Vault’s Verdict

Plante Moran is ideally looking for candidates who are driven and ambitious, down-to-earth, and eager to learn and grow. The firm’s internship program gets rave reviews; interns gain real-world hands-on experience, learn a lot in a short period of time, and get open access to the wider team, who are very supportive and helpful. For its full-time staff, Plante Moran offers extensive career development opportunities, including strong formal and informal mentoring, clear promotion paths, and a culture that’s very focused on the development of junior staff.

Plante Moran is also focused on making sure its staff maintain a healthy work-life balance. This is accomplished through numerous work-life initiatives and a generous FTO system (rather than a PTO system) that allows staff to take as many days of vacation or sick time as they need. There is still a busy season, though, and hours can be long demanding during that time. But overall, Plante Moran’s hours are not as long as they are at most competitors.

Meanwhile, compensation, benefits, and perks are generous, and inclusion efforts are strong. Insiders say all professionals have equal access to interesting high-quality work and promotion opportunities, and there are several effective and active employee resource groups. As for Plante Moran’s business outlook, it is very bright. The firm recently crossed the $1 billion annual revenue mark and is still growing—without any impact to its culture. In addition, employee morale is strong, in part due to the firm’s commitment to preserving a partnership model rather than moving to a PE-ownership model. 

EMPLOYEE REVIEWS

Quality of Life

• “The firm has a lot of resources they offer to help with work-life balance. They are constantly trying to promote this and even have office/industry events to support this style as well. The worst aspect is the hours; however, that is part of the public accounting industry. I feel that the hours I work compared to a Big 4 firm are less.”
• “The firm believes strongly in creating an environment where staff can create a work-life balance that works. There are a lot of resources and support available, particularly when there are unique circumstances that arise. I have gone through a number of situations that required additional support from the firm. Everyone was incredibly supportive through all of these major life events. However, as an industry, there is still a lot of emphasis on meeting charge-hour goals and putting client service first. An individual can find work-life balance, but it does take intentionality and communication.”
• “PM takes work-life balance very seriously, employing an FTO system rather than a PTO system, which allows staff members to take however many days of vacation or sick time as they need. The one downside is the longer hours during busy season, but that’s for the entire field of assurance rather than just PM.”
• “The industry can be demanding, but relative to most other firms, our hours aren’t typically as high. Work-life balance is strongly encouraged and mentors step in to help staff find balance and spread work around to help avoid potential burnout. Firm culture and philosophy stresses the importance of the ‘whole person comes to work,’ and we regularly help colleagues out when burdens shift or in times where personal matters take importance over work demands and deliverables.”

Compensation

• “The firm is very generous with its benefits and bonus packages. Raises for my position are competitive as well.”
• “My salary is very livable, especially as a new hire straight out of college. The benefits are very affordable and cover more than my basic needs.”
• “Salary is at market for this region—right around what Big 4 Detroit was offering at the staff level. Lots of perks and great insurance and family planning benefits. I also like being able to work from home, which is super important to me. I think paid maternity leave could be a little bit longer like other firms offer.”
• “Salary is fairly strong. Benefits are average; health insurance could be a bit less expensive. Other aspects like the balance fund and office snacks and meals are great.”

Career Development

• “Plante Moran’s career development opportunities and resources are best-in-class. So many colleagues and people in the firm have invested significant time in my development and have mentored me personally and showed me how to take charge of my professional development and success. The level of care, coaching, leadership and guidance is incredible.”
• “There is a clear development/promotion path in my service area and industry of focus. Early in my career, exposure to multiple industries and service areas was crucial to me finding my area of focus and broadening my skillset. As I gained experience, exposure to engagement partners and leaders throughout our firm have played a bigger role in my overall development opportunities that may not have been as readily available in a different industry.”
• “I think the firm is great at letting you know what the expectations are as well as letting you set the road map to your career. There are lots of opportunities to check-in to see where you are at as well as to express what you are interested in.”
• “Formal and informal mentoring is extensive and begins very early in our careers. In addition to near-term career guidance, a lot of focus is placed on developing long-term career-oriented skills to ensure staff are well positioned for leadership roles within the firm if they stay and externally if they choose a career outside of public accounting.”

