[Anonymous]

I would imagine if you are in public accounting and make this move from small firm to large firm at the Senior or Supervisor level, you would get stuck with all of the work in order to “earn your stripes”.

Also, working in a small firm, you were probably not exposed to the high level clients such as that at a large firm so behaviorally and interpersonally you would probably be considred “not up to par” with the more seasoned employees at the larger firm.

Has anyone made this transition? Did you get stuck with all the work or was it a big change in any way for you? Thanks in advance.

[ruggercpa2b]

Whatever level you get hired on as is the type of work you will take on. If you are hired on as a senior then you would take on the role of the senior on the engagement. However, you will have to keep up with everyone else that is at that level. I had a friend who made the transition but he went in at a level one year lower than senior so he could learn the firm's methoddologies and get used to how they did things. He was promoted to senior the next year because he showed that he was at senior level.

No one would consider you not up to par unless you exhibit that you are not up to par.

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[Son]

brickell cpa, it is very, very unlikely you'll be hired as a manager (I'm assuming this is what you mean by “supervisor”) even if you held that title at your current mid or small firm for multiple years. You won't be able to manage a project in the same way as those grown within the firm because you lack the necessary experience.

You're likely looking at an entry-level position, if you're capable and have enough experience, you might be hired as a senior. No one will look down on you if you operate at the level you were hired into. I've seen people have to actually work hard to prove their worth after being hired from outside to earn the right to be put on good projects and big clients, so I'd say you won't be “doing all the work” – likely stuff no one else wants to do.

AUD - passed
REG - passed
BEC - passed
FAR - passed

[mhueycpa]

“You won’t be able to manage a project in the same way as those grown within the firm because you lack the necessary experience.” – What is the necessary experience? What Service Department do you work in Son?

THE 300 CLUB WILL DO JUST FINE!

[Anonymous]

A colleague at my (small) firm left to go to work for Deloitte in Boston. His objective was to eventually relocate to the China office. He was hired as an audit manager because he was very proficient in GAAP and GAAS. Long story short, he worked at Deloitte for a lil over a year and then came back to my firm. His life plans had changed such that he decided to stay in the U.S.. He absolutely hated Deloitte because of the ridiculously long hours. He said during tax season that he regularly worked in excess of 100 hours a week and had to sleep in his car on a few occasions.

[Son]

mhueycpa – understanding the demands and expectations of typical big4 clients and your partner(s), knowledge of relevant laws and regulations, understanding work processes and software, training staffs, providing career couching, etc. I work in international tax.

On the subject – I've seen two people hired as seniors (were managers at their mid-sized firms at the time) who then worked their butts off to get promoted in 1 year.

AUD - passed
REG - passed
BEC - passed
FAR - passed

[Anonymous]

Working at a big four firm, I would be shocked if people just piled work on you because you were the “new guy.” My office culture would be extremely against that. I would expect a warm welcome from the start; people will probably be curious to hear about your old clients over lunch as “mom and pop” clients are pretty different from giant conglomerates.

Based on what I saw with a person who was transferred in from a regional firm, you should expect to get bumped down a level in seniority. Since work is more niched and less generalist, it makes sense. This person was an experienced senior and got bumped down to experienced associate with the expectation to be promoted in the upcoming year contingent on good performance.

That's just my personal guess.

[Anonymous]

@Bondvillian

That is very scary, I would hate to experience that. I've worked about 6-7 years in public accounting with mostly a background in audit, performing complete audits on clients in a variety of industries from start to finish.

I have had CFO training and experience with private accounting as well.

I don't see many areas where coming on board as an Audit Senior or Supervisor would be too difficult. In my opinion, an audit is an audit. I just hope when I do make the transition, there aren't any surprises like in the example of your colleague.

[Author]

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