Next week we will be having students coming into our accounting firm for their office visit interviews. This is the last round in the recruiting process, and in a matter of days, we will know who we will be having on board with us as spring and summer interns and future full-time hires.

If you are going through the accounting recruiting process, the office visit may seem like one last hoop to jump through. At this point in the game, you’re probably tired and just want a job, any job. Well, keep putting in the effort, because the office visit is your chance to shine.

The odds are in your favor

Of the students coming to our offices, we probably have positions for about ¹⁄₃ of them. You don’t have to be amazing to make it into that ¹⁄₃, and if you come prepared and enthusiastic, I think you’d have a good chance of getting the job.

At this point in the process, everyone who gets an office visit is a perfectly viable candidate if they get good ratings from everyone at the firm. As far as I can tell, at this point, no one is worried about who’s GPA is the highest, or what extracurricular activities you did. They just want to meet you and get a feel for you. All you have to do is make sure that what they see is good.

Live for the moment

You will probably meet a lot of staff that you didn’t meet during the recruiting process. Our firm tries to make sure that, if possible, you are interviewed by a partner that has not yet gotten to know you. If you were only an average, not very memorable candidate during the social events, but made it to the office visit, you can wipe out your past history here. We will rate students after each day, and their most recent impression of you will be the one that decides how you score.

So, show up on time, come prepared with lots of questions, and be friendly to as many of the firm’s employees as you can!