Inclusion Efforts

• “All professionals definitely have equal access to interesting/high-quality work and promotion opportunities. Inclusion is a big focus in every office and PM pushes out plenty of trainings to ensure it is effective and followed in everyday interactions.”
• “The firm seems committed to creating an inclusive environment, and I’ve seen people treated with respect across different backgrounds and identities. From what I’ve observed so far, everyone appears to have equal access to meaningful work and growth opportunities. I haven’t noticed any concerns at this point.”
• “Plante Moran values diversity, equity, and inclusion strongly. They show this through their presentations and that was a big part of our IntroCore trip when we first started.”
• “The firm has various groups within to help support these groups of workers. We have Women In Leadership, which has a strong initiative to retain women in the workplace. In addition, we have over nine staff resource groups for various groups. They meet monthly and have events through the year to attend.”

Business Outlook

• “The firm has a strong outlook, good client relationships, and positive morale, which makes the work environment feel stable and growing.”
• “We are focused on retention of clients and good fees over revenue, which sets us apart. We also crossed $1 billion in revenues and are only going upwards. One the downside, turnover is always high in the profession.”
• “I do really like that our firm focus is not to become PE-owned. I feel like this is keeping the workers as a priority of the firm. Overall, the firm is continuing to grow, which I can tell from our various recent wins and organizational changes during the past few years.”
• “The business outlook seems very bright, preserving a partnership model rather than a PE-ownership model—long term instead of short term. Over the past five years, the firm has expanded a lot and has not experienced issues with culture. We are expanding our footprint and becoming a better company day by day.”

Intern Experience

• “Everything during my internship was a positive experience. Plante Moran did everything it could to make me feel comfortable reaching out for help when I needed it but also giving me freedom to figure things out on my own. I was given enough work to feel busy and useful. I always felt like people wanted to teach me when I needed help, which I was not expecting.”
• “One of the best aspects of my internship was becoming a part of the Plante Moran culture. I got to know a lot of people who were really invested in my success. The team was very welcoming and supportive. One of the most challenging aspects was that I was expected to learn a lot in a really short period of time. This included not only the technical aspects of accounting but also the business aspects. I learned a lot really quickly, but there were certainly some growing pains.”
• “The best aspect was how friendly and helpful all of the staff members were, from the entry-level staff up to the partners. The ‘buddy system’ also aided in providing me with a staff member that I was able to learn from on day 1. The worst aspect of the internship was that it took place during the summer, so audits were harder to find, and the majority of audits were either benefit plans or municipalities, which can be on the duller side.”
• “I interned during tax season and was able to have a lot of hands-on experience with the industry with meaningful work to do. While the hours are long during tax season and a lot of the work was fairly similar across jobs, the work I completed allowed me to experience what the industry was like prior to fully committing to public accounting path in my studies.”

Hiring Process

• “The interview and callback process was organized, timely, and conversational. Everyone I spoke with was welcoming and focused on understanding my experiences and how I work in a team. Communication was clear throughout the process, which made it easy to know what to expect.”
• “Usually, two virtual 30-minute back-to-back interview sessions focused on finding a candidate that can not only do the job but also can support the culture of the firm. I think an ideal candidate is someone who appears to have the skills for the job, but more importantly can build connections with the people they work with and with their clients.”
• “Ideal candidate is a driven, aspiring, often not from the largest university but a good student (being a student athlete is a huge plus). The interview process is first round with an HR representative, then a callback by the end of the week or next week, then another meeting with the HR team in the office you are applying for, and then finally two separate interviews with partners in the division you are applying for.”
• “The ideal candidate is someone who is ambitious but still down-to-earth and willing to learn and grow and serve our clients with genuine care. Not many technical prerequisites other than degree and pursuit of CPA. The interview process entails a phone screening and then two interviews with a manager and a partner.”

Interview Questions

• “How would you diffuse a situation where team members are not able to get along? What accomplishments are you most proud of?”
• “Tell me about a time where you had to put the needs of others before your own but still accomplished your goals. Tell me a time where you have portrayed leadership.”
• “Tell me about a time you worked in a team and encountered challenges working together. All behavioral questions, no technical questions.”
• “The interview process was more conversational for myself, so questions were more concerned about my experiences, interests, and background.”

UPPERS

• “Great, caring culture and people—I feel like I actually matter as a person at the firm and have people who support my professional career and my personal life.”
• “Flexibility in schedule.”
• “Learning and upward growth potential.”

DOWNERS

• “Busy season hours can be long, exhausting, and challenging.”
• “Administrative work, such as timesheets and billing.”
• “Some clients can be needy.”