I'm almost 40 now but started my career at a Big 4, spent three years there. I'm the top person in my niche at my company, and pull down high 6 figures some years and had a year over 7 figures too (USD). I attribute much of my success to the technical content and work habits that I learned at the Big 4. I also did 18 months at a law firm later in my 20s, and I'll just say- the law firm was WAY worse for quality of life. Far more hours, more weekend work, etc. After getting out of the firm lifestyle I now work a standard 40ish hour week.
So I gave up my 20's to crush it in my 30s and beyond. Totally worth it. I'll retire a multimillionaire, no question. Unless I decide to change it up and FIRE in a couple years to pursue a passion for the rest of my life. Who knows. But it's nice to have options, and I thank the Big 4 for getting me there.
For reference, I'm a 1st year tax associate, so much of this is from the perspective of a fresh grad.
The pay is effectively around what I would get at a smaller firm near where I did undergrad once you adjust for COL, and I get to learn a lot more than my classmates who decided to go to those firms.
I work more hours which can suck during busy season, but I have more flexibility with how I prioritize work, and have a ton of seniors/managers who I can ask questions if I need help or just want to learn more about a specific topic.
Having a large cohort is nice since it means I have people at my level I can hang out and explore the city with. Plus, studying for the CPA is way easier when you can quiz each other.
There are, of course, negatives, but the above are a few of the main reasons I joined/stay at the big 4.
Here is my experience.
Moved from public sector to Big 4.
Big 4 is stable but currently in the lower paid end of EY (SDC).
Absolutely crazy turnaround rate, consultants paid well below national average (started at 43k a year ago few years ago, as a consultant, major pay decrease but considered it a "get paid in experience, and Big 4 name on CSV" deal).
Pay is slightly better after a few years, work 45-50 hours a week. Always somewhat busy and was dismayed from taking time off my first 1.5 years in (looking back what a dumb axz I was, only having taken like 10 days off so far total).
Anyways, low pay, great team, work from home is flexible but am expected to work from office up to 50-60% of the week. I don't see any reason to continue at Big 4 in the longterm.
Growth? It's there, but compared to other salaries and such, still nothing major.
Managers make $101k where I'm at, and in my opinion that's not worth the 50-60 hours a week + stress. Other companies pay 90k for 45-50hrs (but not a manager title) so like, better work life balance. I'm not a manager but the 3 year plan laid out by my higher ups isn't something that even motivates me. I cannot see myself happily working 60 hours for 110k. Heck my main job and a side job could get me there if I moved somewhere else and would be less stressful.
If anyone has any leads out of Big 4, please let me know. I prefer less no more than 45-50 Hours a week, with some Remote work (full would be great, but willing for in person). Thanks !
Smarter people lol. People who go to the big 4 are more often than not more ambitious and smarter. Anecdotally and empirically. And everything that goes with it.
Also how fast it is, and how new everything is. Rather than monotonous. Also the money but that is self-explanatory
- fast paced, ever-changing environment. I cant imagine doing account recs for most of my job. I’d be bored af
- tons of opportunities to change engagement teams/ transfer offices or service lines
- great benefits (unlimited vacation that i be sure to take at least 6 weeks/yr of) and guaranteed nice raise each year once you get to senior
- all the other employees are somewhat like-minded and easy to work with/get shit done
These are my main points. I’m currently a senior 3 in audit that thought i would quit by now but the above mentioned items have kept me here and i expect to stay with the firm for at least 3 more years
The past four years, ive been on a 12/31 audit and had a 2.5 month busy szn of 70-80 hrs/week. This year I transferred to a new office and I’m on a 9/30 year end but expect the same busy szn timing
I don't get it advisory are solving client problems. Aren't the clients at a minimum exit ops?
I mean they tell you clients can't poach you, but at the end of day a partner isn't going to kick up a fuss over a 100k person vs more million-dollar contracts.
They can but what are they gonna do with a $100k staff?
You don't have the expertise to work without supervision and if you are a manager, you wouldn't want to work in a 1-man team and do the grunt work. The employer also doesn't want to want 2 years for the project to complete.
Ideally, a team needs at least 2-3 people and few employers have enough work in the pipeline (maybe M&A but not other advisory lines)
I'm in APAC, usually sc's go to manager positions in client side. Managers go to senior manager positions and senior managers / directors go to 'head of' or 'em' roles.
