). Or there’s this other junior who was constantly at odds with her manager that she left after just one busy season. Of course, she wouldn’t admit it but, knowing their history, we could read between the lines. Resigning because of the client or the boss is not quite as common as the first two but they do happen. And when they happen, you can be sure that client or that boss will be avoided like a plague by the other juniors.

• Health reasons. Okay, I’m not trying to give you a panic attack or something. But it is true that sometimes, people leave the firm because they want to stay healthy or to manage their blood pressure (which is perpetually high during the busy season) or to live a longer life. I’m just kidding on the last one. Seriously, the Big 4 is not for everybody and sometimes, being in a Big 4 can wreak havoc on one’s health. Some people just deal with it by taking in more and more medicines (and staying on the firm) but other people, well, they deal with it by leaving the firm.

• Family reasons. How does family become a reason for leaving the Big 4? Let’s count the ways. One, your family pressured you to leave the firm because they see that you are looking very, very tired, are often sick, have dark shadows under your eyes and have no time to visit them anymore. Two, the family is banking on you to earn more money because you are helping them out financially so they pressured you to leave the firm (even if you don’t want to) just so you can get a higher-paying job. Three, you, yourself, are starting a new family and you want to have a more balanced work-family life so you chose to leave the firm and get another job that is not too demanding and does not make you work until 2 in the morning (on a Sunday at that!). Fourth, your aunt, uncle, father or mother runs a small town accounting firm and he or she wants you to take over him or her. And you, being the dutiful son / daughter / nephew / niece, resign from the firm to jump to a smaller one.

So those are the reasons I compiled over the years. What about me? What was my reason for leaving the firm? Honestly? Last reason, fourth way. What about you? If you left the Big 4, what was the reason? Or if you’re thinking of leaving one, what do you think you’re reason will be?

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A Necessary Evil? Facing It Off With Clients

I’ve worked for an auditing firm for 8 years and, honestly speaking, there are really times when I asked myself if it was worth it. I mean just think about it, if the government / regulators do not require companies to have their financial statements audited, will we (auditors) still exist?

If companies know that they can just present their unaudited financial statements and get fresh capital from here and from other countries, will we still have a job called “audit”?

If companies can self-regulate themselves and always present accurate, fairly presented financial statements, what are we going to audit in the first place? I know, this last question is rhetoric, unrealistic at best and downright impossible at its worst. But that puts to mind the question in my title, are we, as auditors, just necessary evil?

Now why did I think of that? Oh I don’t know.

Must be the fact that some of my clients always have this look in their faces when they see us during the start of our audit, as if they couldn’t believe we’re there again. Some just blurt out “oh no, is it audit season again?” Or some just flat out try to avoid us during the audit (one of the assistants even filed a leave for the whole two weeks we were on site just to avoid us, sshhheeeesssh).

During my first audit season, one of my teammates discovered an error in the accounting of our client. The error was discussed at length and was rectified. You’d think they appreciated that? Noooooooo. Now why did I know that? Because the next time I went in and ask for a certain document, one of them said “now why are you asking for that? Are you going to look for an error again?” Good thing I was still a neophyte then or I could have told him what to do with that document.

Or what about those clients who want to leave everything to you and just sign off the approval when you give it to them? And then you get blamed if there was a mistake in the financial statements.

There are still more such instances but these are the ones that are the most memorable to me and sometimes make me feel like a fly on the wall.

On the other hand (so that you won’t say I’m trying to frighten you), in fairness, there are really clients who are really appreciative of what we do for them. I won’t exactly say they welcome us with open arms but they’re very cooperative, patiently answering all our questions and going the extra mile to provide us what we need during the audit.

Then there are those clients who make it a point to seek you out for your opinion on a certain accounting matter. True, this will make you rack your brains for the answer but hey, the fact that they thought of your opinion first is a testament to the fact that they think you have something valuable to offer right? Otherwise they won’t go through the trouble asking you.

Then there are those clients who will really go out of their way to give us the space, the time / schedule and the personnel whenever we need them. These are the clients who welcome us with open arms during the audit season. But don’t try to kid yourself there are a lot of clients like this. They’re really quite few. So if you’re assigned to one such as these, lucky you and appreciate your time there.

