[Anonymous]

Needless to say I’ve been pretty bummed lately.

I was fired from my Big 4 firm in Phoenix/Mesa a month ago, after two years of experience. Now I am learning to deal with the stigma and the damage to my reputation. For those not from the Phoenix/Mesa area, the accounting community is quite small, with a large portion of Big 4 hires coming from the local state schools, where I went. Everyone knew me as I was quite involved in various accounting and business societies, and people generally knew me as smart, hardworking, and ambitious. Now that reputation is tarnished and I know people look down on me for this. I suspect that word has already gotten around, as these kind of news spread like wildfire, especially in smaller circles.

I am humiliated and upset because I feel the firing was unfair. I am a hard worker who unfortunately got ONE bad evaluation (out of five). This one evaluation affected my entire year-end review, which resulted in my being fired. The reason I performed badly was due:

– I did not obtain the right kind of experience during my first year. I was basically ticking and tying and making photo copies for a good portion of my first year, and not auditing significant significant accounts or controls.

– I did not recur on any clients, I was always thrown from one fire to the other, leading me to always encounter a learning curve on each client.

– During my second year, I did not have any seniors. I was the staff and reported directly to the manager, who were overworked themselves and did not have time to develop me.

– The client where I got the bad review was a first-year engagement, so no prior-year workpapers.

But at the end of the day, these are just “excuses” and hey, tough luck, you didn’t perform to par so we’re letting you go. People aren’t blind to the fact that I was put in tough situations. They simply don’t care. It’s up or out.

I’m very heartbroken as I pictured myself having a lifelong career at this firm.

I was very unhappy my entire second year and had already started talking to recruiters. One of which is now disinterested in me after she learned of me “leaving” without an offer lined up (or so she thinks).

I actually do have an offer lined up prior to being fired, in New Zealand of all places! (yes, the country!) It’s an audit position with another Big 4. I feel very lucky to have it and am in the process of filling out all the paperwork for the work permit.

However, as anyone can, I have gotten cold feet from time to time and have been testing the waters locally to have an offer lined up here just in case something goes wrong and I am unable to go to New Zealand. And of course, the whole thing of leaving the country for a couple years can give someone cold feet as well.

I am fortunate and counting my blessings that I have a job offer lined up. However, it is still very hard to deal with being fired and dealing with the damage to my reputation. I am a hard worker who was placed in tough and unfair experiences and payed the ultimate price for it.

I would like to reach out to the Another71 community for advice on how to deal with the transition, how to deal with the reputation damage, and steps that I can take from here. Any advice, criticism, insights are much appreciated … thank you!

[Anonymous]

Screw them! You're a Lincoln…and they don't know it yet.

A common list of the failures of Abraham Lincoln (along with a few successes) is:

1831 – Lost his job

1832 – Defeated in run for Illinois State Legislature

1833 – Failed in business

1834 – Elected to Illinois State Legislature (success)

1835 – Sweetheart died

1836 – Had nervous breakdown

1838 – Defeated in run for Illinois House Speaker

1843 – Defeated in run for nomination for U.S. Congress

1846 – Elected to Congress (success)

1848 – Lost re-nomination

1849 – Rejected for land officer position

1854 – Defeated in run for U.S. Senate

1856 – Defeated in run for nomination for Vice President

1858 – Again defeated in run for U.S. Senate

1860 – Elected President (success)

[Anonymous]

In your heart of hearts, if you felt that you were on the right track in this Big4 and then “something” happen and you were derailed…it was for a reason. You would not have even considered the New Zealand offer if not for the “derailment”.

I was once offered a position with IBM in Sydney, Australia…I didn't take it and now consider a decade plus later, what my life would have been like if I had taken it….Count your blessings that you have the opportunity that many would “dream” of…be grateful that you made it to the Big4, that you have 2 years experience, that you learned from the experience, and that you now have an offer in New Zealand…Have you been there? It is amazing and the entire region is buzzing…You can feel the energy of the Southern Hemisphere/Southern Asian Region.

Good luck to you…life move forward for a reason….be excited for what could be a very wonderful and promising future.

All the best to you @cristinagobble, a fellow Ninja…spin round kick! Ah that felt good.

[MintsRGood]

My family likes to say in this type of situation that sometimes rejection is God's protection! The New Zeeland opportunity is a one in a lifetime experience!!! Perhaps your previous Big 4 employer did you the biggest favor of your career by firing you, so let the small people talk and don't sweat the gossip mill! YOU have bigger and brighter opportunities on the horizon!!!! 🙂

Good luck and let us know how New Zeeland develops!!!!!!!!!!

REG: 75 DONE 🙂
AUD: 61, 71, 68, 92 DONE 🙂
BEC: 76 DONE 🙂
FAR: 72, 74, 79 DONE 🙂
Licensed Michigan CPA 🙂
-Some people dream of success...others wake up and work hard for it!!!
-The cowards never start and the weak die along the way!
-You better work, b***h!
-Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-JFK

[mla1169]

I know there is a certain rumor mill in accounting circles but think for sure that you are overestimating how much other people will care that you were fired. Yeah its a bummer, and yes it may (slightly, if at all) affect other job prospects but if you did indeed have a great reputation in various societies I can assure you that your reputation is not ruined because you were let go from a job.