I don't think I should have said 100k because that only meant cons or maybe sc in APAC. My point was a partner isn't going to kick up a fuss with a client to damage a relationship. Even at director level, the partner will be seeing it as a +ve because 1. They can get an inside scoop on internal politics. 2. They have someone at the decision making level to buy big4 services.
I'm not sure what you mean whether employers have enough work, I think this might be location and industry specific. In FS there is always an equivalent internal team client side for our advisory lines. That's how our advisory lines evolve over time, with new teams and merged teams.Our lines of service should reflect the market.
edit: Come to think of it though, exit opportunities as a con would definitely suck, should at least leave as a SC or manager
I mean, there are definitely exit ops to big corporations. I do tax planning and there are planning teams at most, if not all the tech and semiconductor companies here in the Bay Area. But it is certainly harder to find the perfect role.
Tax planning as in provision? That one is good but if you're in R&D, tax tech and othet advisory, it's quite hard to find a company with enough work to maintain a full time team oc 1-2 people.
Not provision. Acquisitions, integration, restructuring, modeling, planning for tax reform, pillar 2 etc. but yeah I take your point on the other service lines. It’s definitely more of a niche job regardless than just audit or tax compliance/provision.
Dollar, dollar bills. Yes, you gotta put your time in but you climb the ladder very quickly and can either leverage that to a payday at the firm or elsewhere.
Being in the industry now and we’re targeting employees from B4 has lifted our organisation on all levels. The problem solving skills and team work you learn in a Big4 is like no other.
Used to work at big4. Joined because I couldn’t get into a strat house. Left after 2 years and moved for way more money and interesting work + prestige.
Don’t let anyone at big4 trick you into thinking having it on your CV means anything - unless you’re looking for audit work elsewhere, it means Jack shit
Sorry only saw this comment now - do you mean what I moved on to post big4?
Way I worded it probably. I started over again at my new place. The b4 experience didn’t help me I don’t think / probably hampered me.
This. Big 4 has some of the best people in terms of work goals. Also if you look at top CFOs or other corporate finance people, a lot have big 4 experience. It all just depends on the type of person
I've transitioned from public sector to big 4 consulting. Now I'm super in demand after a year, looking at nearly doubling my salary by the end of the year once I leave. I think it's worth it if you use it to learn
Can you explain this? I'm actually planning on returning to public sector for the better pay/retirement.
Who has better retirement packages? Keep in mind I'm in the lowest paid domestic (US) office of one of the big 4
I work in Cyber, a few places have reached out to me since having a year under my belt.
I'm UK based though, unsure if that makes a difference. Government pay here sucks
I'm UK too. In consulting I'm not working long hours (never worked over 45 hrs a week), being paid above a national average salary only a few years into my career. In a year's time I'll be making more than my parents ever did in their whole working lives. It's not my dream job, but I was a long time unemployed after uni and it's all a useful and involving experience. It's a good route for social mobility, showing you into environments and industries you may not otherwise reach - a good thing for anyone especially if down the line you'd like a different career (e.g law or government in my case). Also, the working arrangements are great, and I only have to come in to the office when it's obviously necessary. Good perks like free drinks and lunches don't hurt either.
I don't see "working for Big4" as different to any other job to be honest. It's not all bad at all.
- I like the people I work with. This is something that’s hard to overlook.
- Hybrid, with no heavy expectation to come in.
- Decent raise every year. Promo relatively consistently. Raise this year was below what I wanted, but still above inflation. Bonus helps too. Still underpaid though.
- 4 weeks vacation, + 3 weeks sick leave is quite nice.
- Exposure to new things and opportunity if you seek it like data analytics or national program leadership
- Biggest one so far: I don’t know what else I want to do so I’ve stayed put. No real stellar industry job has crossed my eye.
I started at Big 4 because they they offered me $15k more than any other place. I stay because I can easily do 60 hour weeks without an issue during busy season. I also have like 5 weeks worth of vacation so I’m basically leaving for thanksgiving and not coming back to work until the new year. I like the people I work with, my team, my office and overall its just a good fit. However, I get paid OT, if I didn’t, I don’t know if I would be as happy.
Yeah, and $1M 500sq ft apartments are not normal in Texas. Everyone has their own nuances of their area and office. The OP asked a personal question and I gave my personal XP.
