> Back on topic, after the rejection, i e-mailed one > of the managers that interviewed me (the one i hit > it off with really well as we had many common > interests). His response was really informative > and exposed my weaknesses, which i was somewhat > aware of, but never took seriously. He told me > that i am rough around the edges, and need to > polish up my professionalism. i’m not sure what extra advice you expect from anyone on AF. if the manger exposed your weaknesses and you never really took them seriously before, then you should _______________. hint: take them seriously and polish up your professionalism.
Alex, One of my Karaoke buddies is a senior manager at one of big four. He does not fit into accountant type either. He is, like myself, ex-college athlete and talking to him, he sounds more like sales/buz development guy (and he does develop buz talking to executives). He is also immegrant and I would suspect people notices when he speaks. So if your interviewer thought you were not polished enough, it might have been just that they have different type of corp. culture. If so, you would be unhappy there anyway. Did your interviewer say anything about what they liked about you? One idea might be further improve your merits rather than trying to fix demerits.
Alex, zigy has a point, your immigrant past should be used only to your advantage, especially if you’re of Slavic descent (usually hard working, strong quant skills). I have five people under me, four of them are immigrants and one is an aboriginal WASP. If I ever have a problem, it’s always with the aboriginal “hero”. It’s difficult to motivate someone who takes lots of things for granted. On the other hand, the immigrant crew is always on the ball.
wow, i guess im the only guy who actually likes accounting. I got rejected too man, Its a pretty shitty feeling, I dont know where im going to go. Like you I am definitely rough around the edges
its not the end of the world. accountants can get jobs easily.
Have you considered consulting/management consulting? The hour/pay is pretty close (minus the top HF guys) and it seems to be closer to what you want to do – advise companies and their management on how to realize value. It also seems to be a closer personality/stereotype fit. If you like IT I’m sure a firm like IBM would value your SAP skills. (granted IBM is not true MC so the pay will be less) Regarding the professionalism issue I think you were trying to be too buddy buddy and not work buddy. It’s definitely fine to build rapport in an interview but perhaps you disclosed stuff that was too personal or asked something inappropriate for a first meeting. Pardon the stereotype but most accountants are pretty conservative; imagine you were like that and how you would want someone to talk to you. If they think you might embarrass someone if they put you in front of a CFO, you aren’t getting hired.
Rough around the edges? Big4? Did you bust out the ebonics or something??
Hi, Alexandrov: I have some connections and I could try to help you. Please email me your cell number at projects1999(at)gmail(dot)com Note: Other Russian-speaking candidates, who passed CFA, L3 exam are welcome as well.
If Big 4 is your goal, don’t sweat it it, they hire experienced people regularly. Go to a lesser firm for a 2 years and re-apply.