[Anonymous]

Hi guys.

Should I leave my job at a major financial services firm where I work doing Financial Reporting to join Big 4 or smaller firm? I currently do financial reporting relating to Derivative and the Derivative Footnote of the financial statements. Do you think it would be useful to get that public experience at this point and then maybe get back into private after a couple years?

A little bit of background, I have no public experience, pay is pretty low so I don’t think I would take a paycut, I am currently doing my mba and pursuing my cpa so I will be able to go to the school recruiting stuff.

Additional information that may be a factor: I had to get HR involved at my current job against my manager’s manager and the director.

Basically my manager’s manager superceded my manager against standard suggested company guidelines and gave me a negative review/referral (as opposed to my manager who gave me a positive review, a referral for a promotion, and she thought and should had done the review) without telling anyone she would be doing this. She was also on maternity leave for second half of the year and none of my work goes through her but she was my direct manager the year prior before she got promoted where she also gave me a negative review (but spun it as an okay review when talking to me). Her being good friends with the director, the director sided with her and tried to cover it up.

After getting HR involved I received the promotion and significant pay raise (25%) but obviously they hate me now so opportunity may be stunted.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you'll definitely be wanting to look for something else, if your seniors are rather upset with you. 😐 Good for you standing up…but it definitely changes the work environment!

As for whether to go to Big 4 or not…do you want to? That may seem too basic…but…what do you want to do? If you really like financial services and would like to stay in it, then I'd be more prone to suggest looking for another financial services firm (maybe where you could move up a position/pay rate as well as getting a new set of management?) rather than switching to public accounting just to get out of the company. However, if financial services isn't where your long-term interest is, then public accounting can open the door to some more aspects of accounting.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the response. Yeah it has been rough but rather ridiculous that it even occurred.

I was thinking Big 4 probably would be easiest to get into through campus recruiting and may look good on the resume.

I would prefer to stay in the financial services financial reporting field but it is rather difficult to get a position outside without a good strong inside connection, a common question or comment that comes up is “oh, you don't have big 4 experience.” I'm not sure if it would be that easy considering I been out working for a few years now graduating in 09.

Perhaps afterwards I can get back into the financial services industry.

[acamp]

If a financial service company is where you want to be, I'd join a Big4, specialize in financial services clients and after a year of supervising (minimum) consider going back to private. Longer you stay in public the higher up you'll be when you're ready to move back to private. Most of your higher ups have Big4 public experience?

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[Anonymous]

In my company it's a mismash. VP level and up is mostly Big 4 public experience. But Directer and below there is a lot of individuals that were recruited straight from school through their finance rotational program and a lot of finance majors.

[Mayo]

I'd recommend getting away from that firm. It just seems like a weird if not negative environment.

Since you're asking specifically about Big 4:

-For time's sake, I'm not going to reiterate all the pros and cons of going big 4. A quick search on this forum will give you plenty of info.

-I think if you're moderately ambitious and eventually want to reach VP level, Big 4 is a more guaranteed path.

-I've seen superstars in industry hit that same level without big 4 experience. However, (and this might be biased by my personal experiences), it seems that financial services has an air of “superiority” that I really don't get from other industries (manufacturing, oil & gas,technology). So, purely speculating, I'd say the path in FS without a Big 4 background has more obstacles than other industries.

-Related to the point above, non FS sevices have rotational programs within their accounting/finance or Internal Audit departments. But for FS shops, I haven't seen the same type of mobility. Maybe it's due to Financial Service firms might not always have the size of other industries as they're not manufacturing or building anything. Then again, firms like Banks or large shops (aka Goldman Sachs) turn that point on its head. Still, I think it's worth considering.

-Anyhow, all to say this: Big 4 is a more “for sure” path to higher levels, gives you awesome skills, and has great networking. So I think if you get the chance and you know what you're getting into, go for it. At the very least, it gives you the opportunities to try out non-FS industries and figure out if you fit in better in the environment you're in or in a different type of industry. Trust me, each industry has its own “feel” for the most part, and big 4 or public in general will give you the chance to experience different types.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Author]

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