[darkw1sh]

Does anyone here work at the big 4 accounting firms?

Just had my second interview, loved it!

[m3ray]

You might not say that when you actually get in there

5 years at E&Y. Tough environment, long hours, dealing with clients can be difficult.

Are you going in as an experienced hire or staff?

[panicos81]

worked for some time in PWC. worst job i ever had.. good luck!

[Spensaur]

Meh. Interned with Deloitte Consulting over the summer. Extended a full-time offer to me afterwards but decided not to take it.

[gtron]

Originally Posted by darkw1sh

Does anyone here work at the big 4 accounting firms?

Just had my second interview, loved it!

good luck!

if you get it, enjoy the "new car smell" while it lasts!

i could be a great career for some.

[bmw-nj]

Move on... You will hate it trust me.

The big four is only about billing hours (meaning you work stupid long hours) to pay partners 500k plus. They do not care about you. If you show up, shut up, and bill out at 60 hours + a week you can stay for as long as you want. Forget about busy season. Not even worth thinking about.

I hope for your sake that you find a better option. Straight resume booster is all the big four is.

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by bmw-nj

Move on... You will hate it trust me.

The big four is only about billing hours (meaning you work stupid long hours) to pay partners 500k plus. They do not care about you. If you show up, shut up, and bill out at 60 hours + a week you can stay for as long as you want. Forget about busy season. Not even worth thinking about.

I hope for your sake that you find a better option. Straight resume booster is all the big four is.

But it is a resume booster.

10+ years at Deloitte here (then I quit because lifestyle wasn't what I wanted for the rest of my life). But it was quite easy to get another job because of my time at Deloitte.

Think about where you want to end up OP - I'm now working for a public company and enjoying the much better hours - for me, that's what I wanted. But I'll never make as much as I would if I stayed - but that didn't matter to me. If it matters more to you, then its a great choice - you will make a lot of money if you make partner. But making partner is tough too.

Its all individual choices...best of luck. Even doing it for a couple of years is going to put you ahead of the pack in some respects because it is a resume booster - just don't expect easy hours!

[adobeee]

might as well do investment banking / M&A advisory since you'll be working roughly the same amount of hours, but with 2x less pay.

That's the path I took.

[m3ray]

Originally Posted by bmw-nj

Straight resume booster is all the big four is.

This.

It's almost required to excel in the Finance & Accounting field. At some point you need Big 4 on the resume. Better to get it done when you're young.

[MrPrena]

Regardless of size of the paycheck, I envy you guys for having a paycheck. Sh1t, I thought making my own money was about 2x harder than working at a company, but it is about 15x harder to get paid the same amount.

[Bobble]

Worked at Andersen way back when but in IT discipline. As a result knew whole lot of folks on the F&A side and both sides sucked if you weren't single, unattached, willing to holidays etc etc etc..
Did it for 4 and half years and started my own thing with ex clients that dumped them for 20+ years.
As far as a resume booster, yep it'll get you in the door. Up to you if you want and can deal with that lifestyle.

[ShopVac]

Originally Posted by m3ray

You might not say that when you actually get in there

5 years at E&Y. Tough environment, long hours, dealing with clients can be difficult.

Are you going in as an experienced hire or staff?

+1 - most abused bunch of kids (typically out of school) that get no respect or gratification for what they do or the hours they put in.

Most are so naive, you can typically tell these folks the most BS story - and they all say 'oh - okay'

I will state though - it's good experience. OP, hope you get what you're looking for.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by m3ray

This.

It's almost required to excel in the Finance & Accounting field. At some point you need Big 4 on the resume. Better to get it done when you're young.

Yeppp...

had offers for work from both Deloitte and PWC... both smelled funny to me... have friends that work at both, none make any decent $$ per hour... Small private firm I was working for at the time was willing to pay me significantly more... I loled at both of their offers.

[Vanmarsenille]

Like most things in life, if you are willing to put in the time and effort, it is worth it. Admittedly, the time and effort are significant, but then so are the rewards. I have a relative who is a partner at one of the Big 4 firms, and who tells me that one of the biggest problems they have with recruitment is people coming out of college with outrageous expectations and a greatly overinflated idea of their own importance.

[MG 228i]

I graduated 06/13 from UCSD and currently do accounting work for a real estate firm.

I qualify to sit for the CPA exam and I want to switch to public and try to break into the big 4 once I pass the exam.

I know the hours and work/life balance will be horrible, compared to my 40 hr / week now,
take full lunches, come to work between 7 am - 9 am, browse online, very easy to take days off, and even go home early sometimes.


Will it be more difficult to land interviews since my current job isn't in public accounting and that I didn't go straight from a university?

[SunnyD]

I'm a CPA that started out at PwC...you'll be singing a different tune once you start lol.

[slo_guy]

Did my time at E&Y and hated every minute of it. Although it was a 4 day work week, living out of a suitcase and constantly flying out to client sites sucked. On the flipside, like other have said here, I do credit my time there for being where I am today because it pretty much opened up multiple doors for jobs after leaving. Put your time in, work at the sweatshop for a little while and reap the rewards later.

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by bmw-nj

Move on... You will hate it trust me.

The big four is only about billing hours (meaning you work stupid long hours) to pay partners 500k plus. They do not care about you. If you show up, shut up, and bill out at 60 hours + a week you can stay for as long as you want. Forget about busy season. Not even worth thinking about.

I hope for your sake that you find a better option. Straight resume booster is all the big four is.

Partners make a lot lot more than $500k.

I worked at Deloitte consulting for a while. Good environment if you like working with all douchebags.

[m3ray]

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

Partners make a lot lot more than $500k.

I worked at Deloitte consulting for a while. Good environment if you like working with all douchebags.

Depends on what level of partner, years of service, size of their sub-practices, client roster, level of equity. Most start at around $400K.

My favorite and few know this, is that partners can borrow up to $1,000,000 from the firm and pay it back interest free for up to one year. As a matter of fact their compensation isn't even referred to as a a salary. It's called a draw. They can draw as much as they want and on settle up day either pay the deficit or if they had a good year enjoy a nice fat bonus.

Life is good for Partners, thats for damn sure.

[LinkA8A0A]

Originally Posted by darkw1sh

Does anyone here work at the big 4 accounting firms?

Just had my second interview, loved it!

I work in audit at Deloitte and while it's tough, I'm in it till manager and then I'm going private.

[darkw1sh]

im jealous did not get the position at San Jose, Back in La and looking for something else! Anyone hiring?

[John 070]

my buddy is a partner and he said avg. annual compensation is 900k. Even doctors don't make that much on average. It depends upon what you want in life. Personally, I think it's a bit boring but along with it is a lifestyle.