Vault’s Verdict

CohnReznick is looking for proactive team players who are eager to learn, can learn from their mistakes, and can thrive in a fast-paced environment. For students, the firm runs a valuable internship program, giving interns access to hands-on experience, solid training, and a supportive and helpful team—from entry-level associates to managers and partners. For its full-time staff, CohnReznick offers extensive growth opportunities, including fantastic on-the-job training, valuable formal training, mentorship, and the ability to move within various business areas/service lines of the firm.

Although hours can be long and deadlines stressful to meet during busy season, for the most part a healthy work/life balance can be achieved year-round. The firm offers a generous PTO policy, remote and hybrid work options, two firm-wide closures (during the weeks of July 4th and Thanksgiving) for employees to recharge, and a supportive culture committed to the health and well-being of employees. While medical and wellness benefits get good reviews from insiders, the firm’s salaries and bonuses could be higher.

DEI is a strong suit at CohnReznick. The firm has a fairly diverse staff, especially when it comes to gender diversity, and the firm has many employee resource groups in place. Also underscoring its commitment to DEI, it requires its staff to complete anti-harassment training and unconscious bias training. As for CohnReznick’s business outlook, the firm has been growing despite staff shortages, employee morale is strong, and the firm is well positioned to continue to grow.

EMPLOYEE REVIEWS

Hiring Process

“Interviews are both formal and informal and involve different levels of employees at the firm (HR, Senior, Partners). Ideal candidate is someone who is willing to be taught, takes notes, and learns from their mistakes.”

“My interview process was quick and enjoyable. After my interview, I got in touch with the HR personnel I was in contact with before my interview to let them know my interview went well and asked about the next steps. I got a call back 30 minutes later saying I was hired. I believe the firm is looking for proactive and competent individuals. The knowledge of how to complete tasks isn’t expected, but as long as there is evidence that the individual has the ability to learn and grow, they would be a great fit with the firm.”

“Ideally, we want people who like to work collaboratively from the office with some travel to clients. So, they have to be a team player and work well with others in a fast-paced environment. Those that are good at taking notes and learning from mistakes will go far. If you are easily overwhelmed it won’t work out as things are going to be constantly changing.”

“CohnReznick emphasizes being eager to learn. Learning is a huge part of the process here at CohnReznick, and all employees dedicate time to helping those lower in ranks to learn and develop.”

Interview Questions

“Tell me about a time when you had to work closely with others. How did you build and maintain relationships to accomplish the task at hand? Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult personality. How did you maintain a positive relationship? Tell me about a time when a team you were on got stalled and was not functioning effectively. What was the problem and what did you do? Tell me about a time when you identified a process that could be improved.”

“We like to ask questions about how things are handled using the STAR method. For example: Name a time you faced a challenge. What happened and what was the result?”

“Typical questions are around your resume and prior experiences. Why do you want to join public accounting? What are your career aspirations?”

“How many credit hours do you have? Do you plan to pursue your master’s? What type of experience do you have in the accounting field? Tell me a time you faced a problem and how you resolved it. Tell me a time you worked with someone who was difficult and how did you work with that person?”

Internship Experience

“You'll learn a lot of things in a very short amount of time—compliance, basic financial reporting, bookkeeping, 1099 forms, 1040s, 1120s, 1120, 1065s, etc. There is no shortage of work for you to test and try to figure out what you like. However, it’ll feel very stressful—there are deadlines on top of those deadlines, which can make interns feel pressured. Everything will be new, and due to tax season, it’ll be fast paced. If you have a long drive home, you might be exhausted at the end of the night.”

“The internship experience not only gives you the opportunity to experience the workplace culture first-hand but also hands-on training with real client work. CohnReznick strives to teach individuals as much as they can during internships by allowing interns to work on multiple engagements.”

“I was working hands-on with actual tax returns and assisted with other bookkeeping services during the off-season. I was able to work directly with partners and managers, rather than just receiving grunt work passed down from seniors and staff.”

“The best aspect of my internship experience was how helpful the staff was. They understood that everything was completely new to interns. We had never used certain software before, and they were really helpful with walking us through how to use it and answering any questions we had in a timely manner, even if we had asked the same question several times before. I can’t think of any bad aspects of my internship. From entry-level associates to managers and partners, everybody at CohnReznick was super supportive and helpful.”

Career Development

“The firm provides opportunities to work in a variety of industries and is flexible in terms of relocation. Staff can transfer between services (audit, tax, and advisory) and have significant control over their careers.”

“The firm offers fantastic on-the-job training and the opportunity to get involved in complex accounting and audit issues. I learn every day from my peers and clients, and through my own experiences. The firm’s Learning & Development function should be more coordinated and integrated with the industry practices they support.”

“CohnReznick strives in every sense to focus on personal development and make sure employees are trained well. CohnReznick also emphasizes that you should try different areas of accounting or different areas within the firm such as marketing or recruiting if you are not happy in your current role.”

“Friendly place with supportive staff; extensive opportunities for self- study, growth, and mentorship. Flexible and hybrid work schedules are allowed, which especially helps women accountants with kids and family responsibilities. It enables and empowers women accountants to stay in the workforce and cope during busy season.”

