Vault’s Verdict

Plante Moran is ideally looking for bright, talented, personable, academically-strong, open-minded, positive self-starters who embody the firm’s “We Care” philosophy, and thus are kind, honest, caring, empathetic, and interested in working collaboratively with others. The firm’s internship program offers students exposure to senior-level staff, clients, and the firm’s culture. Internships with the firm are very valuable experiences that provide insight into the industry and the daily lives of full-time staff members. For its full-time staff, Plante Moran offers extensive career development opportunities, including the flexibility to choose your own career path, access to mentors and sponsors throughout your career, and an outstanding blend of formal training, on-the-job experiential learning, and structured mentoring.

Although hours can be long during the busy tax season and the nature of a client service business can result in unpredictable hours throughout the year, the firm stresses work/life balance and has many programs to encourage and support balance. Meanwhile, salaries are competitive, though some insiders say compensation is merely average and could be better. On the other hand, perks and benefits are unanimously said to be top of industry. Staff especially appreciate the vacation policy, the healthcare benefits, and the discounts for travel, dining, electronics, and home office needs. Wellness offerings are also extensive, and include counseling and fitness programs, annual exercise and wellness “competitions,” “Meditation Mondays,” and a new “Balance Fund,” which provides reimbursements for basically anything that contributes to staff’s physical, mental, and financial well-being.

DEI and ESG efforts are a high priority at Plante Moran, which continues to make progress in these areas. The firm has focused on increasing diversity and has several staff resource groups for diverse communities, which reinforces the firm’s belief that everyone is welcome at Plante Moran. The firm also encourages its staff to give back through its Plante Moran Cares program, where staff volunteer their time to local organizations. As for the firm’s business outlook, Plante Moran has been growing significantly in recent years; its services continue to be in high demand, its culture is strong, and its retention rate is relatively high compared to its competitors.

Hiring Process

“The interview and callback process is very streamlined, and the recruiters for new starts and experienced hires are friendly and relentless in the best possible way. The ideal candidate for Plante Moran is a self-starter who likes to take ownership of their work and produce the best product they can as consistently as possible, and who is genuinely nice and interested in working collaboratively with others.”

“Interviews are typically done in two rounds. The second round of interviews will have candidates do an interview with a senior manager, a partner, and at least one other individual. The firm is looking for candidates who are academically strong, open-minded, ready to learn, and hardworking. Staff will need to have good communication skills and be able to ask questions when they don't understand something.”

“Our firm is seeking human beings who care about other human beings. It is very important to our leadership to bring in new staff that already have characteristics that the Plante Moran culture embodies. They want positive, driven individuals, and they definitely are successful in bringing those candidates in. My interview process consisted of two interviews with partners (both of whom I have worked with during my first year). Questions were based around getting to know me as a worker and as a person. I got a call the same day with an offer.”

“Plante Moran, in general, looks for extremely talented, bright people who embody the firm’s ‘We Care’ philosophy. Not everyone who is talented and bright is kind, honest, caring, and empathetic, on top of having the other skills. This is very important to the firm. Also, we rely heavily on personal referrals. If you’re willing to put yourself on the line and vouch for someone else, that means something to the firm.”

Interview Questions

“Plante Moran uses behavioral-based Interviewing, which focuses on job-related experiences, behaviors, knowledge, and skills. Examples: Describe a time when you had to respond to a difficult question from a client. Tell me about a situation where you discovered a problem and the steps that you took to solve it.”

“Tell me about a time when something did not go as planned. What happened and what action did you take?”

“Tell me about yourself? What made you choose accounting? What's important to you at the place you work? Name one of your strengths and weaknesses?”

“Tell me about a time when you had to deliver difficult news to another individual. Tell me about a time when you had to complete a task with limited information. How did you handle it, and what were the results?

Internship Experience

“Great exposure to the people, clients, and firm culture. Valuable experience that provided real insight into the industry and day-to-day life as a full-time staff member.”

“Great work environment and culture. Plante Moran truly made it a wonderful experience and provided me with many opportunities to grow both personally and professionally during my internship (which then lead to my acceptance of a full-time position).”

“Great people. I performed the same work that a first-year staff does. I truly felt valued. It went by fast (10 weeks felt very short).”

“I was given the flexibility to do both an audit and tax internship, working on staff-level client work in a good learning environment. The team wants you to succeed. Note that it can be slow if your internship is during the summer months.”

Career Development

“You have the flexibility to choose your own career path and then receive mentorship and sponsorship throughout your career. The firm does a great job providing access to opportunities and different mentors over the course of a career, all focused on providing opportunities for and encouraging career development and promotion.”

“So many people in different positions (interns, staff, partners, etc.) want to see you succeed, and are willing to put in the time and coaching for you to develop, advance, and grow as an individual and staff at a pace that’s comfortable. One challenge is the vast amount of opportunities and openness can be daunting.”

“Outstanding blend of formal training, informal on-the-job experiential learning, and structured mentoring. Feedback is delivered regularly both verbally and in writing. While performance review is an inherent part of the process, the overwhelming focus is on forward-looking skills development rather than ‘how you did.’”

“Plante Moran strives to find a place for everyone who wants to work here, regardless of where they started, or what their credentials are. On the (slightly) negative side, the tax service line has in the past had an ‘up or out’ mentality where you need to either move up or move on, but that’s starting to change. Now, if someone loves working for Plante Moran and isn't excelling in their current role, the first question is often ‘Is there somewhere else within the firm that they would excel instead?’”

Quality of Life

“The firm encourages balance and has implemented many programs to encourage and support balance. That said, client service can be unpredictable and unplanned hours can accumulate throwing the concept of balance into question. When this happens, the firm provides the tools and encouragement to re-find balance, but this is not always easy and it requires a lot of self-discipline.”

