Vault’s Verdict

PKF O'Connor Davies is looking for personable and adaptable candidates who fit with the firm’s culture and have strong academic records. The firm’s internship program gets rave reviews from insiders, offering students hands-on experience and preparing them well for full-time roles with the firm.

For its full-time staff, PKF O'Connor Davies offers extensive career and growth opportunities, including valuable trainings and a great mentoring/coaching program. The firm also offers its staff a healthy work/life balance. Managers are understanding of outside commitments, giving staff a lot of schedule flexibility. In addition, the firm’s collaborative culture promotes people working as a team to efficiently accomplish goals. The only complaint from some insiders has to do with a lack of staffing, which can put a strain on some team members.

Salaries, bonuses, perks, and benefits are competitive, with the firm’s vacation offerings and parental leave policy getting especially high marks. Insiders also very much appreciate the remote/hybrid work policy, as well as the focus on wellness offerings, which include a quarterly wellness newsletter with exercise tips, healthy recipes, and tips for maintain a healthy work/life balance, among other advice.

PKF O'Connor Davies also places a focus on DEI. It has a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee and many related initiatives, including various working groups and valuable trainings. As for the firm’s business outlook, it is bright. PKF O'Connor Davies has been growing its geographic reach and its service offerings, employee morale is strong, and it has built a niche in the market that will allow it to continue to thrive for the foreseeable future.

Hiring Process

“I participate in the interview process at the firm. The ideal candidate is someone who has proven themselves at the college level with solid grades and is thinking about getting their CPA. We are also looking for individuals (on the audit side) who are personable and adaptable to their environment. After all, we are a client service business and frequently work with others both internally and externally.”

“The interview process was very quick and efficient. I received a call back within two days of my interview.”

“The firm does an excellent job recruiting entry-level talent. When it comes to experienced talent, this becomes a more difficult process, because there’s significant competition for experienced professionals. Our ideal experienced candidate would be 1) someone at a Big 4 or second-tier firm who is working extensive hours without the appropriate level of support (we can offer a more enjoyable work/life balance while still challenging them professionally), or 2) someone from a firm smaller who feels like they're no longer being challenged or growing as a professional (there are tremendous growth opportunities at our firm for the right candidates).”

“We’re seeking candidates who are good fits with our culture and are actively recruiting to identify candidates who are good fits.”

Interview Questions

“What are your strengths? What are your goals and expectations? Describe a time when you had to be a leader. What interests you about PKF O'Connor Davies?”

“What is the most challenging obstacle you had to overcome during college? Please describe a situation in which you worked in a group setting and perhaps a member of the group wasn't pulling their weight. Why did you apply to PKFOD and what do you know about our firm?”

“1) Where would you like your career in public accounting to take you professionally? If you could change the narrative of the public accounting profession, how would you change it? Do you prefer to work independently or in a group setting and why? Do you prefer to work in the office, remotely, or hybrid?”

“Typical questions to make sure you know the basics, and to make sure you can communicate well because our jobs are very client-facing.”

Internship Experience

“It was a great experience, which exposed me to working directly with clients with the proper support and guidance of my fellow team members. The team treated me with great respect and offered their time and consideration for learning new tasks.”

“Hands-on experience was great. Volunteer work was also a plus. Great client interactions and intern project.”

“The internship experience was nothing short of amazing. The partners here at PKF O'Connor Davies give you real-life experience as an intern. They challenge you and treat you as a peer rather than an intern.”

“The internship was extremely hands-on and prepared me for a full-time position.”

Career Development

“Firm trainings are provided through both formal/outside trainings and in-house/informal trainings. Both types of trainings are very personable and relative to the responsibilities that each specific job title/industry will face, and always offer a Q&A section for any additional questions that may arise. I feel that I have moved up the ranks rather quickly, and my strong work-ethic, drive, and performance has been properly rewarded by my firm. I also receive constructive criticism when needed and feel that I can communicate with higher-ups regarding feedback on my performance.”

“The firm is always looking to promote from within, which makes our focus on developing our staff. Our firm continues to grow, which gives our team plenty of opportunities to grow with us.”

“We offer great career development opportunities at each level within our firm. We offer a strong mentor/career advisor program, and everyone who participates as an advisor is committed to their role. I think there is room for improvement once one reaches the partner level, as only a small number of individuals are selected for additional opportunities provided by the firm.”

“Great mentoring programs, business development is encouraged, and we are very team-oriented environment. We try to give all the high performers the more challenging work.”

Quality of Life

“The firm gets it. They understand that we work to live rather than live to work. They promote that we get our work done efficiently and with quality, but at the end of the day we have lives outside of work and families to raise.”

“Quality of life at the firm is great. Most superiors are reasonable with respect to timing and work schedules.”

