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 Topic: Big 4 Exposed ( Topic Closed)
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Aznanalyst83
Regular
Joined: 10 May 2009
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Posts: 241
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| Posted: 01 Oct 2009 at 11:05 | IP Logged
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BeantownCPA2b wrote:
Don't believe so its more of management sitting you down
and telling you that you are not cut out for this.....
at some point I would assume that they would just fire you
if you didn't take the hint.
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Heh, Fellow Bostoner huh? :D
I got tossed by BDO coz the work was lacking...so damn sorry I didn't take a offer from a medium or small firm when the market was good.
__________________
B-87
R-73,73,80
A-71,78
F-?
Hopefully with a job in public...
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Newman
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Joined: 30 Sep 2009
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| Posted: 13 Oct 2009 at 20:44 | IP Logged
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Stay away from the big 4, a lot more horror stories than success stories.
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G8trJasonB
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Joined: 23 Aug 2008
Location: United States
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Posts: 28
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| Posted: 19 Oct 2009 at 13:27 | IP Logged
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I'm in my 5th year of Big 4. Should you stay away? Not if you want the best experience for your career. Is it glamorous and enjoyable? Not really.
I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. Big 4 accounting most definitely sucks a lot of the time. However, you can't beat the knowledge you will obtain and what it does for your career. When I started, I was hardly worth anything in the job marketplace. Now I have a lot of options.
As for hours worked, there have been times that I've had to work upwards of 70+ hours/week but they have been few and far between. During this last busy season, which for me lasts from January to around late May, I was averaging around 50-55 hours week. That's not too bad. Since June, I'm averaging 40 hour weeks and have taken a lot of vacation time. I don't expect this busy season to be much worse for me. Of course, there are others that have experienced the 70+ hour work weeks and it isn't that uncommon, but typically it doesn't last for more than 4-6 weeks if it does occur (which may be a little bit of long estimate).
Overall, on a scale of 1-10, I'd rate my experience as a 7. You've got to take the good with the bad. The good: knowledge and experience, lots of vacation time (5 weeks), cool group of co-workers that are also intelligent, diverse working environments (kind of like changing classes in college - if one sucks, you can typically take solace in knowing its temporary and you'll be moving to the next soon). The bad: long hours at times, can be very stressful especially the first 2-3 years, travel (I travel 3-4 months/year), lots of adminstrative tasks that are expected to get done by you on top of your normal duties (this is often what drives people crazy about Big 4), low compensation compared to peers in industry at same levels. I will say that your experience will be exponentially worse if you are trying to finish the CPA exam while working in Big 4 (most are). Imagine coming home to study every night after working *only* 50-55 hours a week. Hell, even if you were working just 40 hours a week, that's a lot to ask. Best advice I can give is FINISH THE EXAM FIRST!
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vtcheeks
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Joined: 21 Jul 2009
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| Posted: 19 Oct 2009 at 17:03 | IP Logged
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Jason,
You must be in audit. I think the experience is much different in tax with much longer hours for a much longer period of time. I work 50-60 hours Jan and June, 55-65 Feb and July, 65-75 March and August, 70-90 April and Sept. I then work 55-65 through Oct. My only "40" hour weeks are Nov and Dec. From Oct 15-Jan the firm crams in all the required trainings and misc. meetings that they cannot have the other 9.5 months. I also think your experience has something to do with the staffing level at your office. At my office we have been chronically short at my level. We are functioning with only 3 seniors and didn't promote any associates. So there are 12 associates now and 3 seniors which is part of the problem. SO the associates are set while the seniors are killing themselves.
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G8trJasonB
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Joined: 23 Aug 2008
Location: United States
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| Posted: 26 Oct 2009 at 10:58 | IP Logged
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vtcheeks wrote:
Jason,
You must be in audit. I think the experience is much different in tax with much longer hours for a much longer period of time. I work 50-60 hours Jan and June, 55-65 Feb and July, 65-75 March and August, 70-90 April and Sept. I then work 55-65 through Oct. My only "40" hour weeks are Nov and Dec. From Oct 15-Jan the firm crams in all the required trainings and misc. meetings that they cannot have the other 9.5 months. I also think your experience has something to do with the staffing level at your office. At my office we have been chronically short at my level. We are functioning with only 3 seniors and didn't promote any associates. So there are 12 associates now and 3 seniors which is part of the problem. SO the associates are set while the seniors are killing themselves. |
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Yes I'm audit. I do think its an office-by-office and maybe even a region-by-region type of thing. I can say with certainty that our tax dept doesn't work nearly the hours our audit practice does, on average. I'll say that this past year has been a lot lighter for me than the first 4. I'm not complaining though.
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