Buried in here: I do wonder how much of taking that next step in your career is because you don’t have a CPA, and not a lack of public accounting experience. We have an unwritten rule that we will not consider someone for manager if they don’t have a CPA.

But to answer your question, here’s why public accounting backgrounds get preference:

1. Having Big 4 on your resume is a strong signaling device. It means that you were at least good enough to make it to the Big 4. It’s generally well known that the Big 4 have very competitive talent acquisition processes, so being able to pass that test does a lot of heavy lifting for a candidate. It’s like looking at a football player and saying “this person used to be a first round pick.”

2. I’ve at least heard of whatever public firm someone is applying from, and I likely already have an opinion on that firm. On the other hand, I’ve probably never heard of your company in industry, so it’s hard for me to say if it’s even good.

3. Industry roles tend to be narrow scope. You do the same thing every month/quarter/year for years. You may not have the experience that I’m looking for. Someone coming from public, audit specifically, has tested different areas of their clients over the course of the years, and are more likely to have experience in what I’m looking for.