[cantpassagain1]

Hey guys, I just started at a B4 a little less than a month ago and am kind of worried and already have pretty bad anxiety. I am in indirect tax apart of a national team of about 80 people. In short, I feel like I am going to get fired. My reason for thinking this is because I have to ask for work everyday and it has been mainly administrative stuff as well as some tax research and analysis. I have been told by staff that no one gets trained but they have not given me an opportunity to learn nor have they given me any sort of role or set of responsibilities. Also, I sit close to management and hear one side of a phone call that I feel like is about me, and doesnt seem to be positive.

I work hard, I have not messed up once (on either the real work or admin stuff), ask for work and ask questions constantly. I am polite and talk to everyone about friendly things when it seems appropriate. However, I feel like something isnt clicking. I know my group needs the help because we have been short staffed for years. I have “training” set up at the end of the month.

Does getting fired within a month happen? Is this just how things start?

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

[Anonymous]

You do “onboarding” for like a month. Do not worry, become friendly with a senior or manager and start taking their low hanging fruit off their desk and you will learn and progress.

[Recked]

I am not exactly sure what indirect tax entails, but most tax offices don't have much going on right now, unless its year end tax projections and planning, which you can't really give to a new person. Ask other staff or team members when the busy season is for your office. I am willing to bet its coming up after January 1st.
I also don't think they would have hired someone if they are as slow as you say with no sign of things picking up soon.
They don't usually hire someone just to fire them. They hire before they get busy, so they are prepared when it happens.
Let it ride and see where it takes you.

[Ana]

highly doubt you'll be fired in a month. like everyone else said it's slow season for tax. don't be paranoid and just do a good job everyday (seems like you are).

[Hmmmmm]

Try not to worry so much. There are no other major deadlines at the moment so I agree with the others that there may not be any priority work for you. It's only been a month so it's normal to feel uncertainty and not knowing fully your set of tasks.

It sounds like you are doing what I recommend most new staff to do. You're taking an active approach to picking up work. I would be sure to shoot an e-mail to your direct when you are nearing completion of current tasks (ie. Hi Susie, I should be wrapping up that task you sent me earlier today in about 30 minutes or so, please let me know if there is anything else I can assist with) – this gives them time to find you something so you aren't bugging them all the time. You can always ask your peers too if this lull is normal and if there is anything more you could or should be doing. They have a better read on your work place.

At least at my Big4 firm when I was there, it was really rare to get fired. You'd have to suck and have a really bad attitude.

[cantpassagain1]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. It seems like every day gets better. To clarify, our busy season is typical but just more drawn out so we dont slow down until June-July.

How can I show a good attitude? I know this sounds stupid but I know I already have a pretty ugly thinking face and I try to be cognizant of it but I cant help it. I have conversations with my senior manager and manager a lot about higher level things that I know staff from other offices around the country are assigned on this time of year. The staff from my office dont have college degrees so its hard to go from passing all 4 sections of the CPA exam in 6 months to putting documents in order…

[Radez]

Can't speak specifically to public experience, but your last comment struck me. Is this your first job? The logic may be that having you organize documents also provides you an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the firms documentation and processes while simultaneously accomplishing a necessary but boring task for the firm. There's a lot of crap that I imagine needs to be learned through osmosis, but that only happens if you're actively engaged in understanding what you're doing and why and what it can tell you about your work environment. I would caution against being dismissive of scutwork as beneath you. You should be building a model in your head as you work through this administrative and minor research stuff of how documents are formatted, specific nomenclature preferred by the firm, available resources for research, and also relevant areas for further study.

I work in industry. I don't expect my junior staff to be highly sophisticated in their ability to tackle work, but I do expect them to critically engage with the work they have and to develop an understanding of how it fits into the larger picture so that they can begin to anticipate and proactively manage risks and opportunities.

[Son]

Second posters above me, especially Radez.

It is very common for first year folks in Big4 to spend the first few months in a semi-idle state. It's hard to plug someone in mid-project, especially someone brand new.

Don't brush off grunt work. Who else would you have working on it if there's no one less experienced than you?

Measure your questions. If your manager or partner are busy, better drop by every day or every other day and ask for work, but time it correctly and try not to be overly pushy.

Also, I was curious – you mentioned two staffs in your department don't have college degrees, how is that possible? Are you sure you aren't talking about admin assistants (secretaries of your partners)?

AUD - passed
REG - passed
BEC - passed
FAR - passed

[cantpassagain1]

@Radez No, I did an accounting internship in industry before grad school and have had multiple other jobs through high school and college. Thanks for the insight though, I appreciate it.

@son Thats all understandable, I am cognizant of how and when I should ask for work. No the other staff dont because part of some engagements have parts that are very low level (meaning anyone can do it). We have a specific admin come in during busy season.

[Author]

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