“Our firm places a strong emphasis on work/life balance and means it. Everyone is understanding and works as a team to accomplish goals in an efficient manner. There is so much flexibility, and the firm really cares about its people.”

“PKFOD strives to create an environment that offers a positive work/life balance and quality of life. The firm is up-to-date on the latest 'trends' offered to employees in the corporate world (casual dress, early closing on Fridays in the summer, four-day workweek pilot program this past summer, December 'summer Fridays,' hybrid work, etc.). The firm sometimes fall short of the quality of work/life balance it would like to offer its employees due to the lack of staffing, which has become a problem for all firms. The lack of available accountants entering the industry puts a strain on current employees due to understaffing.”

Salary and Benefits

“Best parts include the 401(k) match, Summer Fridays, and remote/hybrid work. Salary is very good for the area we work in.”

“The firm is continually improving the benefits and perks offered to employees. The firm also provides competitive salaries in the industry, including bonuses and annual raises.”

“I believe the firm offers a competitive salary and bonus structure at all levels throughout the firm (staff through partner). We have increased our raises over the past year to keep up with inflation. The firm offers a generous vacation and maternity/paternity policy. The firm is committed to offering employees competitive and up-to-date perks.”

“The health insurance is good, with nominal employee contribution. There is also a nice package of vacation days with allowance of some carryover if not all used. And only eight days in the office is requested per month. The firm regularly evaluates the compensation levels for our employee base. This evaluation is done with various sources and data points to ensure the comp levels are fair and appropriate for the experience and position.”

Wellness Efforts

“The firm places a large emphasis on the well-being of its employees. The firm's culture of putting its employees first really shines through in the various wellness initiatives that have been rolled out in the last few years. I also believe that partners are cognizant of employees’ mental health should anything come up.”

“Discounts are available through the firm at two fitness chains. Human resources emails a quarterly ‘Workplace Wellness/Wise & Well Newsletter’ to all employees. The communication includes exercise tips, healthy recipes, tips for a healthy work/life balance, etc. Human resources also provides ‘Your Wellbeing Resource Guide’ communications. Within this communication are links to and numbers for various wellbeing resources (suicide, veteran, domestic violence, substance abuse, etc.).”

“In addition to a Well-Being Resource Guides that lists wellbeing resources and hotlines, the firm has a donation policy of unused PTO time to employees in need of extra time. Online Teledoc and Teledoc Mental Health is provided, and Aetna also provides additional resources through the health insurance plan.”

“The firm is continuously looking for ways to improve employee wellness, from offering sessions on time management and stress relief to encouraging employees to utilize PTO benefits to recharge periodically.”

Diversity, Philanthropy, and Green Initiatives

“The firm places a significant emphasis on its diversity practices, and this can be seen by its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee and initiatives. The firm has also continued to roll out various working groups as part of its DEI initiatives. The firm also places a large emphasis on its philanthropic efforts and has a variety of initiatives throughout the year to support these efforts, including toy drives around the holidays and various fundraising activities.”

“PKFOD offers and believes in the importance of diversity throughout the firm. All aspects of diversity are promoted and accepted by the firm and its employees and partners. Up-to-date training is offered to all levels. In 2022, in order to promote the firm’s commitment to being ‘green,’ all employees were given a free tumbler to use in lieu of plastic or a disposable cup.”

“We are paperless and have electronic filing and signature capabilities. The firm supports board volunteers and fundraising efforts. We have hired employees of all races and ethnicities, as well as LGBTG+ individuals. We have a diversity and inclusion team, and are required to take diversity and inclusion education and harassment training regularly.”

“All of our staff are encouraged to be involved in not-for-profit boards and community events, and we fully support all of diversity issues and have a full-time DE&I manager who is continually working to increase awareness. While we would like to be more diverse, it is not for lack of trying to hire diverse individuals.”

Business Outlook

“Our firm has had incredible growth. We continue to target both geographies and practice areas that we would like to have in our portfolio to improve service offerings to clients and markets. Competition for talent remains strong in our market, but I feel our firm culture and work/life balance will continue to attract talent from our competitors.”

“We have positioned our firm to be highly successful this coming year. We have done as good of a job as any firm in retaining and hiring employees. I also believe that our alternative practice structure will be great for our firm. I believe that the pay raises that we've provided over the last year have been well received and kept our employees happy on that front.”

“Even though our firm may not be the biggest firm out there, I feel that we provide the most personable experience with our clients and an at-home niche that other firms may not possess. We are a small contender with a loud voice.”

“The firm is really great about communicating the business outlook at our town halls. Our firm’s leaders really keep me confident that we are doing okay. They do a great job and communicate often. PKFOD has great employee morale.”