Vault’s Verdict

CohnReznick is looking for driven team members who have strong communication and time management skills and are eager to learn and grow professionally and personally. The firm runs a valuable internship program that offers hands-on experience, exposure to real work, and insight into what a full-time role looks like. Career development offerings are extensive for full-time staff and include a strong performance coaching program and excellent formal training. In addition, senior employees are very invested in the success of junior staff members.

Although hours can be long during busy season, making it difficult to find a work/life balance, outside busy season a healthy work/life balance can be achieved. One of CR insiders’ favorite work/life benefits is the ability to work remotely, which is in part why some insiders are worried about the firm’s new return-to-office policy. As for compensation and benefits, salaries and bonuses are said to be competitive, while benefits are generous. Insiders especially appreciate the PTO policy and wellness offerings, which include an annual $600 wellness allowance, a free subscription to the Headspace app, and a point system that rewards annual wellness checks and completion of exercise challenges throughout the year.

CohnReznick has a very inclusive culture and a diverse staff and is focused on volunteering and philanthropy. The firm has many active ERGs and encourages staff to give back to their communities. With respect to the firm’s business outlook, CohnReznick has been growing and is expected to continue to win business and grow. While some insiders say the firm is experiencing growing pains and staffing may be an issue going forward, most CR insiders have confidence in the firm’s leadership and say morale is strong.

EMPLOYEE REVIEWS

Hiring Process

“Quick process, screen call with HR and then an in-person interview with a manager and partner. Heard back with offer in a couple days. Most important skills for candidates are time management, communication, ability to delegate, and ability to learn.”

“The firm has two rounds of interviews. The first is where you record your answers. Should you pass the first round, then they will schedule you for a second round where you will be interviewed by two people at the firm (usually seniors and above for internships, managers and above for full-time). The ideal candidate is friendly, has a willingness to learn, is able to manage their time wisely, and can communicate well.”

“During my interview, I had one screening call with the recruiter and met with all my team members all in one day and knew I had the job within a couple days. I liked the quickness of the process. I believe the firm is looking for team players who are willing to learn.”

“It was a very seamless process. Ideal candidate is eager to learn and works hard and efficiently.”

Interview Questions

“Questions are centered around experiences that candidates have encountered and how they would relate to public accounting (i.e. working with teams, dealing with difficult personalities, etc.).”

“The candidate will get a mix of behavioral questions centered around how they’ve operated in teams, received constructive feedback, made a mistake, and balanced and met multiple deadlines. Technical questions require audit interns/associates to be somewhat familiar with basic financial statements and accounting definitions and concepts as well as Excel.”

“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. Which course in school was the most difficult for you? Why? Which course did you enjoy the most? Why? Can you give an example of a time when you made a mistake and what you did to remedy the situation? Why are you interested in a career in Public Accounting? How did you locate your internships/jobs while in school? How many hours did you work at each of your internships? What skills have you acquired while at your internships/jobs that you feel will help you in the field of Public Accounting?”

“1. Discuss a time you were able to identify areas for improvement within a project you were a part of. 2. What do you consider your greatest strength and how does it apply to this role? 3. Discuss a time you failed at a task or did not reach a goal. How did you react? 4. Tell me about a time you had to sustain a fast pace of work over an extended period and remain organized.”

Internship Experience

“The best aspect of my internship experience was probably the ability to contribute to the team. They had me preparing actual returns, and the team was super helpful with any questions. They were also pretty appreciative of any effort we put forth. I did struggle a little bit because they do expect you to have an understanding of basic accounting, and I had not yet had practice applying my knowledge.”

“Everyone was extremely welcoming and more than happy to take time to explain and teach me how to do something regardless of whether they were an associate or partner.”

“My internships with the firm were absolutely delightful. I was given the full picture of what life at CohnReznick truly looks like. During my internships, I was able to experience a multitude of engagements, the culture of the firm, and multiple busy seasons. Throughout my internships I was also able to fully immerse myself into the culture of the firm by spending time outside the office with colleagues, volunteering within the community, and supporting team members within the workplace.”

“Extremely supportive team. Onboarding week was fantastic. I made many friends during this week that I still consider close friends to this day. Those that returned to the firm full time reconnected at a similar onboarding week for entry-level associates in the fall.”

Career Development

“The firm does a great job with training in that no matter what level you are, you are always receiving training. Entry levels have a good onboarding program that includes a full week of training. The firm also has industry-specific training each year, which is beneficial for knowledge sharing. The firm is strict with promotions; they don’t just promote based on how many years of experience but consider other factors such as promotions, billable hours, etc.”

“Career development within my office is excellent. All levels, partner through senior, are very helpful and invested in your success. The managing partner in the firm is known to dismiss any chance at early promotions for staff looking to make the jump to early senior due to prior bad experiences, which I think is unfair and negatively impacts career motivation within the firm.”

“Every associate is assigned a coach and a buddy when you start at the firm. Both are essential in your growth. They help you get acclimated to the professional environment in different ways. We set goals every year that you discuss with your coach. My coach has been such a good resource for me.”

