Just accepted a small city, mid-tier (lower part of the top 10) full-time offer after a failed round of interviews with larger firms. I went to a smaller midwest school, decided to save money and double major in undergrad instead of going to larger school to get a MAcc (I have a very good GPA, VITA volunteer hours, and am officer in BAP at my school). I made it to the final round with a Big 4, but was competing against candidates that either already had their CPA or were going to graduate with a MAcc from a larger school. Unfortunately I was unable to get the Big 4 offer I wanted. So now I am wondering will it be possible for me to get to a Big 4 in a few years (maybe once I’m at a senior level)? Should I go back to school part-time to get a MST/MAcc or just focus on building knowledge/skills in work experience and getting my CPA done? Is it possible to get big corporate tax jobs after just working awhile (making manager or senior manager level) in mid-tier public?
My main reason for wanting to go Big 4 so bad is that the exit opportunities for tax are already slim, and I feel like the few good corporate tax jobs out there are almost always going to go to the Big 4 people. Also, the pay at my mid-tier firm isn’t very good at all compared to others.