So you want to be a PMer…

Over the past year, Plante Moran has received a mind-boggling number of resumes—more than 26,000! As campus recruiting season heats up, I thought I’d take a few minutes and discuss what we look for in Plante Moran staff and how candidates can stand out from the crowd.

First, we look for well-rounded people with strong technical skills who are athletic (not in a physical sense but rather in a comfortable-working-on-a-variety-of-projects sense). We have a culture of mentoring at the firm, so it’s critical that candidates are both coachable and willing to become mentors as their careers evolve. Other key characteristics are possessing a service mentality, effective communication skills, and comfort in working individually and as part of a team.

When it comes to interviewing, we’re interested in the whole person. How hard have candidates worked to get to where they are? What have they had to juggle? Do they have specific examples of accomplishments—not just stating that a particular skill is a strength but demonstrating convincingly instances where that strength was used effectively to solve a problem? And do they have experiences that demonstrate that they’ll fit into our “we-care” culture?

Finally, we look for candidates who are unafraid to ask questions and offer feedback. We have a long-standing motto: “Speak up! If it’s not right, we’ll change it!” We expect everyone at the firm to make suggestions for improvement and ask questions that may cause us to look at day-to-day processes and procedures differently.

Plante Moran offers a wealth of career opportunities. Over the coming year, we’ll continue to search for talented staff in a variety of disciplines: audit, tax, management consulting, wealth management, and specialty areas such as medical device, construction, real estate, and health care. We’re poised for growth and excited to continue to welcome talented staff to our firm. To learn more, check out our new website: careers.plantemoran.com >>