Quality of Life

“They are very flexible; you just need to communicate and can go from there and find a solution. The team that I work with is so fantastic. They are always willing to help and support you when times get rough and help out with your workload.”

“Flexibility and freedom to balance work and non-work responsibilities. In client service, we are at the whim of deadlines and client-related issues. We must be available to meet those deadlines and address those issues. Sometimes, we work longer hours to meet client expectations and deadlines. This is more a function of client service and not necessarily a reflection of the firm. That being said, the hours are sincerely very reasonable overall.”

“The firm encourages a work/life balance and provides opportunities to structure an individualized schedule that considers the employee’s circumstances and meets the firm’s objectives. Aside from a generous PTO policy, the firm provides two firm-wide closures during the week of the 4th of July and during the week of Thanksgiving for employees to reconnect with family and friends and recharge. I have not yet encountered a negative aspect to the firm’s policies on quality of life. In fact, the firm is extremely supportive and genuinely committed to health and well-being of its employees.”

“This firm recognizes that although we are in public accounting and it can be stressful with long hours, you need to take care of yourself first. While we do have expectations for the hours we work, they are very flexible about when can be done and want you to be able to take care of yourself.”

Salary and Benefits

“The salary is very competitive. There are many perks like lunch every day, weekly breakfast, and free parking, and benefits are great.”

“I am more than content with the salary, and they do a great job of increasing when inflation takes place. The benefits are wonderful and easy to set up, and the portal makes all your benefits easy to find. I love working at CohnReznick. I’m excited each and every day to come in and learn from great individuals.”

“Despite a gentle push to be back in office, the firm is not dead set in having us back in. I do wish the 401(k) matching were stronger given how expensive retirement will be when I retire. But having three weeks of vacation and having a week off for the 4th of July plus another week for Thanksgiving is really nice.”

“I feel like we could be getting paid a little bit more based on the discussions I’ve had with other employees I work with and ones that work at different offices. I know part of the difference is due to the cost of living in that employee’s area, but I feel like the salary still could be more.”

Wellness Efforts

“The firm is committed to the health and well-being of its employees. Virtual counseling, medical, and nutrition education are staples in its total benefits. The firm introduced a wellness reimbursement account this year to offset the costs associated with wellness equipment or fitness memberships.”

“We get free subscription to Headspace. Which is awesome. We get a reimbursement for a healthy lifestyle like being part of a gym. They are starting a program where you can spend $600 a year and get reimbursed for it if it relates to healthy living (i.e., gym equipment, gym memberships, etc.).”

“We have an extensive wellness program (at home physical therapy, free mental health counseling, maternal/paternal leave, gym/lifestyle improvement reimbursement, cryo freezing, adoption, and surrogacy, etc.). All of these benefits are extended to our LGBTQ employees, and we developed a LGBTQ Benefits Guide which includes the gender affirming support and how all benefits are extended to same-sex couples and domestic partners.”

“Mental and physical health benefits include Headspace subscriptions, SpringHealth program, stipend for gym or exercise equipment. The firm provides a lot of benefits, but we often lack the time to use them all because we are all so busy.”

Diversity, Philanthropy, and Green Initiatives

“Very diverse with respect to race and ethnicity. But upper leadership in Chicago office is mostly male.”

“We received a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index. We support NABA and help to build pipelines for black account recruits. We updated our Corporate Social Giving guidelines to include not giving money to organizations who actively discriminate against marginalized communities. We have ERG groups for: CR BLAC, Pride@CR, VMA@CR (Vets), AAPI@CR, CR Green, CR Caregivers (for employees who have child or elder are responsibilities), etc. We offer anti-harassment training every year, as well as unconscious bias training and targeted topics by external speakers.”

“I think the firm is very diverse when it comes to women. However, I don't see as many BIPOC employees as I feel like there could be, or openly LGBT+ people, but that could just be me. I do appreciate the firm’s encouragement of using pronouns.”

“The firm is very involved with local charities and giving back, which is especially important for our location in Baltimore City. With respect to race and gender, I’d say there are many women and in high positions as well. There also minorities, but I’m not sure that’s as comparable as the ratio of women to men.”

Business Outlook

“There seems to be a lot of changes in the C-suite, hopefully for the better, as stale ideas are moving out and new people are coming in. There needs to be more of a focus on IT matters. The challenges with IT and some of the new policies implemented are impacting our ability to efficiently do business and employee morale.”

“The market seems to continue to be favorable. The firm has done an excellent job of growing organically, while supplementing such growth with certain strategic acquisitions. Overall, the firm is growing even in the face of severe accountant shortages.”

“I think, overall, we have good morale. I think with the staff crisis over the year that has caused some of the experienced staff/managers to leave as they were being overworked. But I think we are doing our best to address that.”

“CohnReznick is positioned for continued growth. It is a leader in the industries it serves, leadership is strong, recruiting is strong, professional development is exceptional, and opportunities for growth are abundant and encouraged. This strengthens loyalty and desire to help the firm grow. The firm has a people-first approach that never loses sight of the individuals working within the firm and those whom we service outside the firm.”