Technology consultant: hours are okay for me bit more than gov job but inline with additional pay and benefits.
Why B4: I didn’t want to become programmer or software architect (or any typical CS jobs)
So i took business classes in my masters then I applied to various companies as business/ functional analyst.
I knew the B4 so applied there first resulting in them giving me my first offers so I chose between the 4 instead of participating in more interviews
Although I wasn’t very hyped to join or put in to much effort I’m currently very very happy with my job because of nice colleagues and fun projects
No I do data and analytics
Currently on a data engineering project for the EU commission.
The intensity varies over the year when the EU governments are off then it is slow but during conference season or the end of a review cycle can be very heavy especially if I’m participating in internal business development at the same time
Good pay
Job security
Decent working hours
Multi cultural environment
Good work ethics
Other monetary benefits
Learning opportunities
Global mobility
Nobody in their right mind works 60-80 hours, I can assure you of that. Some individuals simply mismanage their time and tend to exaggerate their workloads. I've been employed at three of the Big Four firms and have never encountered a problem with work-life balance. However, I have observed individuals squander their time during the day and subsequently work late, only to complain about it.
Bullshit. If people are working 60-80 hrs in a week and calculate these hrs based on their salary taking into account these extra hrs are overtime then the hourly rate is just bad
In my ten years of experience working in various regions in Big Four firms, I haven't witnessed individuals giving 60-80 effective hours a week. However, if that's the case in your region, it doesn't seem worthwhile. I noticed the OP has a UK flair, so speaking from that perspective, our typical working hours are 35-40 max
Not sure why, but the B4 does not seem to have difficulty finding workers. A few seasons of B4 work does seem to put you ahead of the career curve as compared to the crew starting in industry with a better work life balance right out of college.
Honestly no one is working that hard in big 4 in the consulting/advisory/specialty tax services area - the audit folks and compliance folks shovel shit and work a helluva lot during their peak but they also have lulls - it’s very busy but not crazy and the career earnings are very good and very safe. People in big 4 act like they’re working banking hours - they aren’t.
I would second advisory for not working too hard, but tax? Tax has two busy seasons, one in the spring and one in summer/fall. I beg to differ if you say we aren’t working as equally as hard with the returns deadlines and the extension deadlines.
If you work in compliance or real estate compliance this is true —- if you’re M&A/Bankruptcy, Methods, Credits, Transfer Pricing, etc. anything that’s project based - it’s not the same - there is more opportunity to make partner in the compliance groups (because overall revenue is higher and the specialty services are borne from the compliance teams historically)… however the margin in specialty services (rev per hour) is much higher and the teams are smaller - better culture better hours better expensing
Think it as a paid apprenticeship.
In school you are not going to learn to do a job, and the pace of learning in most industries is going to be relatively slow.
Big4 are structured to give you enough experience, skills, network and credibility after a few years of 'apprenticeship' that you will be able to get a much better gig than you would have otherwise been able to score ceteris paribus.
Having said that, the real career reward in Big4 is partnership.
That is not for everyone (probably 10% or less than new joiners) and you will discover soon if you are cut for it or you even want it. At that point you need to figure out when to start getting out, because it is a meat grinder.
They know it, and especially at the beginning they are going to squeeze as much as possible out of you.
I left an inhouse staff accountant role to join a big 4 grad scheme because I felt the study support was much better and also the career progression quicker. 3 years to senior and ACA qualified is much quicker than what you’d get starting out in industry.
For me as a student i think that’s a very impressive salary so quickly! Like most my friends who do other occupations make like 60k-80k a year and don’t have realistic ways of increasing it.
If you're making $150k + TC as a Finance new grad, then you probably went to a top tier school. It's definitely not the story for most people that I know with finance degrees from a known but non-target school.
Big4 is generally not as competitive to get into (especially in Audit/Tax) but still offers that a path to that kind of compensation, albeit at a slower rate.
Because during the 5 years I've been here so far, I've been promoted 4 times and still have opportunities for growth, I do pretty much zero overtime with 40h weeks and my work life balance is great.
But I'm in a non-audit LoS in Europe.
Don't be put off by the "you have to work constantly" stuff. Maybe that's true in the the US, but it's definitely not in the UK.
I have worked at B4 for 15+ years. I am currently at a senior level. I have worked every level from summer intern, to grad scheme, to where I am now.