So what are we really? A necessary evil, something that they can’t do without (although a lot would love to), or an integral part of the business and the business world? Are we here just to piss off our clients or to help them out or to stay neutral? Up till now I still don’t have the answer. What about you, what do you think?

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5 Tips in Writing a Cover Letter

In my previous blog, I was asked to write something about how to write cover letters. Although I promised to come up with one within one to two days, due to some unforeseen, I was unable to write one circumstances (sorry Anonymous, whoever you are). Finally, I have the time to write one (hope it’s not too late). Same as my last post, I have to add a caveat here. I am by no means an expert on writing cover letters. I have written even less cover letters than resume in my 12+ years of experience in accounting / auditing. So I do not profess to be an expert. That said; I do have experience in looking through cover letters so the tips I’m going to provide below are more on the side of the interviewer / hirer rather than the interviewee / new hire.

The first thing to remember is that the cover letter is your sales letter. And what are you selling? Yourself, of course. Your cover letter will basically tell your potential employer whether it will be worth his / her time to read through your resume and to call you for an interview. So, when you write that cover letter, make sure that you are writing the best cover letter (that you can write) on your side of the Earth. Okay, an exaggeration, I know. But if you’re a new graduate in need of a job in a good company where you will have lots of competition, your cover letter should put you on a class above everybody else. Unless you graduated with honors and at the top of your class and the companies are all after you to hire you, then you won’t need that cover letter. But for the rest of us, mere mortals, a good, no, great! cover letter is the way to go. Enough of the intro, let me just go through some basic tips:

Keep it simple. Use simple words. Write short sentences (don’t make your whole paragraph a one-sentence thing). No fancy words please. No slang words either. A cover letter that is worded in a simple manner connotes professionalism, something that you will need if you’re going to apply in a professional firm (like the Big 4).

Go straight to the point. The advice is to limit your cover letter to one page ONLY. This is so you will be able to capture quickly and retain the attention of the one reading your cover letter. State your objectives in a forthright and concise manner. Include brief (but thorough) descriptions of your accomplishments. Not beating around the bush may be cliché, but this really applies when you’re writing that cover letter.

Keep a positive, upbeat tone. This will ensure that you will give a positive impression to your potential customer. Use active, instead of passive voice, as the former will make your cover letter look more dynamic and interesting.

Customize it. In your quest for a job, you may have applied in a lot of companies and writing a single, uniform cover letter may be a little bit too tempting (saves you the hassle of thinking about writing various cover letters). But this is not recommended, not even for applying for jobs that are (more or less) similar to each other. Always customize your cover letter to make the contents more appropriate for the job you are applying for. Even if you know the jobs are similar in nature, take the time to tweak your cover letter every time you submit it.

Write to impress. When writing and submitting your cover letter, keep in mind that you need to impress your potential employer with that one-page letter. What does this mean exactly? One, no matter how short the cover letter is; do not forget to include (even highlight) your accomplishments that you think your prospective employer is looking for in an applicant. Two, if you know something positive about the firm, state so in your cover letter so that you will be able to show that you are really interested in working in the firm. Three, do not forget to stress any quality that you have which you think is unique and is of interest to your potential employer. These three, among all the other tips, will make your cover letter stand out among the rest.

So there you have it, 5 tips (I won’t say they are simple) in writing a cover letter. Before I end this post, I just want to make two more points. Do not forget to PROOFREAD your work. Check for errors in both grammar and spelling. Failure to do so will make your letter look sloppy; which may also be a reflection of your personality and professionally capacity. Lastly, do some research before writing that killer cover letter. The Internet is positively booming with all sources related to cover letters, as well as samples of cover letter. I’m sure you will find one that suits your needs. Just don’t forget to customize your letter. No matter how great the source is, you will still need to customize it and add your personal touch to that letter. Good luck in your job application.

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Some Practical Tips on How to Improve Your Resume

Okay, let me just clarify something. I’m not an expert in resume writing. In my whole career, I’ve only prepared / revised my resume perhaps a total of 4 times, one was for practice back in college, the next was when I entered the Big 4, the next when I applied for another job and finally the last after I resigned and had my own small-town accounting firm. Didn’t really need to do the last one but figured it will not hurt to have one in handy anyway.

