<p>So long story short, I sorta screwed myself in terms of a big 4 internship. I signed with a midtier firm just below them for next winter instead. Great firm, great people, but I realize the benefits of going with big 4, especially when job postings say "big 4 experience required". I've been in contact with some folks from a couple of the big 4, and I think I have a pretty good chance of at least getting an interview with them for a summer internship, but in case I don't, I wanted to get an idea of the chances of being a full time hire without it. Including the midtier firm, I would have a total of 4 internships, two with large fortune 500 companies, so hopefully that counts for something. If the midtier were to make a full time offer at the end of my internship, should I tactfully decline in hopes of getting that big 4 gig? I've got one last recruiting season left in undergrad, and I wanna make it count.</p>
<p>You are fine. In fact, you will do very well.</p>
<p>You can receive offers from the B4 without internships. It isn’t the norm, but it is exactly what I did.</p>
<p>I guess times have changed - the big accounting firms never required internships when I was hired.</p>
<p>I don’t know how much internships count in actual hirings. My son got his job offer while he was interning and he got it because the company saw he filled a need they had NOW. Most kids I know who intern do not get offers from their jobs. Especially those who have many, many interns. Companies tend to be immediate in what they need and offer, in my opinion. </p>
<p>I like the idea of internships but they are raising expectations in kids that may not be met and many are taking advantage of kids and families. My son had to out and out tell the company after his short internship that he was not dependent on parents and the pay had to be a living wage which was like a slap in the face to personale. They had gotten used to hiring kids on the cheap after an internship and for them to come a running with parents making up the gap.</p>
<p>Where internships really help is if you make an indelible impression and your name is retained for future or immediate employment offers. For some kids, it’s better they internship elsewhere and get the kinks out of the way they work, learn the ropes, etc. I know some interns that eliminated any chance of getting jobs with the companies where they worked, and really it’s kinda unfair because they were learning and I don’t think a lot of the stuff should be held against them. </p>
<p>In your case, you’ve had so many internships, that you are experienced enough to go for a place to get an immediate offer.</p>
<p>You can definitely get a full time offer without an internship. While most people do get hired by the Big 4 after an internship, they do give fulltime offers. At my school they have a different recruiting time, compared to the summer internships (full-time in October, internships in November). The firm that I will be interning at this summer hired about 8-10 people for full-time. Assuming the rest of the Big 4 did the same, that’s 40 seniors they hired, which is a lot because the accounting department here isn’t that large. If you can make yourself stand out, you have a shot.</p>
<p>According to daughter’s school acct departement, the nearby big-4 offices have about 50% entry-level position filled by previous interns. And the big-4 interns get paid at the same hourly rate as 1st year entry level.</p>
<p>I was always under the impression that the vast majority, possibly around 60-80%, of Big 4 new hires were previous interns. I’m guessing there isn’t much difference between intern and fulltime hiring in terms of interviewing. Supposedly your doing the same work at either level anyway. Any other advice or comments are appreciated.</p>
<p>Here are some stats that I have found and here is the original website where I pulled the information from. [Big</a> Four Firms Dominate Best Places to Intern Rankings The Big Four Blog](<a href=“http://www.big4.com/blog/big-four-firms-dominate-best-places-to-intern-rankings-444]Big”>http://www.big4.com/blog/big-four-firms-dominate-best-places-to-intern-rankings-444)</p>
<p>2009 Rank 1
2008 Rank 4
Employer Deloitte
Interns hired in 2008 2,200
Interns hired in 2009 2,233
Intern hiring planned for 2010 N/A
2009 Average hourly wage ($) $24.50
2009 Average total pay for interns ($) $10,000
2009 Interns who received full-time job offers (%) 73
2009 Interns with offers who accepted (%) 80
2009 Entry-level hires who were former interns (%) 70
2009 Best Places to Launch a Career Rank 1</p>
<p>2009 Rank 2
2008 Rank 5
Employer KPMG
Interns hired in 2008 2,200
Interns hired in 2009 1,745
Intern hiring planned for 2010 1,700
2009 Average hourly wage ($) $24.80
2009 Average total pay for interns ($) $10,900
2009 Interns who received full-time job offers (%) 90
2009 Interns with offers who accepted (%) 93
2009 Entry-level hires who were former interns (%) 91
2009 Best Places to Launch a Career Rank 4</p>
<p>2009 Rank 3
2008 Rank 3
Employer Ernst & Young
Interns hired in 2008 2,507
Interns hired in 2009 1,971
Intern hiring planned for 2010 1,800
2009 Average hourly wage ($) $22.00
2009 Average total pay for interns ($) $9,585
2009 Interns who received full-time job offers (%) 92
2009 Interns with offers who accepted (%) 92
2009 Entry-level hires who were former interns (%) 60
2009 Best Places to Launch a Career Rank 2</p>
<p>2009 Rank 5
2008 Rank 2
Employer PricewaterhouseCoopers
Interns hired in 2008 2,320
Interns hired in 2009 2,278
Intern hiring planned for 2010 2,175
2009 Average hourly wage ($) $23.75
2009 Average total pay for interns ($) $9,878
2009 Interns who received full-time job offers (%) 89
2009 Interns with offers who accepted (%) 93
2009 Entry-level hires who were former interns (%) 69
2009 Best Places to Launch a Career Rank 3</p>