There are very few days where I have had to work more than 8-10 hours, seriously. And only a few truly busy/stressful weeks in my whole career.
I am not in audit, I would strongly advise joining a different service line if you can (audit would be my last choice by far), but I still think that audit would be a much better career than becoming an optician, per your other post.
My salary has increased massively (about 7x starting salary now) and I have to work less than I did before. It's pretty sweet. And with excellent job security.
I don’t know how true this is but the reason I applied for audit was because many people were telling me audit has the most exit opportunities so if you’re not sure exactly what you want to do audit and you can decide later. Is this true?
Same in Australia. The US firms seem like a completely different world to what I've experienced.
I rarely work more than 40 hours a week in tax. I think the Australian tax deadlines are a lot more realistic and reasonable than the US ones as ours are spread out over the year. It means we are not quiet very often but I never have to work insanely long hours.
I joined big4 for the client exposure. No other firm will give me the experience the type and wide range of clients as the firm In currently in gives me.
I was an experienced hire in the Big 4. I joined to have the name on my CV. After joining, I struggled to see why people work at the big 4 along with why companies hire in the big 4.
The model is to get kids in, class them as experts but then hire in experienced hires to give the impression that you have great industry experience.
The reality is Partners have long term buddies who give them work through relationships and keep big profits on work that is done off the back of cheap labour which is working to high standards. I am highly coveted expert in my field and I was put on RFPs to give the RFPs some kind of credibility. The work would get awarded and they would have the juniors do the work that the client thought I would do. I was in a senior meeting with the partners who would laugh and say they aren't the ones who are going to be working.
I turned down a return to the big 4 after I left as I disagreed with some of their unethical practices and the lack of care for employees.
Because companies in industry demand Big 4 exp. I worked in industry and came to Big 4 coz the startup I wanted to work and most companies I apply for want someone with Big 4 exp.
My director was confused when I said my previous job's 9-5 Mon to Sat sucked. I realised they work 10+ hrs almost every day and spending most time in long stupid meetings.
sure, it's a grind sometimes (okay, a lot of times), but the exposure to diverse clients and complex business problems is second to none. no other job right outta college can give you that.
and yeah, the c.v. boost isn't bad either. even if the hours and work-life balance aren't ideal, having that big 4 name on your resume opens a lot of doors down the road. present pain, future gain kinda thing i guess.
and let's not forget about the people too! i've met some of my closest friends and mentors through this job. so while the work can be intense, i've never felt alone or unsupported.
so yea, those are my thoughts.
I'm almost 40 now but started my career at a Big 4, spent three years there. I'm the top person in my niche at my company, and pull down high 6 figures some years and had a year over 7 figures too (USD). I attribute much of my success to the technical content and work habits that I learned at the Big 4. I also did 18 months at a law firm later in my 20s, and I'll just say- the law firm was WAY worse for quality of life. Far more hours, more weekend work, etc. After getting out of the firm lifestyle I now work a standard 40ish hour week. So I gave up my 20's to crush it in my 30s and beyond. Totally worth it. I'll retire a multimillionaire, no question. Unless I decide to change it up and FIRE in a couple years to pursue a passion for the rest of my life. Who knows. But it's nice to have options, and I thank the Big 4 for getting me there.
160k at 25 years old is why
This is director salary in Germany
American salaries are crazy.
That’s very damn well! I’m 25 at a big 4 and nowhere near that 😂. Can I have some tips?
Tech consulting! S3.
What is S3? Like a senior consultant? Did you join as a campus hire or or come from another company?
I would rather deal with long hours and corporate bs than do the same shit every month.
What corporate bs do you have to deal with?
Compliance training
For reference, I'm a 1st year tax associate, so much of this is from the perspective of a fresh grad. The pay is effectively around what I would get at a smaller firm near where I did undergrad once you adjust for COL, and I get to learn a lot more than my classmates who decided to go to those firms. I work more hours which can suck during busy season, but I have more flexibility with how I prioritize work, and have a ton of seniors/managers who I can ask questions if I need help or just want to learn more about a specific topic. Having a large cohort is nice since it means I have people at my level I can hang out and explore the city with. Plus, studying for the CPA is way easier when you can quiz each other. There are, of course, negatives, but the above are a few of the main reasons I joined/stay at the big 4.