So that’s out of the picture. What am I doing writing this blog anyway? Well, for one, I may not have written (or edited) much in terms of my own resume but I have certainly read some resumes when I was still an audit manager and was asked to interview some applicants after they already went through the HR Department. And although they seemed okay, there were some that caught my attention and when I googled about resumes, I remembered what were those things that got my attention. So I decided to write this blog on some tips on how to improve your resume. Most of these tips are for new graduates. Not planning on writing much, just a quick rundown will do and here it goes:

Job Objective – make this short and brief. Don’t make it into a one-paragraph, half-page thing. I’ve read some resumes that have long objectives and my mind just shut off after reading a line or two. And please make sure that your job objective coincides with the job you are applying for. If you’re applying as an audit staff on a Big 4 firm, your job objective should be connected to auditing like ‘developing your auditing skills’ or ‘gaining professional growth in a top-rated auditing firm’. Not ‘getting my license as a commercial pilot’ (an exaggeration, I know, but gets my point across right?).

Hobbies – This one has me confused really. The resume is supposed to be a reflection of what you are in your professional life. But then again, hobbies are more of personal in nature, not professional. But they are still included. Although sometimes I have to shake my head when I see these hobbies – cooking, cross-stitching, reading novels, listening to radio, searching the Internet, etc. From what was taught to me, the rule is that, while it’s true that you have your hobbies (few people do not have one), if such hobbies will not further your job application, don’t include them. Unless your hobby is reading the business section of the newspaper or an international business magazine (is there such a person?) and you’re applying for a financial analyst job, leave those hobbies out of your resume.

Plain versus fancy paper – Although I have never seen this in my whole time in auditing, I know that there are some people out there advocating the use of fancy paper for resumes, instead of plain white bond paper. I can see why they would suggest such a thing and, personally, I don’t have anything against using that kind of paper. But you have to admit, fancy papers are not really appropriate if you’re applying for an audit or accounting job. If you want to impress (and look very professional), use ivory paper or a white bond paper that is of highest quality.

Short resumes vs. long resumes – The usual advice is: don’t make your resume too long. If you’re just starting out, a 2-page resume may seem appropriate (unless you have a lot of work experience in the past). But then again, do not scrimp on the number of pages if you really have very good credentials to fill up those pages. If you have been working your butt out for the last 4 or 5 years while studying in college, by all means, include your job experience there.

Extra-curricular Activities – such as organizations, groups, clubs, etc., etc. Same with hobbies, make sure your affiliation with an organization will help your case in terms of your job application. Student organizations related to your course / profession are okay. Organizations that show you possess a certain skill or talent needed for the job you are applying for should be included. Other than these, if you are in doubt about including your other organizations, think and re-think about including them. If you still cannot decide then it would be better not to include these organizations. Better be safe than sorry.

Okay, this is a little bit longer (thought I said I’ll run them down ONLY, oh well). But I didn’t want to break this off into two. Hope the tips I gave will come in handy for you. Have any questions or concerns? Feel free to drop me a line.

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How to Prepare for Your First Interview - Part I

So, you’ve finally graduated, scouted around for a potential employer and finally submitted your resume. Then you received that all-important call telling you that you will need to go to their office for your first ever face-to-face interview. Way to go! You spend the full hour jumping up and down, overjoyed that all your hard work has finally paid off. But wait! This is just an interview, man! You’re not yet fully there, if you know what I mean. So instead of thinking about salaries, benefits, bonuses and all those things, start thinking about your interview and how you can prepare yourself for it. Think about it this way: the actual interview is just 50% of the whole probability of you getting accepted. What’s the other 50%? The preparation for the interview. So, to help you ace that first interview, here are some tips that you can use in preparing for that interview:

Clear it up and mark it down. Check your schedule for the interview. Clear up that schedule then note down the time and the date of your interview. Better yet, ensure that you don’t have any activities (important ones) during the day of your interview. You’ll never know if that interview will take longer than you thought or if and when you pass it, you’ll be told to have another interview and another and another. You might think these are all nerve-wracking (which they are, actually) but it is actually a good sign because the more you are interviewed, the higher the position of your interviewer and the more chances you have of getting accepted.

