Comments on: Why You Should Not Work for the Big 4

By: MovingCPA

MovingCPA — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:51:03 +0000

I just want to respond to Al Dawson’s comment about the requisite of solid big 4 experience for upper management in industry. Hmmm, not everyone in the upper management in the industry has big 4 experience, many of them are actually promoted from sales. (from my observation) Many CEOs are former marketing or sales VP….Yes, “solid big 4 experience” will increase you shot for upper financial management in industry, but it has to be “solid”, a few years as a senior associate in a big 4 isn’t “solid” enough. Very often, not even a “manager” at a Big 4 is solid enough. One got to climb to “senior manager” in Big 4 in order to be considered solid. This is just based on what I learnt and what I saw from all my years practicing public accounting and advising clients in the industry. But how many years do you want to slave in a sweatshop environment and untangle all the red tape to become a senior manager in a big 4? I think a better path will be to get whatever job that offers more money or better work life balance, get as many relevant solid skills as you can and get an executive MBA from a prestigious school, then it will be a better route to senior management than just a big 4 experience. Many CFO jobs in big publicly traded companies are offered to partners from Big 4, not senior associates or associates. After the big 4, seniors still need years to climb up the ladder in the company if they want that controller job.

By: MovingCPA

MovingCPA — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:29:23 +0000

Yo man, I have the same situation, I was just offered $100K + performance based bonus from a local firm vs, an offer from a Big 4 that is over $20K less. As a CPA and CFE with years of professional experience, I find this pay cut hard to swallow. I made the decision to reject this Big 4 offer after talking to my headhunter who told me the reason I got this $100K from this other firm was because I was not from the Big 4. He told me I beat out many Big 4 he sent to his client and his client only liked me. My headhunter says once I take a pay cut, it will create a hurdle for my next job in terms of salary negotiation and job opportunities. Pay often represents one’s job performance and my future employers will see a lot about me just by looking at the salary I command in my current job. So my headhunter advised me against choosing the Big 4 unless they can match my salary dollar for dollar. I guess it depends. Lots of people from Harvard are also unemployed while lots of people from a community college have jobs. Lots of people from Big 4 have good jobs in industry but many don’t have good jobs or good offers either, like in my case, my headhunter told me that I beat out the other candidates from the big 4 he forwarded to his client. Many big 4 people want to get out too to get this $100K job with a local firm. It depends on the individual. But if you read the book “How To Become CEO”, the first advice in the book is to always take the job that offers more money. My next job will have to be more than $100K and this is how people advance. You go from manager from one place for 100K and the next job as a senior manager to $120K and you keep moving. When you have the title of a VP and the salary of $200K, many doors will open, a couple years of big 4 becomes really irrelevant. As someone who has the ability to command a $200K pay, you can go to anywhere and be a controller or CFO. My headhunter told me today a big 4 that offers 20K less for me to join, tomorrow, another big 4 may offer me 40K more to join at a very senior position after I further polish my skills with this firm that offers me 100K to do more challenging work. But once I take a dive and bury myself low in the Big 4 sweatshop now, it will be hard to get out of it because there are too many people at that level.
If I can get a big 4 offer without prior big 4 experience, I am sure I will still become CFO for other companies in the future for no big 4 experience. Taking a 20K pay cut to just have the big 4 name is rather silly.

By: MoneyMaker

MoneyMaker — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:31:49 +0000

I work for a pharmaceutical consulting group. I’m fresh out of college and I work in a privately held company. I make more money than my friends working for KPMG, work less hours, and my controller does not have her CPA license (she makes bank ). So do what makes you happy, its about knowledge, anyone that won’t hire you if you haven’t worked for a Big 4 firm isn’t worth working for.

By: Accounting Genius

Accounting Genius — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 07:15:37 +0000

I may be a little too late to responding to this: but it all depends on what you want your career trajectory to be. If you’re an accounting manager somewhere, I would personally take the 20K cut, and put my time in the Big 4. At least in the States, if you want a decent shot at being a controller or CFO, you better have a Big 4 employer in the past.

By: yo man

yo man — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 04:04:44 +0000

I am working or a company and drawing 120k. I have just got an offer from the BIg 4 and they want to pay me less by 20k. I am not sure if I should take this offer or not. Can anyone give me advise on this??

Really need help this time and want to make a decision.

By: yo man

yo man — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 05:17:58 +0000

I am working or a company and drawing 100k. I have just got an offer from the BIg 4 and they want to pay me less by 20k. I am not sure if I should take this offer or not. Can anyone give me advise on this??

Really need help this time and want to make a decision.

By: Joe Bear

Joe Bear — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:02:45 +0000

@Superdad

Well said…

By: Superdad

Superdad — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:39:09 +0000

I just completed an internship with the big four during busy season and they do not lie about working long hours. However, I enjoyed the internship and will be taking a full time offer. It was tough working in the Big 4, but it did not even closely compare with my time spent sitting in concrete towers on guard duty in Iraq . Life is all about perception. Don’t forget how much we have it made in this country. Elders tell me that people do not honor hard work anymore. I believe them.

By: Accounting Genius

Accounting Genius — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:28:48 +0000

@NYSTaxGuy: The starting salary for Big 4 associates is pathetic given the number of hours they end up working, not to mention the stress. That being said, you don’t work for the Big 4 to get a big paycheck from the start. You work with them to get the experience, so when the time comes, you can ditch them and work in private industry for a much bigger pay check. And 37.5 hours?! I am pretty jealous!!

By: NYSTaxGuy

NYSTaxGuy — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:05:07 +0000

The big 4 recruiting strategy is ingenious.

Find the most attractive male and female third/fourth year accounting students, booze them up, let them dance, show-off a life of glamour and luxury, and sit back as they willingly sacrifice their 20s by working insane hours for what they think is a good salary.

Some people thrive in that environment, which is good. More power to them.

Not me though. I want a balanced life.

I recently accepted a position as a tax auditor with the state, and I won’t make a lot of money, but rarely will I work more than 37.5 hours.

Actually, I just found out my starting salary is only 4 grand less than a new associate at a Big 4.