Big 4 = SUCKs

sucks. good to say you've been hired there, but not fun to work there.

how many other disgruntled former big4 employees out there?

there are very few people who are actually not disgruntled in the big 4.  most are upset by the number of hours that are worked and the low pay.  there is also no work life balance.  the attrition rates speak for themselves.  and it has gotten even worse because you work 2900 hours during the year and may not even get a raise as was the case last year.  right now only the partners seem happy and they aren't even that happy because they are getting less money now that audit fees are going down with the declining economy and they will be paying more taxes since the bush tax cuts are expiring.  senior managers will have to wait another 4-5 years to make partner b/c there is simply not enough capacity to support the admission of new partners.  seniors are only sticking around (like myself) because they have drank the Kool Aid and think that making manager is the end all be all and that their future earning potential will be greatly increased only to find when they finally make manager that the payoff isn't that great.  staff I's and some II's are mostly happy b/c they are getting overpaid for their jobs and are making as much as seniors in most markets.  seniors are almost 100% upset b/c they have the highest number of billable hours yet are paid, relatively speaking, the lowest of any level.  the senior level is the lowest paid and least recognized position.  you will not get any slack from managers who will constantly demand the most of you on all jobs and do not care if there is not enough hours in the day to do the work of 2 people.

so yes, BIG 4 Sux - but it is good to have on your resume.  big 4 firms are consistently on the fortune 500 best companies to work for which makes me always wonder how bad are the other firms in america

rant - complete

allegro-cpa wrote: Why are you disgruntled?  What are the exact reasons for this feeling?  Did they yell at you or something?  Do they treat you bad?  You can't expect to be treated like royalty if your only entry level.

Big4 is the grind. in most cases it takes a special kind of person.

WHAT YOU NEED TO POSSESS:

1. smart (you can be confident with this if you were hired at the big4 as u likely demonstrated this with acctg college courses & GPA)

2. quick/efficient - here's where people get weeded out (myself included) (time = money in this business...often the budget is ridiculously understated..it might say it's supposed to take 6 billable hours to audit something and it may take you 2-3x if you're honest about billing.....hopefully you do NOT have to take a quick break to drop a deuce because that might cost 1/2 of a billable hour out on the audit field :) ) which happened to me because the stress I think was enough to irritate my bowels... then the manager/senior doesnt like you because you're inefficient so next audit engagement chances are you will be replaced with a 1st or 2nd year auditor who IS MORE EFFICIENT THAN YOURSELF (happened to me)....

3. good under high stress/high pressure situations being in the same room with other people (including your senior/the person who will be evaluating you)

4. thick skin (when your senior/manager get inevitably frustrated, you will likely get blamed for things, take lots of crap for things that weren't your fault). It's kind of sad because those above you are good people at heart but they themselves are under pressure so they become selfish and have to look out for themselves and career and feel justified to treat you bad and say things they wouldnt normally say

5. good to hang out with (big 4 HR look for this in interview which is why behavioral interview is preferred format and they are not necessarily looking for a 3.9 GPA nerdy type but a college student who was pretty social in college but also smart)

6. adapting. (again, big 4 HR look for this in interview which is why behavioral interview is preferred format and they are not necessarily looking for a 3.9 GPA nerdy type but a college student who was pretty social in college but also smart). the setting at a client could be at a hospital, it could be at coffee tables where client employees are getting coffee, etc.  Being adapting sounds easy when you havent worked at the big4 before, but when you're dealing with #'s 2-4 above being adapting only becomes more and more difficult. It's like steps 2-4 & this work synergistically to make it more and more difficult to survive

7. you (hopefully) dont have susceptibility to seasonal affective disorder (from lack of sunlight) and/or depression from the months of November to April/May

8. you are "flexible" as far as eating habits and diet and exercise habits

 If you lack any of these, you probably wont enjoy it too much.

Please dont get me wrong - you can still stay and do reasonably well at the big4 if you possess a few of these, but if you dont have all of them you probably wont enjoy it too much.

when i was there everyone looked pretty good shape on our August starting dates and then by the START of busy season (before busy season even started) when we started doing the inventories in Christmas break/January, my starting class already looked really tired (darkness under the eyes) and about 10-20 pounds overweight.

So yeah, I'm not expecting royalty as entry level staff but this is just what I witnessed..... with rare exceptions.

on the spectrum of being treated like royalty to being a sweatshop, what did you expect and how do you rate your experience?

In the end it's something I'm glad I survived but like many others the big4 was a rough period in my life.