Know the important details. By important details, I mean, know the full name of the company (not knowing will be a disaster, believe me), the exact address, the name of your interviewer, his or her position and location of his or her office in the building and his or her phone number. If you are not familiar with the location, research it ahead of time. Get a map or directions and familiarize yourself with the route to get there. Better yet, drive to that office a few days or even a day before your interview. That way, you’ll see firsthand the traffic situation from your place to the office and how easy or difficult it is to park in your prospective employer’s parking lot.

Know the Company…beforehand. I know this is a very common tip, but I cannot over-emphasize its importance. Its importance increases with the number of companies you submitted your application to. I mean, you don’t want to go to an interview with a company where you will talk about things that actually pertain to another company, and a competitor at that! So before your interview (and even before you submit your application), start learning about the company. What is it? What is its main purpose, main products, main clients? Where is it located, where are its branches? Who’s the president or company head? Take down notes or if you have these already, review those notes.

Prepare all your files. Need to bring your references during the interview? Make sure you secure them a few days before the actual interview date. Better yet, have a checklist of everything that you’re going to bring. Prepare all the documents that you feel you will need for your interview. These documents may include (but are not limited to): another copy of your resume; your transcript of records; identification cards (passports; driver’s license); work samples (if you’re in a profession requiring these); your references; your diploma and extra pictures. Once you have all of these, place them in a briefcase or a document bag no later than a day before your actual interview. You don't want to be scrambling for your files during the day of your interview so make sure you have everything on hand the day (or even days) before.

This is just Part I of this blog. Part II is just below this blog. Happy reading!

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How to Prepare for Your First Interview - Part II

Okay, I posted part I of this blog above. Here are the next tips on how to prepare for your first ever interview:

Practice, practice, practice. Go online and research possible interview questions. Then practice answering them. Don’t do this with your mind only, practice saying your answers out loud. Better yet, if you know of someone who have gone through the same interview, ask him or her what the questions are then practice how you will answer the same questions. Get a buddy and have a mock interview so that your buddy can give you feedback on how you answer those questions. You should also ask feedback on the non-verbal things like your posture, the way you talk, your gestures, the way you listen, your eye movement and how you look when you think about how to answer the interview questions. Your non-verbal communication skills are just as important as your verbal communication skills, so make sure you receive feedback for these also.

Prepare interview clothes. Okay, nothing can really derail all your preparations than finding out you have absolutely nothing to wear or your clothes are not really the “right” ones. Once you find out about the interview date, go over your wardrobe and look at your clothes if they will go well for an interview. If the answer is yes, try them on (next to having no appropriate clothes to wear, ill-fitting clothes are also guaranteed to set panic on your interview day). If they still fit and still look good on you, bring them out and iron them no later than the day before your interview. If nothing fits anymore, go out and buy or borrow one. Do not settle for clothes that are available but are inappropriate for your interview. Not only do you have to sound like you belong on that job but you also have to look the part.

Set that alarm clock. Okay, it’s already the day before your interview. You think you’re ready but wait (again)! Make sure that you will make a good first impression on your interview. And what’s the first thing that will give you a good first impression? Your punctuality. So, before you go to sleep the night before, set up your alarm clock. You already know how long it will take you to physically prepare yourself and the travel time to the office so you have a good estimate of what time you need to wake up. Set your alarm clock accordingly so that you will not accidentally ‘oversleep’ and end up being late (heaven forbid!) for your interview.

Get a good night’s sleep. Lastly, relax and sleep tight. Don’t think about it too much. If you have been preparing yourself for the interview days beforehand, reassure yourself that you are ready. Then go to sleep. This will help you re-energize and wake up the next morning feeling positive and ready to face the day. Your energy will translate to a good outlook and a positive attitude that will surely give you good points even before your interviewer starts the interview proper.

These are just some of my tips on how to prepare yourself for an interview. I guess they all just boil down to one thing: prepare yourself. This is an all-important day for you and you will surely want to put your best foot forward. Preparing yourself is one of the ways for you to ace your interview. Plus, if your interviewer notes how prepared you are, he or she is going to be pleased with how you really value your chances of getting accepted by the company. This, in turn, will increase your chances of getting inside the company. So, good luck and I hope you get that job!

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