[Anonymous]

Can you describe in detail what you’ve learned in year 1, year 2, year 3+, and so on?

If you don’t wish to share that’s fine, it seems to be such a taboo, but I think it’s important for accountants to understand the difference between small firm, large firm, and Big 4 experience.

Also if you are willing to share your experience, please state in detail things such as how many people you’ve worked with on an engagement, what type of work you do in detail, how did you receive training and how many people did you train, who you report to/what kind of exposure you get, what a typical day is like (arriving in the morning, going to lunch, logging out at the end of the day), administrative tasks such as time keeping and calendar/meeting management, IT/technology resources, and happy hour/networking events, etc.

I (as well as many others I’m sure) look forward to learning more about the variety of experiences. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Also I am specifically interested in the following questions:

1. What is the most anger or stress you've witnessed while at the Big 4 either by yourself or fellow colleagues? Or is it all pretty much internalized for the most part and a very rare occurrence to witness?

2. I would assume there is very little hand holding at the Big 4, so I am curious, how does one make the transition from staff to senior and senior to manager, etc? Do you pick up the necessary skills on your own or from what you can tell is it pretty much based on seniority? Are you told what you have to know and what you have to do to complete a task? Are your questions always easily answered or are you ever left to figure things out on your own?

I can formulate my own assumptions and ideas based on my own resources and experience, but I am interested in learning what others have to say about their experience 🙂

[Small4]

year 1 – learned a ton about work ethic and somewhat questioning how 70 hrs is “normal”.
year 2 – learned more about how firm is more about fresh college recruits doing Happy Hour doing late night work. Essentially it get “more real” whether you want to stay or not.
year 3 – learned about making professional relationships is key

-Typical normal engagement is 1-2 staff, 1 senior, 1 manager or director, and a partner. It varies. If its a huge client, that can be split into a ton of staff, and lesser and lesser upward review folks.
-Big 4 training is probably the best thing out there. I think in my opinion, it is why people think highly of “Big 4” experience. It doesnt necessarily mean Big 4 is better than smaller firms, but the volume of resources is huge and again, year 3-4 is where you start realizing how important those really are.
-The negative of Big 4 is sometimes the admin. That is basically keeping track of your time every 0.5 hr increments. That can get annoying since you usually wouldnt know in a long day how much you've worked on per client per 0.5 hr increments. Also, budgeting is key…one of the key stigma of Big 4 in my opinion is to ramp up utilization (or your productivity) without “killing the budget”. its basically a catch-22.
– Typical work day usually varies but expect alot of hours during busy season. 60 hrs are very very common on very long stretches. Also weekend work is often a must.
– HH is very common and networking events. If you have the time, go to them. Free food and booze doesn't hurt. It can get tiring after awhile…
– Most stress has to be the pressure of working very late nights and missing family time. You def need an outlet since if you internalize it, it will get worse. Accept that its OK to work late. Accessing whether you like what you do vs hours worked is more important. Why? Because getting Big 4 experience is actually great. You can use that to get a less stressful gig after 2-6 years after..Obviously we all have breaking points and if its just not for u, just know its completely ok to not be in Big4, not the end of the world.
– Learning is a habit. It comes from curiosity and wanting to know it vs half-a** it. Some will help you, others will completely abandon you so its just depends on who is your engagement. My advice, be proactive without going way overboard.
-PASS YOUR CPA is the main key in promotion. That is the #1 advice to get to senior. Also, learning how to manage time is a very big deal after year 2-3.

Hope this helps. Big 4 alum.

BEC - 68,70,72,75 5/15
AUD - 78(expired), 77 8/15
REG - 29,58,65,77 1/16
FAR - 56,68,73 - retake October hopefully (last shot)

Been doing this since 2007 on and off...

[Anonymous]

At the big four, associates spend 0 time on IT/admin tasks. That's for those support departments. Everyone specializes.

I've never seen someone get angry. That's unprofessional largely and for something to get to that level it would reflect poorly on everyone as a team (allowing a ball to be dropped by not observing).

Plenty of client / team traditions. Yesterday, I had some mixed drinks with a private equity fund CFO, our partner, and the team.

I've learned a lot about private equity and banking as that's my client group. Far too much to even begin writing about.

I like the people in regional/nationals but the private equity fund I audit has offered my big 4 firm a 1000 times the sub audits of the assets in their funds we leave to the regionals. Every year we tell them no. The level of complexity isn't just not there for us. I think it speaks to the complexity we focus on.

[Anonymous]

Great thanks for the feedback. I have tons of questions to pick your brains but I don't want to be a pest.

I guess I'm also interested in how personable people are while working at the Big 4? Is everything basically strictly business or do people open up about personal lives and form friendships outside of work often? Can people get by without talking much with co-workers and managers and not attend social functions (i.e. super introverted)? Or would you say you have to be at least a little outgoing and have a certain level of social aptitude and awareness to get by? Is there a lot of fake smiling and fake laughing and a lot of office politics in order to get ahead?

What happens if you are late to a client or late to the office? Are you written up and reprimanded for it? Slap on the wrist? 3 strikes and you're out? Are you micromanaged in this sense or can the rules and policies be somewhat lax and laid back at times?

Also, why are there many stories about staff being treated poorly and unfairly? I've read many times that staff is sometimes bullied by the seniors or that staff is just having such a hard time. How do the seniors and managers get away with this behavior? And is it because the staff isn't performing well or just because they're easy to pick on?

[Author]

Replies