[savage826]

Well, after two years at PwC in an undisclosed US city, I am disappointed to say that my experience was not very good. I came into the firm with all intents and purposes of having a lifelong career, but it did not work out for me. I won’t go into details as that no longer matters. Just gotta look forward.

I am moving to a different Big 4 in a different city. Truth is, my experience at PwC has traumatized me. I need to keep reminding myself that I simply made the wrong choice in office, that it was a toxic environment, and that I’m better off in a new area where I can start fresh. I know I want to be in public for the next five years, so I decided to switch firms. I’m trying to not let my experience at PwC taint public accounting for me. Plenty of people are successful in Big 4, I just did not have the best of luck the first time around.

I guess I would just appreciate some encouragement about this move. Can I still be successful? Will it look odd later down the line if I have two Big 4 names on my resume? Would appreciate any insights that the forum community has on this matter!

[fuzyfro89]

Kudos to you for taking control! In my opinion, this situation is probably a lot more common than you may believe. I am sure that a solid chunk of people leaving Big 4 within their first three years are leaving for similar reasons except you will never know since they exit into industry jobs. Everyone knows Big 4 can be heartless (it's inevitable in firms of such gargantuan proportions!), and some people can be walked all over while others can be on cushy clients and not feel the push to leave for years to come. It's almost like motivation in reverse when the highest rated staff get more and more responsibility and tougher clients than the rest, which eventually burns them out and they quit. The firms, in general, have a short-term view on your career and expect that half of a start class will be gone after 3 years, so they figure they may as well work you to the ground in that time rather than invest resources in making sure you're on challenging and fruitful engagements.

Chances are, PwC as a firm is great, and many people even in your old office would agree with that. Bad luck is just that, bad luck. But, you can't sit around and wait for things to get better–life is short! Enjoy your new firm/office and I hope for you it will be a better experience than before. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

@savage do you mind sharing a bit more details on what led you to be disappointed? I am hoping to join PwC in the near future and wanted to get a scope of what I am getting in to and why people in general are so discontent in big 4.

[sscusc]

I feel like this happens to most people working at a big 4. Don't most leave the firm after 2 years anyway?

[Author]

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