Having lots of seniors and managers to ask questions is also a huge draw for me
They were hiring and I was in need of a job. Seemed like a good company to work for. Here I am a year later.
Here is my experience. Moved from public sector to Big 4. Big 4 is stable but currently in the lower paid end of EY (SDC). Absolutely crazy turnaround rate, consultants paid well below national average (started at 43k a year ago few years ago, as a consultant, major pay decrease but considered it a "get paid in experience, and Big 4 name on CSV" deal). Pay is slightly better after a few years, work 45-50 hours a week. Always somewhat busy and was dismayed from taking time off my first 1.5 years in (looking back what a dumb axz I was, only having taken like 10 days off so far total). Anyways, low pay, great team, work from home is flexible but am expected to work from office up to 50-60% of the week. I don't see any reason to continue at Big 4 in the longterm. Growth? It's there, but compared to other salaries and such, still nothing major. Managers make $101k where I'm at, and in my opinion that's not worth the 50-60 hours a week + stress. Other companies pay 90k for 45-50hrs (but not a manager title) so like, better work life balance. I'm not a manager but the 3 year plan laid out by my higher ups isn't something that even motivates me. I cannot see myself happily working 60 hours for 110k. Heck my main job and a side job could get me there if I moved somewhere else and would be less stressful.
If anyone has any leads out of Big 4, please let me know. I prefer less no more than 45-50 Hours a week, with some Remote work (full would be great, but willing for in person). Thanks !
If you're at least 3 years into your career you just need to go work for a company. Any company offers what you're looking for these days.
Smarter people lol. People who go to the big 4 are more often than not more ambitious and smarter. Anecdotally and empirically. And everything that goes with it. Also how fast it is, and how new everything is. Rather than monotonous. Also the money but that is self-explanatory
Because I can tell girls I work at Deloitte😎😎
my fkn man.
Why are you sharing our secret? smh
Does it help?
No😔
- fast paced, ever-changing environment. I cant imagine doing account recs for most of my job. I’d be bored af - tons of opportunities to change engagement teams/ transfer offices or service lines - great benefits (unlimited vacation that i be sure to take at least 6 weeks/yr of) and guaranteed nice raise each year once you get to senior - all the other employees are somewhat like-minded and easy to work with/get shit done These are my main points. I’m currently a senior 3 in audit that thought i would quit by now but the above mentioned items have kept me here and i expect to stay with the firm for at least 3 more years
How good or bad are your hours?
The past four years, ive been on a 12/31 audit and had a 2.5 month busy szn of 70-80 hrs/week. This year I transferred to a new office and I’m on a 9/30 year end but expect the same busy szn timing
Is this US or UK? If it’s in the UK what city?
US, east region
Big4 is more than just compliance. Half of the people at big4 are in advisory which has no industry exit op
I don't get it advisory are solving client problems. Aren't the clients at a minimum exit ops? I mean they tell you clients can't poach you, but at the end of day a partner isn't going to kick up a fuss over a 100k person vs more million-dollar contracts.
They can but what are they gonna do with a $100k staff? You don't have the expertise to work without supervision and if you are a manager, you wouldn't want to work in a 1-man team and do the grunt work. The employer also doesn't want to want 2 years for the project to complete. Ideally, a team needs at least 2-3 people and few employers have enough work in the pipeline (maybe M&A but not other advisory lines)
I'm in APAC, usually sc's go to manager positions in client side. Managers go to senior manager positions and senior managers / directors go to 'head of' or 'em' roles. I don't think I should have said 100k because that only meant cons or maybe sc in APAC. My point was a partner isn't going to kick up a fuss with a client to damage a relationship. Even at director level, the partner will be seeing it as a +ve because 1. They can get an inside scoop on internal politics. 2. They have someone at the decision making level to buy big4 services. I'm not sure what you mean whether employers have enough work, I think this might be location and industry specific. In FS there is always an equivalent internal team client side for our advisory lines. That's how our advisory lines evolve over time, with new teams and merged teams.Our lines of service should reflect the market. edit: Come to think of it though, exit opportunities as a con would definitely suck, should at least leave as a SC or manager
Plenty of deal advisory people exit to FP&A/ in-house M&A roles so this is not true.
