Very soon, firms will be inviting candidates to the final stages of the interview process of CPA Fall Recruiting and then make their employment offers. Of course this scenario could also take place when pursuing employment outside of CPA Campus Recruiting. Knowing what to expect and what to do ahead of time will help you manage every scenario resulting in the greatest possible success for you!
After the first level of interviewing, each candidate will be assessed and then decisions will be made by firm staff on how many will proceed to the next level of the process or be given an employment offer. Whew! Exciting right! All your hard work is paying off and you are right at the pivotal point of your application success. Congratulations!
There are a few things that could happen at this time.
1. You could be invited to another in-person interview.
2. You could be invited to a special social event to celebrate the people that have been shortlisted.
3. You could be given an official written offer.
There are also a few unexpected challenges that arise at the same time as you find yourself enjoying this moment.
1. Two requests to interview on the same day and time slot that make it impossible to attend both.
2. Two social events that take place on the same evening.
3. You could end up with two or more employment offers at the same time.
4. You could end up with an employment offer with one company and still be waiting to hear back from your favourite company about another interview or offer.
Here are some things to keep in mind as you enter the final interview and offer stage of CPA recruiting and/or as you pursue multiple employers outside of campus recruiting.
1. Being invited to another interview or social event.
This is good right?! Well, even though this is very exciting, it does raise the level of nervousness for many and sometimes leaves the candidate wondering what to expect at the next interview.
The first thing to do is celebrate your success. Congratulations, you are moving forward in the process and at this point, they REALLY like you. In truth, they could hire everyone at this stage and they would all likely be great hires. But there are likely a few less spots that there are candidates. So, performing well at this phase includes continuing with the same consistency that brought you to this point and doing your best to stand out whenever you can.
At an interview, you may find yourself in another structured interview, a conversational interview or a group interview. All of these are opportunities for you to show your strengths, professionalism and ability to communicate well with staff and your competitors (likely some of your future colleagues).
Being ready for a structured interview is important and having some talking points ready for the conversational interview will prepare you for any eventuality, including a social event (which btw is a “social interview”).
When meeting staff at the final interview or social event, renew any relationships that were started during networking and initial interviews and make good first impressions on those you might meet for the first time. Deliver your answers and have your conversations with ease and confidence as you show them your preparedness, your ability to converse fluidly and your elevated knowledge of their firm and staff. This way they will be able to confirm what they have already begun to believe about you before making their final selection.
2. Follow Up
One of the critical elements of these final stages is not only how you conduct yourself at meetings, but how you follow up and respond after. A timely follow up is the single most effective way to protect the investment you have made up to this point. Investment? Yes, your decision to join DAP, produce a good academic result, pursue your CPA, attend events, connect with people, create compelling documents, prepare specific applications, attend coffee chats and attend various interviews took an incredible amount of time and emotional investment. Your follow up is the best way to protect this investment. So, be sure to follow up and stay in touch with polite persistence.
3. An offer is not an offer….until it is an offer!
An offer is an official piece of correspondence by letter or email that is clear concerning the position, the terms of employment and the salary. You must have this to truly know you have an offer.
If you hear from a firm rep, HR staff member or other staff members that your chances are good, “that is not an offer.”
If someone tells you they believe you are a fit in their company, “that is not an offer.”
If an interviewer tells you they are quite sure you will get an offer, “that is not an offer.”
If you feel like you have made an excellent connection with firm reps to the point where you are texting and meeting them socially, you might feel really special and positive, “that is not an offer.”
4. When you have one offer and another final interview is approaching with a potential offer.
Be sure to look at this realistically and understand that until the second offer officially comes, you only have “one” offer. This is especially difficult for people when the upcoming interview is with their favourite firm/company. Don’t let your emotions take over here. You will need to think this through because some actions have more inherent risk than others. Here are a few tips to manage this.
A. If an upcoming interview will take place after the date you have been asked to accept a current offer, you have a few options.
i) Accept the first offer and enjoy your CPA candidate/new role (no risk)
ii) Ask the company that you will be interviewing with to move their appointment up – if there is one. (some risk)
iii) Wait for the second company to reach out to you if it is within the acceptable window of the CPA Recruiting offer period, or the period where you should get back to any given company that has made an offer to you [24-48 hours]. (some risk)
iv) Tell your favourite company that you have an offer from another company and you would really like to meet with them earlier if possible because they are your favourite company and you really want to work for them. (elevated risk)
v) Ask the firm that has made the offer for extra time (be specific) to get back to them due to some personal matters you need to deal with. (true…but…highest risk). [This will not be facilitated during CPA recruiting when specific dates are in place for offering and accepting/declining offers.]
vi) According to the CPA Recruiting Guidelines, and many people’s opinions concerning proper the ethics of recruiting, it would not be appreciated if you accept the first offer and then reject it when another offer is given. This is both an integrity issue as well as a decision that will put the firm your withdraw your acceptance from in a difficult position. Also, you may affect your reputation in the field and for future advancement. It is a small world!
5. If you have multiple offers at one time.
Creating a pro and con list where you can identify the areas most important to you in your upcoming CPA experience/or as you seek to build your career path.
Is it the prestige of a big 4 or national firm, or well-known brand?
Is it the idea that you will be able to be involved with clients sooner than later?
It is a small family your wanting?
Is the large corporate structure where you want to develop your knowledge of the various service lines or global opportunities?
Is it a matter of the people you want to work with?
Is it a matter of location?
Is it more about your quality of life and family?
Is it about international travel for you?
What are the terms of employment?
What are the benefits?
Once you have determined the questions then you can rate the offers using a 1-10 scale on each topic and you can add cons on the other side which may include things like; they are too far away from home, don’t have the long term path that you are wanting to pursue or their travel options are not as interesting to you as the others.
Once you get this all down on paper, it is easier to make a true comparison and a decision.
I wish you the best to luck and hope everyone that reads this blog has the problem of multiple offers!
Russell
Russell Garrett is the Owner of Protocol Business Solutions, a Certified Career Consultant and the DAP Career Coach. Russell will be delivering workshops for DAP students November 18, 2019 and from January to April 2020. For in-person coaching appointments with Russell, you will be notified of dates through the DAP Student Blog and by email. These in-person 30 minute appointments will be located in COOL where you can register for the time slot that suits you best. Simply search using “Garrett” to find open slots.Russell is also available to DAP students for online coaching appointments set up through email requests. You can contact Russell at dapcareersupport@sauder.ubc.ca.