In most industries/states there are rules that an employee has to have so many warnings/write ups before they can be terminated. Since that appears not to be the case in Big 4, people in those circles are savvy enough to realize that it doesn't paint a clear picture of your career that you were let go.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[jelly]

I really wouldn't worry about it. The ugly truth is, public accounting is a very predatory, Ponzi industry.

I worked with a vindictive manager who had it in for me. Since I've left, that place has lost good staff and clients. That manager? Hanging on for dear life, as the “counseled out” track is looking more likely, b/c partner who protected this manager was pushed out to a smaller place, and this manager is hitting the 15 year mark.

Couldn't pass again!

[LoveEventing]

I have found that many people who struggle have not really asked for help. Did you reach out to everyone and anyone when you were struggling? Did you try to research accounting problems on your own and come up with solutions, even if they were wrong? Your career progression and development is in YOUR hands, not theirs. I'm not trying to say that its necessarily your fault you got fired, but you should take an honest look at what happened and try to determine what you could have done differently so that it doesn't happen to you again. I try to learn from every experience, good or bad, and constantly work to improve myself. Good luck!!

BEC - 68, 76
AUD - 90, 91
FAR - 63, 83
REG - 55, 79

FINALLY DONE!

[TripleNetAcct]

My best friends got married and did a 7 month honeymoon in New Zealand and they absolutely fell in love with the country. Keep your head up and enjoy that incredible opportunity. Look at it as a fresh start and never look back. You will love it!

AUD 73 (Aug 12) 77
BEC 66 71 (Nov 12) 80
REG 54 81 (May 13) 81
FAR 63 (Dec 13) 75 TEXAS

[evesocal]

That New Zealand prospect sounds amazing. Take it and run. Yes it's scary to leave the country but it's also such an incredible opportunity, and it seems like you don't have obligations to keep you here (spouse, kids in school, house, etc.) so run run run and thank your lucky stars you can. You'll never regret it. You can always return to the US if you want to, right?

It seems like that firm was just not a good place for you. You were already looking to leave. It's tough to get fired but it also seems like you're at the beginning of your career, so I don't see it as really hurting you in the long run.

Fill out your papers and buy your plane ticket and have a drink on the flight to celebrate your new life. 🙂

B: 75

A: 77

R: 80

F: 81

Ethics: 84, 92 and done!

Licensed in California

B: 75
R: 80
A: 77
F: 81
Ethics: 84, 92 and done!
Licensed in California

[nutmeg]

Thank you for sharing your story. Stories of people being chewed up and spit out like this are not uncommon. It sounds like this company did not bother to invest properly in a new employee, and it is to some extent their loss if this is how they are going to conduct their business as a matter of course. You will find a better job in the future.

You are right, some people will not take into consideration that you were put into a difficult situation. This goes for the people who fired you and for other people that may hear that you were fired, as you have recognized. But there is a huge world out there that does not know or care about the gossipy little world that you describe.

I am glad that you have the offer in New Zealand. That is exciting and sounds like a great opportunity. I also think that you have nothing to lose by continuing to apply around your current geographical area. I would suggest that you make sure to go beyond the largest firms, the ones that recruit at the universities. There are probably some firms that are smaller that you might not even have heard of. By going to one of these firms, you may find a totally different environment, one that feels far removed from the Big 4 crowd.

Remember that, despite the fact that you had pictured a lifelong career at your former company, you also had become unhappy there and had started talking to recruiters. Remember the things that made you unhappy, those things that you won't be missing now that you are moving on.

CPA_AnyDayNow, I love the idea of being a Lincoln.

FAR: 93 (May 2012)
REG: 95 (July 2012)
AUD: 99 (February 2013)
BEC: 94 (July 2013)
License: Awarded January 2014.

[wizards8507]

The best advice I have ever gotten is to “own your own career.” Everything you wrote as a “reason” for being terminated is either an excuse or blaming someone else. Big 4 firms don't just terminate people unless there's a problem. Did you pass the exam on schedule when you were supposed to? That can play a big part in it, and this is KNOWN and EXPECTED when you sign up to work for one of these firms. Otherwise, it takes more than one poor review to get fired. Most people get promoted after 2-3 years, so poor performance would be a reason to hold you back from promotion, not fire you. There must have been other things. Did the items you mentioned cause you to have a crappy attitude? Did you bill out/work enough hours? It sucks that public accounting is a world where that matters, but it is and it does.

NY CPA

[GO Hawks]

No offense, but this user created an account just to post this story and has not responded to anyone else's posts. I thought A71 is mostly about the cpa exam, at least post your scores or mention if you passes it yet.

BEC 88 5/25/2013
FAR 96 7/01/2013
AUD 99 7/08/2013
REG 93 8/01/2013

Straight Becker'in it

[Author]

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