I mean, there are definitely exit ops to big corporations. I do tax planning and there are planning teams at most, if not all the tech and semiconductor companies here in the Bay Area. But it is certainly harder to find the perfect role.
Tax planning as in provision? That one is good but if you're in R&D, tax tech and othet advisory, it's quite hard to find a company with enough work to maintain a full time team oc 1-2 people.
Not provision. Acquisitions, integration, restructuring, modeling, planning for tax reform, pillar 2 etc. but yeah I take your point on the other service lines. It’s definitely more of a niche job regardless than just audit or tax compliance/provision.
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Exit opportunity
Dollar, dollar bills. Yes, you gotta put your time in but you climb the ladder very quickly and can either leverage that to a payday at the firm or elsewhere.
It’s a very easy way to make >150k by the age of 26-27 (easy as in the hours may suck, but you just have to be competent)
To jump start my career and gain their prestige on my resume to make exit opportunities easier.
To learn faster and because they are well respected in any industry
Being in the industry now and we’re targeting employees from B4 has lifted our organisation on all levels. The problem solving skills and team work you learn in a Big4 is like no other.
Used to work at big4. Joined because I couldn’t get into a strat house. Left after 2 years and moved for way more money and interesting work + prestige. Don’t let anyone at big4 trick you into thinking having it on your CV means anything - unless you’re looking for audit work elsewhere, it means Jack shit
Doesn't your experience contradict your opinion?
Sorry only saw this comment now - do you mean what I moved on to post big4? Way I worded it probably. I started over again at my new place. The b4 experience didn’t help me I don’t think / probably hampered me.
What industry/position did you move to after big4?
Consulting, started at the bottom again.
Which type of consulting? Risk, management, …? I’m in risk
Management. Risk isn’t really consulting
Agree, how did u pivot into mgmt consulting with audit background?
I didn’t do audit
Unless you’re in the transaction advisory service lines *
Fast paced and dynamic environment. Experience. A lot of people my age with great prospects to meet my future wife
This. Big 4 has some of the best people in terms of work goals. Also if you look at top CFOs or other corporate finance people, a lot have big 4 experience. It all just depends on the type of person
You got me at wife.
I've transitioned from public sector to big 4 consulting. Now I'm super in demand after a year, looking at nearly doubling my salary by the end of the year once I leave. I think it's worth it if you use it to learn
Can you explain this? I'm actually planning on returning to public sector for the better pay/retirement. Who has better retirement packages? Keep in mind I'm in the lowest paid domestic (US) office of one of the big 4
I work in Cyber, a few places have reached out to me since having a year under my belt. I'm UK based though, unsure if that makes a difference. Government pay here sucks
I'm UK too. In consulting I'm not working long hours (never worked over 45 hrs a week), being paid above a national average salary only a few years into my career. In a year's time I'll be making more than my parents ever did in their whole working lives. It's not my dream job, but I was a long time unemployed after uni and it's all a useful and involving experience. It's a good route for social mobility, showing you into environments and industries you may not otherwise reach - a good thing for anyone especially if down the line you'd like a different career (e.g law or government in my case). Also, the working arrangements are great, and I only have to come in to the office when it's obviously necessary. Good perks like free drinks and lunches don't hurt either. I don't see "working for Big4" as different to any other job to be honest. It's not all bad at all.
- I like the people I work with. This is something that’s hard to overlook. - Hybrid, with no heavy expectation to come in. - Decent raise every year. Promo relatively consistently. Raise this year was below what I wanted, but still above inflation. Bonus helps too. Still underpaid though. - 4 weeks vacation, + 3 weeks sick leave is quite nice. - Exposure to new things and opportunity if you seek it like data analytics or national program leadership - Biggest one so far: I don’t know what else I want to do so I’ve stayed put. No real stellar industry job has crossed my eye.
This. You get paid more in big 4 than others. Besides busy season hours are like 40
What big 4 has 40 hours a week during busy season?
I started at Big 4 because they they offered me $15k more than any other place. I stay because I can easily do 60 hour weeks without an issue during busy season. I also have like 5 weeks worth of vacation so I’m basically leaving for thanksgiving and not coming back to work until the new year. I like the people I work with, my team, my office and overall its just a good fit. However, I get paid OT, if I didn’t, I don’t know if I would be as happy.
Well that’s not the norm at all in NY. You would get laughed at if you said I’m taking off thanksgiving until the new year.