“The firm offers much in the way of self-study, webinars, and in-person trainings for levels and industry specialization as well as leadership training programs for advanced levels (managers/senior managers). Performance coaching, however, is largely impacted by who you get assigned as your coach.”

Quality of Life

“They offer two shut down weeks, one in July and one in November. That is the best offering that helps with quality of life. Otherwise, there is always pressure to work and too much administrative work, so vacation time is hard to take, and quality of life is impacted. They've adopted new programs which are making the administrative work harder and putting more burden and hours on professional staff.”

“Outside of busy season, the work/life balance is fantastic, and the work environment is very flexible. We have lots of fun outings and events put on for us. But during busy season, which is unavoidable in this industry, it's hard to do much else other than work.”

“The firm is requiring people to go back to the office three days a week. This announcement was made at the start of busy season, when employees are expected to work 60 hours per week. There was no heads up before rolling out this change and no clarification of the impact that this change will have on compensation adjustments, bonuses, year-end performance reviews. The employees I've discussed the change with are unhappy and feel that they are surrendering nearly 10 hours a week in commute time, morning preparation, etc. Three days a week in the office is a lot of additional stress on employees already during the busiest/most stressful part of the year.”

“The firm has a good culture where most people treat each other with kindness and respect. More experienced team members (seniors, managers, senior managers) are willing to go out of their way to help staff. However, a good culture can’t make up for the lack of work/life balance that exists. Pressing deadlines and dragging client obligations make it difficult for employees to be able to enjoy their personal lives outside of work.”

Salary and Benefits

“Salary is good, PTO policy is great, health care is fine. They provide a wellness reimbursement, which is great.”

“Very strong benefits, including reimbursement for fitness gear and activities, fertility programming, and others. While salaries are definitely competitive with market rates, there’s a lack of transparency on how comp is decided.”

“The firm overall provides a great deal of benefits and perks to the employees. Our overall salaries are also comparable and competitive with other firms at our size.”

“I think that I am paid fairly in comparison to other industries and firms for my level. I have consistently received high raises every year, and bonuses have been increasing each year as well. Benefits are fine. Busy season perks need improvement.”

Wellness Efforts

“The firm has good wellness programs, including an annual $600 allowance (prorated based on hire date) for employees to purchase eligible health/wellness items such as wellness classes or memberships, earphones, protein supplements, sports equipment, etc. In addition, the firm uses PreventionCloud, which is a health management tool and uses activities such as an annual physical or walking challenges to earn points in order to get $500 off your health insurance premium for the following year.”

“Free subscription to Headspace, Spring Health benefit (three free sessions), wellness reimbursement up to $600 per year (can be used on equipment, gym memberships, golf fees, etc.), point system that rewards annual wellness checks and completion of exercise challenges throughout the year with $500 credit on health insurance premium for the subsequent year, employer contribution to HSA ($1,000 for individual, $2,000 for family coverage).”

“Very generous health plan with EAP counseling available for free, and additionally, health, dental, vision and life insurance, as well as other supplementary insurance and benefits.”

“The firm provides many incentives and perks relating to physical and mental health. And having the full week off week of 4th of July and Thanksgiving is a great wellness benefit, allowing all employees time to rest and spend time with family and friends.”

Community Engagement

“Leadership support and promotion for ERGs (covering abilities, race, ethnicities, LGBTQ+ persons, women, veterans, and caregivers), attained a perfect score on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, leadership encouragement of volunteerism (Community Service Day firmwide and individual office events that benefit local nonprofit organizations).”

“I think that we have a good amount of diversity within the Chicago office. There are also firm initiatives for LBGTQ, different races/ethnicities, and women. I think the firm does a decent job of encouraging women to stay with a career in accounting, but there aren’t too many women in higher positions. Philanthropic is fine—we only have one or two events a year.”

“In the last four years we launched eight different ERGs, including CR Green, which highlights what we can do as individuals and as a firm to be sustainable. We have ERGs that meet monthly and bring in featured speakers annually or other curated events for AAPI, CR BLAC, PRIDE (LGBTQ+), VMA@CR, and Abilities@CR, just to name a few.”

“Very inclusive and accepting of all individuals. And very philanthropic. Regular initiatives across many offices to give back to our communities. CR pays us a small bonus each year strictly for the purpose of giving back to the community in a way we see fit.”

Business Outlook

“The best aspect is our ability to obtain work and clients. The drawbacks are a lack of connectivity of upper management and what employees need to succeed on a daily basis. Multiple miscues in choices on IT/accounting software in the past few years.”

“Worst part is going to be this new mandate to be back in the office three days a week. But I’m generally confident in leadership from a practical/ financial aspect.”

“The firm has had strong growth over the past several years, and I expect that growth to continue. The best aspect of the outlook is that the firm only makes strategic and smart investments in people and other firms by making sure their culture aligns to ours. The worst aspect is trying to make sure we have enough people to serve the new work we win. The firm has very deep expertise in the areas that we work in, which helps keep employee morale high.”

“We are constantly growing, and the morale is great.”

UPPERS
“Amazing culture and colleagues”
“Ability to work remotely”
“A lot of learning and advancement opportunities”

DOWNERS
“Long hours during busy season”
“High stress to meet deadlines”
“Push to return to office”