[justgivemea75]

Hi all,

I’ve started working for a big 4 about 6 months ago, and having gone through a busy season, I’m honestly starting to feel really old/awkward at the Big 4. I’m only a first year, but most of the people in my start class are 22/23. I made a mistake coming out of undergrad of trying to go for a job and didn’t apply to grad school simultaneously. As a result, I basically set myself back a year since I just took up a temp job within a finance department. It’s even more embarrassing when seniors/managers ask me why I’m so much older and I have to say that it’s essentially because I couldn’t find a job right away and didn’t think to have a backup plan. It was a stupid mistake, but I was young at the time and had too much confidence in myself despite the shaky market.

I had one especially embarrassing encounter relating to this at a team dinner and now I’m kind of starting to worry about my future prospects. I’m hoping to one day be a director or controller of a company, and I’m wondering if people will always consider me too old relative to my peers. On the other hand, I tend to over-think things a lot and am wondering if maybe I’m reading into this too much.

Does anyone have advice on this?

Thanks!

FAR - 84
AUD - 76 (phew)
BEC - 88
REG - 77

DONE!

[justgivemea75]

Sounds like it's another case of me overthinking things and getting worked up over a senior or two making a big deal out of it. Thanks all.

FAR - 84
AUD - 76 (phew)
BEC - 88
REG - 77

DONE!

[MydnightDarkfyre]

@cpatobe2013

Yes, even though I am 42 I was recruited on campus since I had went back to school for my Bachelor's in Accounting and then a Master's.

I know I am a special case – I had a 4.1 GPA (yes, over a 4.0 – my university recognized A+). I was a Vice President in my school's Beta Alpha Psi chapter. I networked my butt off to get the Big 4 interview, and then luckily impressed my interviewers with my mix of ‘old school' experience with ‘new college graduate'.

I thank my lucky stars everyday that I am here and I love it. I know I beat the odds…

FAR: 82 (Becker) 07/09/2014
AUD: 80 (Becker) 10/01/2014
BEC: 76 (Becker) 11/26/2014
REG: 82 (Becker) 02/16/2015

GA Licensed CPA 8/7/2015

CISA: 564 (PASSED) 6/11/2016 - Certification pending

[Anonymous]

I am happy that I found this post. I am just now going back for my Masters (BBA in Business Mgt) and was worried about being too old if/when I start with Big 4. I'm 27 now and probably won't start with them until I'm 29/30. I have to do the part-time MS because I'm married with a child.

[GotCPA]

Lol. I can't believe you're even worried about this. 24 is not old by any means. don't worry you'll have good 30-40 plus years of work ahead of you. i wouldn't stress about being “old” at 24. lol

[waffle_house]

Usually public is a bunch of kids. Wait till you get to industry, where everyone is 35+

[Regular Tax Dude]

Chilax man! it's not a big deal at all. I found younger kids into some funny shits, with a little bit of silly. They light up the whole environment and make the time flies. Just have an open mind and try to engage!

[jonm857]

Dude you've got it so made… Working at the Big 4 with a CPA license in your hand… c'mon man! I'm 27 and if I could go back and change some of my decisions, I would do everything I could to be in your shoes right now.

B - 81
A - 87
R - 73
F - July 5th

[Author]

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