Get an Alum at KPMG, PwC or EY to Refer You
Cold applications to the Big Four vanish into a portal. The honest fix: find one alum inside who literally gets paid when you get hired, and make saying yes take five minutes.
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A plain LinkedIn search buries the people who would actually help you.
It ranks by prominence, so the most-followed, most-messaged names sit on top. FindWarmIntros surfaces the coworkers who share your school or a past employer - the people most likely to reply - and hands you a ready-to-send intro.
✍️ Ready-to-send intro“Hi - we both studied at [your school]. I’d love to hear about your path to a company you are targeting before I apply…”
… plus everyone else in your network who can put in a good word.
See who can refer you in - pick a consulting target:
Why the referral bonus changes your whole ask
At the Big Four, a referral is not a personal favor that costs the employee something. It is a bonus opportunity. When you get hired, the person who submitted you typically collects a cash payout, usually split across your start date and your 6-month mark. That means your ask is aligned with their self-interest, which is a rare and powerful thing in a job search.
So stop framing it as 'can you help me.' Frame it as 'here is a role you can refer me for, and here is everything you need to do it in five minutes.' You are handing them a small, low-risk chance to earn money by vouching for someone they already have a reason to trust.
How to find the right alum and frame the ask
The right person is not the most senior name you can find. It is someone who shares a real connection with you (same university, same former employer, same certification program) and who is currently an employee eligible to refer, not a partner three time zones away who will never open your message.
- Filter by shared history, not seniority. Search LinkedIn for people at KPMG, PwC or EY who list your school, your old company, or your alumni association. A second-year associate who went to your university will act faster than a director who does not know you.
- Confirm they can actually refer. Current full-time staff below partner level are almost always eligible for the referral bonus. Contractors and very recent hires sometimes are not, so a mid-level employee is the safest bet.
- Lead with the thing you share. Open with 'Fellow Michigan grad here' or 'I saw we both came through the Deloitte audit track' before you mention any role. The shared tie is why they will read past your first line.
- Hand them a paste-ready packet. Give the exact requisition ID, the role title, a two-sentence summary of why you fit, and a link to your resume. Their entire job becomes: open the portal, paste, submit.
Let FindWarmIntros do the finding and ranking
The slow part is combing LinkedIn to find which KPMG, PwC or EY employees actually share a school or past employer with you, then guessing who is senior enough to be trusted but junior enough to reply. FindWarmIntros does that part: you give it the target firm, and it surfaces the real people you have a shared tie with, ranks them by how warm the path is, and drafts an intro that leads with what you share. It is free, and it leaves the actual sending to you, so every message stays in your voice.
You still do the human part, picking the person and adding your own line. The tool just removes the hours of searching so you can spend your time on the one or two people most likely to say yes.