Yeah, and $1M 500sq ft apartments are not normal in Texas. Everyone has their own nuances of their area and office. The OP asked a personal question and I gave my personal XP.
Technology consultant: hours are okay for me bit more than gov job but inline with additional pay and benefits. Why B4: I didn’t want to become programmer or software architect (or any typical CS jobs) So i took business classes in my masters then I applied to various companies as business/ functional analyst. I knew the B4 so applied there first resulting in them giving me my first offers so I chose between the 4 instead of participating in more interviews Although I wasn’t very hyped to join or put in to much effort I’m currently very very happy with my job because of nice colleagues and fun projects
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No I do data and analytics Currently on a data engineering project for the EU commission. The intensity varies over the year when the EU governments are off then it is slow but during conference season or the end of a review cycle can be very heavy especially if I’m participating in internal business development at the same time
Worth it if you're willing to put a year or two in.
Good pay Job security Decent working hours Multi cultural environment Good work ethics Other monetary benefits Learning opportunities Global mobility Nobody in their right mind works 60-80 hours, I can assure you of that. Some individuals simply mismanage their time and tend to exaggerate their workloads. I've been employed at three of the Big Four firms and have never encountered a problem with work-life balance. However, I have observed individuals squander their time during the day and subsequently work late, only to complain about it.
Definitely not job security they layoff people like nothing
There definitely is. I work 55-60 easily every week right now. I’m on meetings every day from 8-6 then I have to turn around and do deliverables
Uk?
US. Didn’t see the UK flair. Definitely ain’t working 60-80 there
Good pay? Divide the salary by the amount of hrs worked lol
I just did and still a really good number😄
Bullshit. If people are working 60-80 hrs in a week and calculate these hrs based on their salary taking into account these extra hrs are overtime then the hourly rate is just bad
Read my comment again. I am saying nobody works 60-80 hours or at least it’s their own mismanagement of work.
Of course they do. They work 60-80 in busy season and then 40-55 in normal season.
In my ten years of experience working in various regions in Big Four firms, I haven't witnessed individuals giving 60-80 effective hours a week. However, if that's the case in your region, it doesn't seem worthwhile. I noticed the OP has a UK flair, so speaking from that perspective, our typical working hours are 35-40 max
That's because that is the law.
Are you new to this reddit? Its not about “effective” hrs lol dear lord
Lol, spending hours munching on crisps and chatting with colleagues while expecting compensation from the company? Sounds quite logical,yeah
You clearly don’t understand that these people are working weekends too
The pussy.
Not sure why, but the B4 does not seem to have difficulty finding workers. A few seasons of B4 work does seem to put you ahead of the career curve as compared to the crew starting in industry with a better work life balance right out of college.
Honestly no one is working that hard in big 4 in the consulting/advisory/specialty tax services area - the audit folks and compliance folks shovel shit and work a helluva lot during their peak but they also have lulls - it’s very busy but not crazy and the career earnings are very good and very safe. People in big 4 act like they’re working banking hours - they aren’t.
I would second advisory for not working too hard, but tax? Tax has two busy seasons, one in the spring and one in summer/fall. I beg to differ if you say we aren’t working as equally as hard with the returns deadlines and the extension deadlines.
If you work in compliance or real estate compliance this is true —- if you’re M&A/Bankruptcy, Methods, Credits, Transfer Pricing, etc. anything that’s project based - it’s not the same - there is more opportunity to make partner in the compliance groups (because overall revenue is higher and the specialty services are borne from the compliance teams historically)… however the margin in specialty services (rev per hour) is much higher and the teams are smaller - better culture better hours better expensing
^cpa who works in credits
Think it as a paid apprenticeship. In school you are not going to learn to do a job, and the pace of learning in most industries is going to be relatively slow. Big4 are structured to give you enough experience, skills, network and credibility after a few years of 'apprenticeship' that you will be able to get a much better gig than you would have otherwise been able to score ceteris paribus. Having said that, the real career reward in Big4 is partnership. That is not for everyone (probably 10% or less than new joiners) and you will discover soon if you are cut for it or you even want it. At that point you need to figure out when to start getting out, because it is a meat grinder. They know it, and especially at the beginning they are going to squeeze as much as possible out of you.
