@CA_Future_CPA_1222
Everything I wrote was based on what I've acquired from speaking with alumni and other people who work or worked at Big 4. I'm saying a smaller firm can be a good place to start out for a college graduate because you gain a more breadth knowledge of everything (tax, audit, consulting) in your first years than at the first years at a Big 4.
A Senior at KPMG sat down next to me at a fraternity dinner and was telling me that the work can get very repetitive and tedious because due to the vast resources and amount of employees at a Big 4. Instead of learning about a wide variety of things at a smaller firm, you just become really specialized in a small area at a Big 4. Once again, this was based on his experience after a few years at a Big 4. Your mileage may vary.
Plus, if you are still in college and is just as confused as I still am, you may not know what path (audit, consulting, tax) to take. Once again, at a small firm you will have the opportunity to get your feet wet across all those aspects — then after a few years you can decide what you want to specialize in. This transition makes much more sense to me than trying to decide what path you want to take only based on what you've heard from other people (which was actually the advice given to me by a Big 4 recruiter).
I was only defending the choice to work at a firm that's not a Big 4. It's okay, you will make it in this world. Do I still wish I had been accepted at a Big 4? Hell yes — but my greatest problem is that I'm don't care for bullshit and I don't see myself as the totally outgoing suck-up that some people can be in order to “fit in” with the Big 4.
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