[thebigguy1992]

Let me start this off by saying I’m not sure if I selected the right “forum” topic, so if anyone can direct me let me know.

About me:

So I interned this past busy season at a Big 4 accounting firm in the south east (I won’t say the exact city for privacy reasons). The office is in the gulf coast (Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana region), and is fairly average-sized. I have one more year of my masters of accounting credits this year to complete, and then I start full-time in September. I received an average rating for my internship performance review, so I must have one well enough for one manager to vouch for my offer.

Here is the issue: I got an offer for this one city I interned in, and now I want to move back home, aka transfer offices.

Reasons I want to move: All my family is in Boston. All my friends are there too. It is home for me. I know I would want to transfer eventually, and also live there for at least the next ten years, so why not just start there now?

I want to ask my mentor if there is any way I could transfer and start full-time up north. I also don’t feel like I have the right to ask before I even started full-time. Is it against etiquette to ask to transfer cities before I even start full-time? When I was interning, one staff 2 moved to the office I interned at for family reasons. There was also a senior manager who moved because of his wife wanting to be in the city where I interned. So it’s not like the firm doesn’t support transferring. It’s just that one lady had a serious family issue, and the other person was a friggin senior manager. I’m just the intern who got a full-time offer and now I already want to transfer. I feel like my case is that it’s early enough that I’m asking that if this large amount of time they should be able to accommodate me. It is June 2015 now, I don’t start full-time for another 15 months.

[Anonymous]

Transfers happen all the time. I work at PwC and know a bunch of interns who interned in one city, but started full time in another. Just reach out to your coach/HR and let them know.

[rp 12]

Wait for the offfer to be presented first. Before make it official talk to your manager, and HR. Let them know why you want to move to Boston, MA. I think they will be open about it.

"Success in life comes when you simply refuse to give up, with goals so strong that obstacles, failure, and loss act only as motivation"

AUD: 68, 62, 77✔ (expires 10/31/16)
FAR: 53, 48, XX (retake 6/16)
REG:
BEC: 53

[thebigguy1992]

Hey, so the offer was presented to me during the internship, and at the time it was for the cities office I was interning in. I didn't know I wanted to move to the Boston office at the time so I didn't say anything. Now I know I want to move, I just don't know if I should request it ASAP, or wait until September/October when things pick up in the office again and people are off that lazy summer mode. Thoughts?

[rp 12]

Request it now. In the worst case. They will say NO. But nothing wrong in asking it. If you want to look for another big 4 in Boston area they might give you a second look to interview directly for FT role. Since you already interned at ABC big4 firm.

"Success in life comes when you simply refuse to give up, with goals so strong that obstacles, failure, and loss act only as motivation"

AUD: 68, 62, 77✔ (expires 10/31/16)
FAR: 53, 48, XX (retake 6/16)
REG:
BEC: 53

[thebigguy1992]

Ok, and who should I ask? The person who dealt with recruiting? Or my assigned mentor who also happens to be a senior manager?

[Anonymous]

If you havent started work then it's not really a transfer. I interned in one city knowing I wouldn't start there. When I recieved the offer I contacted the region recruiter and she switched the offer the next day. Key here was I didn't sign the offer until it had been switched. If you have it's possible they locked you in to that office. The only way to find out is to ask.

[rp 12]

Speak to your HR Manager first. You can also tell your assigned mentor that you spoke or emailed HR regarding transfer…

"Success in life comes when you simply refuse to give up, with goals so strong that obstacles, failure, and loss act only as motivation"

AUD: 68, 62, 77✔ (expires 10/31/16)
FAR: 53, 48, XX (retake 6/16)
REG:
BEC: 53

[taxycpa2be]

I agree with everyone above — the best time to ask is now. I'm not sure if this is universal for all big 4 (and I don't work in audit), but I do know of a few audit people starting at one B4 office, and transferring to another later on only to get stuck on crappy clients/engagements. If you start there from the very beginning (full-time), it could just work out more nicely for you in the long-run. I also know of someone else that interned in my office and now she's going to start full-time in audit at another office. I think it's easier to change offices before you start full-time work — like another mentioned, it's not true transfer since you have yet to really start out as a Staff 1. You just gotta get the ball/conversation going now.

ETA: you can talk to your recruiter or your HR manager 1st if you want — your recruiter can instantly check to see if your office has extra room for you to start in the Fall. Recruiters also work more directly with interns and defer to their bosses if there's a more complex issue – not a bad place to start. Obviously you'll also have to communicate the news with your counselor.

AUD: Pass (WTB)
BEC: Pass (Ninja/Becker)
REG: Pass (WTB)
FAR: Pass!!! (Becker/WTB/Ninja)

DONE!! 🙂 It's SO nice to be able to finally write this. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

[Anonymous]

To be honest, it should be very easy. Talk to HR. I interned in Boston Big 4 with a few friends, and 2 of them are moving out to San Diego. They just requested it and they checked availability, got back to them, and they are all set. They “tentatively” accepted Boston offers and requested a transfer. Piece of cake, and they were told if the transfer didn't work out they'd be fine to stay in Boston. No worries, and Boston is a massive office so it is easy to transfer to.

[thebigguy1992]

Is it bad if I email the HR lady for interns in my office? Or should I call? I obviously feel more comfortable writing an email explaining the reasons more clearly than if I asked in person. Also I'm not even working there for another year because I have one more year of school left so it's not like I'm in the office.

And also do you think it's important to mention that I'm still willing to stay in the first city in case the request to transfer doesn't work out (which is true BC I would rather work in the southern city than have no offer at all)?

Also there's no way they would rescind my offer for any reason because I asked? I know that's highly unlikely I'm just curious

[Mayo]

I asked for a transfer during my exit interview/offer during my internship. *shrug*

All they can say is No. I think reaching out sooner rather than later is probably best. That being said, just approach the whole situation delicately. Think of a better reason beyond “my friends are there”, even if it's true.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[thebigguy1992]

Do you think family reasons is a fine reason? Also do you think I should call or email the HR lady?

[rp 12]

Call.

"Success in life comes when you simply refuse to give up, with goals so strong that obstacles, failure, and loss act only as motivation"

AUD: 68, 62, 77✔ (expires 10/31/16)
FAR: 53, 48, XX (retake 6/16)
REG:
BEC: 53

[WaivingMyHands_ALOT]

I'd call. I had a similar experience. My fiancé was enrolling in a PhD program and wasn't sure what city she'd end up in. Things ended up changing last minute. The result was that I transferred my offer to a different city, and then had to call my recruiter back up and get them to re-transfer back to the original office. I thought for sure I'd be fired before I even started. Turned out nobody cared and was very easy to get transfer/retransfer.

AUD 99
BEC 96
FAR 94
REG 96

[thebigguy1992]

I think I'm going to email them so I can clearly state reasons for my request to move. At the end if the email I'm going to make sure they know it's just a request and not a demand and that I would still love to work for the company no matter where I end up. Then I'm going to offer to talk on the phone or meet in person

[Author]

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