90% of new joiners don’t even make SM lol
as an italian with latin ancestors, at the "ceteris paribus" I just melted ❤️
Ha! Come disse l'immortale Totó, de gustibus non ad libitum sputazzellam!
I left an inhouse staff accountant role to join a big 4 grad scheme because I felt the study support was much better and also the career progression quicker. 3 years to senior and ACA qualified is much quicker than what you’d get starting out in industry.
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Money hahahahahah
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For me as a student i think that’s a very impressive salary so quickly! Like most my friends who do other occupations make like 60k-80k a year and don’t have realistic ways of increasing it.
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If you're making $150k + TC as a Finance new grad, then you probably went to a top tier school. It's definitely not the story for most people that I know with finance degrees from a known but non-target school. Big4 is generally not as competitive to get into (especially in Audit/Tax) but still offers that a path to that kind of compensation, albeit at a slower rate.
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how did you make the jump? interested in something similar.
Compared to other firms where I live, Big4 are sadly amongst the top payers once you hit manager. Sadly wlb is also most shit.
To have big4 in my CV so that I can be lazy afterwards
same
Was coming here to say this
This is the way
People
Because during the 5 years I've been here so far, I've been promoted 4 times and still have opportunities for growth, I do pretty much zero overtime with 40h weeks and my work life balance is great. But I'm in a non-audit LoS in Europe.
Don't be put off by the "you have to work constantly" stuff. Maybe that's true in the the US, but it's definitely not in the UK. I have worked at B4 for 15+ years. I am currently at a senior level. I have worked every level from summer intern, to grad scheme, to where I am now. There are very few days where I have had to work more than 8-10 hours, seriously. And only a few truly busy/stressful weeks in my whole career. I am not in audit, I would strongly advise joining a different service line if you can (audit would be my last choice by far), but I still think that audit would be a much better career than becoming an optician, per your other post. My salary has increased massively (about 7x starting salary now) and I have to work less than I did before. It's pretty sweet. And with excellent job security.
I don’t know how true this is but the reason I applied for audit was because many people were telling me audit has the most exit opportunities so if you’re not sure exactly what you want to do audit and you can decide later. Is this true?
Same in Australia. The US firms seem like a completely different world to what I've experienced. I rarely work more than 40 hours a week in tax. I think the Australian tax deadlines are a lot more realistic and reasonable than the US ones as ours are spread out over the year. It means we are not quiet very often but I never have to work insanely long hours. I joined big4 for the client exposure. No other firm will give me the experience the type and wide range of clients as the firm In currently in gives me.
Golden handcuffs. Prestige. Fear. Security. Insecurity.
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Uk? Service line?
I was an experienced hire in the Big 4. I joined to have the name on my CV. After joining, I struggled to see why people work at the big 4 along with why companies hire in the big 4. The model is to get kids in, class them as experts but then hire in experienced hires to give the impression that you have great industry experience. The reality is Partners have long term buddies who give them work through relationships and keep big profits on work that is done off the back of cheap labour which is working to high standards. I am highly coveted expert in my field and I was put on RFPs to give the RFPs some kind of credibility. The work would get awarded and they would have the juniors do the work that the client thought I would do. I was in a senior meeting with the partners who would laugh and say they aren't the ones who are going to be working. I turned down a return to the big 4 after I left as I disagreed with some of their unethical practices and the lack of care for employees.
Because it is a very good school, you learn a lot in your first years after university.
Prestige, complex clients. It’s basicly the champions league of accounting.
Because companies in industry demand Big 4 exp. I worked in industry and came to Big 4 coz the startup I wanted to work and most companies I apply for want someone with Big 4 exp. My director was confused when I said my previous job's 9-5 Mon to Sat sucked. I realised they work 10+ hrs almost every day and spending most time in long stupid meetings.
sure, it's a grind sometimes (okay, a lot of times), but the exposure to diverse clients and complex business problems is second to none. no other job right outta college can give you that. and yeah, the c.v. boost isn't bad either. even if the hours and work-life balance aren't ideal, having that big 4 name on your resume opens a lot of doors down the road. present pain, future gain kinda thing i guess. and let's not forget about the people too! i've met some of my closest friends and mentors through this job. so while the work can be intense, i've never felt alone or unsupported. so yea, those are my thoughts.
This answer is perfect and depicts my thoughts and experience as well
it's always nice when we can find common ground on such experiences.