Hmm. Im not sure about these generic and frankly BS questions people tell other people to ask/say during interviews. You think you are the only one reading WSJ? You don't think the person interviewing you has heard the same exact line a million times?

Make a difference as soon as you join? You serious? Unless its a 2 person firm, there is no way you can make a difference as soon as you join. In fact, depending on the size of the firm, it is possible most people in your department may not even know of you until you are on an engagement with them. Hence, that is a generic question with an answer that you should already know, which is: "Just carry out your day to day function as outlined by the company, see what is required of the role a step above your current one and try to take on some of those responsibilities." Public Accounting is not rocket science where you are going to come in and make a ground breaking discovery.

Instead of regurgitating standard questions which no one cares about, ask real questions that shows you are a real person. 1) What is a typical audit like? 2) How big are typical audit teams? 3) What is the review process like? 4) How long is a typical audit? 5) How should I approach engagements in order to take on responsibility, learn and eventually take on "X" role? 6) I have an interest in "X" industry, would it be possible for me to develop somewhat of a niche?

These are all relevant questions, the answers to which you might really like to know. If you do your day to day job well, you are automatically an "asset." But again, its public accounting. Not rocket science. Its not like there are few public accountants. Thankfully for us, there are more than enough jobs available.

This post was edited on 9/6/17 at 1:59 pm