[cantpassagain1]

Just started with a B4 two weeks ago as staff 1. Im in indirect tax and it is a national team about 80-90 of us and 7 of us that sit in my office. The last person to be hired in my office was a manager that came from another B4 about a year ago, and no staff have been hired for probably a decade.

That being said they aren’t really training me at all. When I ask for tasks they give me things that the other two staff with no college degree are doing (scanning, printing, stuffing envelops). I understand I am brand new but this is literally a living hell for me. I want to learn and frankly I am very good at learning without much explanation.

They have not really told me what role I will have, and I am praying that I dont get stuck doing what the other staff are doing.

Should I be worried? Will they train me or am I completely missing the point and should not be expecting any training?

[r00shine]

I am very surprised by that. I might expect this from a small or regional firm but I am surprised a big 4 is like that. I am in Big 4 as well and as soon as i joined as an associate, it was 2 weeks of classroom training then i pretty much went right into serious audit work. It was the same for all the new associates I knew. Even new interns, tho we did have them printing/scanning/buying coffee/etc sometimes, in their first week we had them doing search for unrecorded liabilities testing and other real testing. I am really surprised you would have this issue at a big 4 or that there are any staff there with no college degrees. Is it just simply really slow season for your group or maybe it is a new group that just started? You should talk to HR and ask for other assignments or reach out to your assigned coaches/relationship partners.

I wouldn't be too worried tho. Big 4 is not the type to just let you sit idly doing office admin jobs for 20 years.

[ruggercpa2b]

The national office is completely different from the regular roles at Big 4. Is the team currently busy? Sometimes depending on when you join people may have deadlines that need to be met and just do not have the time to train someone till later. You stated that you don’t really know what your role is? When you interviewed did you ask what you would be doing? Or what did the job description say? I worked at Deloitte and the National roles were very different and if you did not ask the right questions you ended up hating what you were doing. The good thing is this could be your foot in the door and chance to possibly transfer to a client service role after a year.

One thing to remember no task should be above you. I did a rotation with our national tax office and I was filing and printing things as well before they had me work on returns. I was there for 3 months. I did everything with a smile on my face and made sure I constantly asked for more to do.

Also remember training varies from individual to individual. I had a boss who told me once to not go about expecting to be trained because it really does not exist. Some people hope you learn from doing the job and asking questions as you go. Some people will send you to actually train. Good Luck!

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[cantpassagain1]

@r00shine Thanks for the insight. Im in SALT so the seasons run together depending on the phase of the engagement we are in. We just finished filing for one state and are getting started on another. Im hoping they will have me jump in on this state. I know for a fact everyone is working and they say they are going to train me soon. But thanks, thats good to hear.

@ruggercpa2b Thanks for the tips. I am asking questions, even questions that I know the answer to strictly to show I am engaged and am following them. I ask for work all the time, so much that I think I am annoying them. When I am talking about training I just want to know how our software works (took 2 weeks to get access to it), how to find documentation I need, and what the engagement includes. I can figure out the tax part of it, hell thats why they hired me.

[ruggercpa2b]

Is there someone on your team that has been there a while that is approachable? If there is maybe you can ask that person if you ca set aside some time on their calendar to walk you through the software and locate documentation you need. Or ask if there are any resources available that you can use to help learn the software. National offices can be tricky because a lot of those people have been there for years and just do their work and don’t really know how to train since they hardly ever have any turnover.

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[cantpassagain1]

Hey guys I have another question because I am kind of worried and already have pretty bad anxiety as is. Ive been on the job for a little less than a month and have to ask for work everyday. I have “training” set up with another staff at the end of the month. However, I know that management talks about me on the phone with other management (we sit close to one another) and I am nervous that its not highly.

I work hard, I have not messed up once (literally), ask for work and ask questions constantly. However, I have not been given a definitive role or set of responsibilities. I am polite and talk to everyone about friendly things when it seems appropriate. However, I feel like something isnt clicking and am afraid I am going to get fired randomly. Does this happen or will I see more definitive signs? I know we need the help because the group has been short staffed for years.

Please, I need advice or insight, good or bad.

[Author]

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