[nalratoss]

Can be anything, going to a client, living at out-of-town city, workload at client site, things you do for annual audit or pre-audit.

If independence or privacy is concerned don’t list real names.

I just want to get some experience because I’m going out of town to client site for a week or two for pre-audit.

Thanks in advance.

[r00shine]

i started in Jan so i went right into busy season but when summer rolled around, around 5-6 of us who started together were available (not on a client) found a nice big empty room and just chilled there for basically 2 months. played board games, slither, volleyball (there was a random beachball in the room for some reason), etc. good times.

[Ana]

The good really outweighed the bad! I was at a mid size firm in LA for a bit over two years. I have a lot of fond memories. I made friends for life (with fellow staff and my Manager), friends I keep in touch with, got an AH-MAZING network, Partners that still invite me to lunch, and invaluable knowledge (technical, professional, disciplinary). I'm so glad I got to experience auditing and I attribute my career to starting off there. I really enjoyed out of state clients. For example, I went to an unheard of place in the middle of nowhere in Nevada and also well known fun places like Portland. On those trips you get to bond with coworkers, take a break from real life, see things and places you normally wouldn't, work obscene hours and really comprehend a client, and just have new experiences. What I really hated was the local commutes. Traffic in LA is horrendous and last thing I want to do is get to a client at 8am from the Valley to the OC. I'd have 3 hour one-way commutes. Also, I was booked year round and didn't get to enjoy a slow season like many others. I'd literally get into the car some days and forget where I'm supposed to be driving too. Some days I really miss auditing and working with competent people. In the private sector employees are of a much lower standard. So much happens in a busy audit firm that now thinking about over all my experiences it's hard to imagine it all took place over a short amount of time. There were happy times like when people passed their exams, got promotions, got married, had children, and also really heartbreaking times like deaths, people moving on in their careers, and clients having issues at work or personally. As you can tell I can go on and on. But if I may offer advice, your time at an audit firm will be what you make of it. Not everyone had the same experience I did. It's my personality to make connections within the organization and with clients. I tried to help fellow staff as much as I could and did my best as a audit member to be an asset to any audit/team I was on. If you're checked out and just go through the motions an audit firm can be a miserable place.

[Anonymous]

Not many. Just remembered that firms (at least in South Florida) will hire girls who are hot yet don't even know how to use excel and cry when they couldn't complete a bank rec. yet promote them to Manager within 3-4 years.

[Author]

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