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Former Big 4, now buy-side analyst, ask me anything
 

itsinthebag's picture
 
Points)
 on 11/28/12 at 6:00am
q and a.jpg

Fellow Monkeys,

I have been reading WSO since my sophomore year in college but have just recently decided to start posting advice. My #1 reason for the late entry:

A majority of users here are college students who offer bro-science and I wanted to make sure I had relevant experience to back-up my suggestions.

Quick background on me:
Non-target state school, started at Big 4 Audit right after college, stayed there for 2 years, obtained CPA license and was able to parlay my skills into an analyst position on the buy side.

How I got to where I am:
Perseverance and luck - I've always wanted to end up on the buy-side and after failing to land any IBD offers after college, I realized the "traditional" path for me to get to the buy-side would have to be: Audit --> TAS --> IBD/MBA --> PE/VC/HF.

As such, I worked my ass off for the first 2 years in audit, obtained top rankings in my class and began the transition to TAS after receiving the senior title. I was working with a headhunter looking for TAS opportunities and the headhunter was nice enough to throw my name into the pile of resumes for one of their HF clients; I landed a phone interview, and the rest is history. I rejected a TAS offer to work on the buy-side and haven't looked back since.

Reason for my post:
I've been seeing a lot of accounting posts on here, much more so than when I first started reading WSO, and have decided to offer my experience to help any prospective accounting students who want to land into finance. Please leave questions below and I will respond accordingly.

I feel like I can shed much insight into the audit process, the TAS process, and much more, but would rather answer direct questions than post a 10,000 word post about my experience.

Quick note, if you PM me, expect a delay in my response; I will respond to replies on the board much quicker than PM's as I want my knowledge to be publicly available.

Tags:
Mps721's picture

itsinthebag: Mps721: From

(Orangutan, 276
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 12:25pm

Mps721

MistaBooks's picture

itsinthebag: calikid3820: D

(Orangutan, 289
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 12:35pm
itsinthebag's picture

n1cktm: Congrats! You

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 12:42pm
calikid3820's picture

MistaBooks: itsinthebag:

CO
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 12:44pm
itsinthebag's picture

AsianMonky: Have you

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 12:50pm
itsinthebag's picture

Mps721: itsinthebag: Mps7

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 12:54pm
itsinthebag's picture

MistaBooks: itsinthebag:

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 12:55pm
itsinthebag's picture

calikid3820: MistaBooks:

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 12:58pm
calikid3820's picture

itsinthebag: calikid3820:

CO
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 1:46pm
itsinthebag's picture

calikid3820: It is just

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 2:16pm
calikid3820's picture

itsinthebag: calikid3820:

CO
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 2:21pm
itsinthebag's picture

calikid3820: I know you were

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 2:39pm
Higheck123's picture

Could you maybe give a good

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 2:40pm
itsinthebag's picture

Higheck123: Could you maybe

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 3:07pm
GrandJury's picture

Thanks for answering so many

IB
(Baboon, 120
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 4:05pm

The greatest risk you can take in life is not to risk it all.

MitchKumstein's picture

As someone who went Big4

(Chimp, 5
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 5:17pm

Night putter.

Ruskii's picture

1.) For those entering

CF
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 5:41pm
Juniper's picture

If you could have started

(Chimp, 5
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 6:13pm
Juniper's picture

If you could have started

(Chimp, 5
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 6:14pm
Soros's picture

Lets talk about how green the

O
(Baboon, 100
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 8:02pm
itsinthebag's picture

GrandJury: Thanks for

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 9:13pm
itsinthebag's picture

MitchKumstein: As someone who

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 9:15pm
itsinthebag's picture

MitchKumstein: As someone who

 
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 on 11/26/12 at 9:15pm
itsinthebag's picture

Juniper: If you could have

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 9:16pm
itsinthebag's picture

Ruskii: 1.) For those

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 9:19pm
FutureWaller's picture

Thanks for the great post. I

O
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 9:29pm
itsinthebag's picture

Soros: Lets talk about how

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 10:34pm
marine13910's picture

Asian Monkey, I'd have say a

O
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 10:14pm
marine13910's picture

Asian Monkey, I'd have say a

O
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 10:14pm
itsinthebag's picture

FutureWaller: Thanks for the

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 10:27pm
itsinthebag's picture

marine13910: Asian Monkey,

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 10:38pm
marine13910's picture

Another note on Big 4

O
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 10:40pm
greatlakes77's picture

Itsinthebag, thank you for

(Chimp, 12
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 10:59pm
itsinthebag's picture

greatlakes77: Itsinthebag,

 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 11:14pm
nyboarder's picture

itsinthebag: just make sure

(Monkey, 42
 
Points)
 on 11/26/12 at 11:34pm

Ordinary men avoid trouble. Extraordinary men turn it to their advantage.

Siddhartha's picture

Itsinthebag, thank you for

RE
(Chimp, 9
 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 1:55am
Higheck123's picture

Would you be able to give a

 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 5:56am
itsinthebag's picture

equitydigger: itsinthebag:

 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 8:54am
itsinthebag's picture

Siddhartha: Itsinthebag,

 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 9:04am
itsinthebag's picture

Higheck123: Would you be able

 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 9:12am
calikid3820's picture

itsinthebag: #1 - correct,

CO
 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 9:20am
MistaBooks's picture

itsinthebag: greatlakes77:

(Orangutan, 289
 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 10:15am
nyboarder's picture

itsinthebag: equitydigger:

(Monkey, 42
 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 10:16am

Ordinary men avoid trouble. Extraordinary men turn it to their advantage.

calikid3820's picture

MistaBooks: I agree with

CO
 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 10:20am
n1cktm's picture

What is the typical pay range

(Orangutan, 304
 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 10:28am
itsinthebag's picture

itsinthebag: greatlakes77:

 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 10:30am
n1cktm's picture

itsinthebag: Yes, after

(Orangutan, 304
 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 10:32am
itsinthebag's picture

n1cktm: What is the typical

 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 10:36am
Ruskii's picture

How did you go about

CF
 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 12:05pm
greatlakes77's picture

Ruskii: How did you go about

(Chimp, 12
 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 12:10pm

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