“Plante Moran cares about the individual that comes to work, not just the output the individual is providing. The best way to summarize this is that they want their staff to be satisfied and enjoy their work so that their work will reflect the same. Healthy competition is a focus, to create and grow staff to be better and better. Learning from the best cooperatively allows much more room to grow.”

“Best aspect is the ability to have a flexible schedule and ability to work from home or at office depending on your schedule. Most challenging aspect is the hours and difficulty to take vacation knowing the amount of work that will need to be caught up on when you come back.”

“Public accounting/professional services is a demanding profession, but one that provides incredible opportunities for growth and lifelong learning. Within that context, the firm stresses work/life balance and acknowledges that balance varies from person to person and over the course of time for every individual. I’ve never felt pressured to work more than I was able to do effectively, nor have I ever been pressured to sacrifice something on the personal side due to work-related commitments. On a handful of occasions that I was starting to feel like that balance was problematic, we were able to address it constructively by alleviating work-related responsibilities as needed to find that balance again. Plante Moran not only talks the talk, but walks the walk.”

Salary and Benefits

“I’m very satisfied with my salary and bonus opportunities, as well as the ancillary benefits offered by the firm (like the reimbursements for expenses that contribute to a balanced lifestyle, incentives for getting yearly physicals, etc.). I wouldn't say our medical benefits are a strong differentiator, but I appreciate recent changes that provide some coverage for family forming and gender affirming services.”

“Salary is competitive, and benefits are robust. I also appreciate the personal perks/discounts for travel, dining, electronics, home office needs, etc.”

“The firm has a lot of benefits outside of our salary which is a huge benefit. Their new balance fund has been amazing for offsetting the cost of some of the wellness activities I do in my spare time. Their new fertility policy as well is a great step in the right direction. I feel like for internal staff there are other companies that offer more competitive salaries but offer much less flexibility for work/life balance.”

“Pay could be better, but perks and benefits are among the best I’ve been offered. Especially great is the vacation policy. Healthcare benefits are also great and low-cost. In addition, the healthcare benefits are very progressive, and include mental health care as well as family planning and gender affirming care. The hours can be flexible, and staff are trusted to manage their own schedules. Overall, I feel base salary/bonus options are a little lower than other comparable mid-sized firms.”

Wellness Efforts

“There are annual exercise and wellness ‘competitions,’ usually during busy season, to make sure we are still moving and thinking about our overall health and wellbeing. There are ‘Meditation Mondays’ for anyone who wants to participate, and several of the offices have a massage therapist who comes to the office twice a month. Staff are encouraged to take time off, and everyone's schedule can be as flexible as it needs to be, as long as each person's work is being completed in a timely fashion.”

“The firm just introduced something called a ‘Balance Fund,’ which provides staff the chance to purchase basically anything that helps promote work/life balance, and it is eligible for reimbursement. That is one of the best benefits that the firm offers for general health and wellness, as well as work/life balance.”

“Numerous formal benefits including counseling and fitness programs. Less formally, the staff resource groups help promote mental well-being for minority groups.”

“They offer many online programs and free counseling for medical and emotional issues. We have many groups set up which you can join, like for people with autism, anxiety, different ethnicities and races, an LGBTQ+ group, etc. And you are very welcomed to join to be an ally if you don't fall into the category.”

Diversity, Philanthropy, and Green Initiatives

“The firm is really trying to address diversity. We have several resource groups for diverse groups, which reinforces our belief that everyone is welcome at Plante Moran. There are ethnicity-centric groups as well as groups like Women in Leadership, Veterans, PRIDE, and Minds of All Kinds (supporting neurodiversity). These groups have their own activities that are supported and encouraged by the firm. I don’t think the firm feels like DEI is a box to check off; they really do embrace it and have been doing so for years.”

“DEI and ESG efforts are a high priority, and we continue to make progress. There are regular updates on these initiatives and both broad and targeted messaging and action as it relates to DEI hiring practices and mentorship. We're making a lot of progress, but like many other firms, there is still work to do on this front.”

“Plante Moran has struggled historically to attract and retain racially and ethnically diverse individuals, but it is a known situation and we are working diligently to ensure that the firm is a welcoming place for everyone. The firm has quite a few ‘staff resource groups’ (SRGs) where diverse individuals and their allies can gather (virtually and in-person, as possible) to connect and support each other. Every diversity group has an SRG, and in the race/ethnicity category there are individual SRGs for Black, Latino/a, and Asian/Pacific Islanders. The firm also has Women in Leadership groups firmwide and in each region/office that meet regularly to offer support and encouragement to women at all levels and roles.”

“There are a ton of fundraisers and volunteer opportunities through PM Cares. There are also staff resource groups that have monthly meetings for veterans, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, Asian and Pacific Islanders, African Americans, and neurodivergent staff.”

Business Outlook

“We're coming off several years of high growth, and demand continues to be high for our broad services. Our culture is strong, and retention is relatively high among accounting firms. Efforts are focused on hiring and training, and we expect to be busy for the foreseeable future.”

“I believe the firm will continue to perform well given our focus and growth opportunities. The growing risk to the macro economic outlook would undoubtedly create a headwind compared with the past few years, but nothing specific to Plante Moran is concerning. If anything, I would expect that we will continue to outperform the average firm and the economy as a whole.”

“Employee morale tends to be very high, due in large part to a carefully cultivated firm culture of caring. We try hard to be a jerk-free workplace, and everyone shows up to help their fellow staff people however they can on a daily basis. Retention of diverse staff is a potential weakness, but that is something that is being looked at closely by leadership and staff at all levels.”

“I feel confident in the firm leadership’s ability to grow our firm and achieve our goals (financial and otherwise), while maintaining staff morale and prioritizing our well-being.”