Looking for Advice: Big4 vs. Other/ Finance? 
(Senior Chimp, 16 
Points) on 7/14/09 at 9:36pm
hi all,
i have a big decision to make and i need your help.
i am going to be a senior as a large university. i am a finance major with a cumulative GPA above 3.9. i have a lot of extracurricular activities and leadership. my resume is fine. i interned in the HR dept at a BB firm last summer.
i'm currently interning at a big4 accounting firm in the technical specialists division of auditing. my client is one of the most profitable clients for my firm in the financial services industry. my team likes me a lot. i'm pretty sure i will get an offer
however, i don't love my job. i love finance. i accepted this internship because i was studying abroad during recruitment.
here is what my options are (if you have another idea, let me know!)
- accept an offer and work for a while there
- accept an offer and leave after 2/3 years for a financial company
- accept an offer and leave after 2/3 years to get my MBA
- ask to switch into transaction services (more finance, more my liking)
- decline offer, to go out into finance recruiting, again, in this market (but its what i planned on doing since high school)
given this terrible market, but keeping my experience on hand... what should i do??
ANY ADVICE IS APPRECIATED!!
i'm torn.
i'm lost in the financial world
you should have some time
by youngmoneyyou should have some time before having to accept that offer. Apply to the jobs you want, and at most you'll be losing your signing bonus at the Big4 firm (which isn't that much anyway) in case recruiting at other firms takes too long.
how about.. accept and go
by Ricqleshow about..
accept and go onto finance recruiting?
thanks for the quick
by Lost_In_the_Fin...thanks for the quick replies!!
when accepting an offer, is there a dotted line to sign your life away? or is there a chance/ way to later refuse the offer. do you have experience with it? please advise.
also, around how long do you get to accept?
All offers are
by powertimeAll offers are employment-at-will, meaning if you want to renege you can. Downside is the company also has that power
you can tell the company you
by youngmoneyyou can tell the company you need more time. The way Big4 recruiting works is that they try to lure you into signing early by offering a signing bonus that expires before other companies have their final rounds. Most universities tell employers that recruit on their campuses that they cannot ask students to sign before a specific date, allowing kids to interview with more companies. The Big4 and others try to get around this by promising the signing bonus only if you sign by a date much earlier than your school's deadline. So if you choose to continue to interview with other firms, you'll at most lose your signing bonus, since the Big4 can't force you to sign early due to the university's rules. If anything, you can always talk to the recruiters to give you an extension and ask other companies to move your interviews up because you have exploding offers.
Youngmoney is spot on, I
by Mr. TeenyYoungmoney is spot on, I would follow his approach.
I can provide a little more insight as I worked at a Big 4 firm, first in audit, then in their M&A group, then went back to a top MBA program and worked with a BB so I know where you are coming from. If your finance recruiting does not work out in the fall, I think you can take another stab at high finance in a few years after getting experience with your accting firm (perhaps direct from the big 4, but more likely after an MBA). I can tell you that out of the MBA program, the BB firms loved the accounting experience (but it will be hard without the MBA). And if you can get to the M&A group at your Big 4 firm, they will appreciate that even more (accounting + deal experience). Also, I am not sure what 'technincal specialists division of auditing' refers to. If it is technical accounting, fine, but if it is IT audit procedures, you should try to get into the traditional financial statement audit group, or the M&A group would be even better.
Good luck!
career path
by e_mc2I followed a similar path and you can make of it what you will.
Started in Big 4 audit out of college and was there for 18 months. Took CPA while I was at it. Then moved over to the M&A team at another Big 4. Again spent 18 months in this role. Back to study taking a Masters in Economics. Now I have been working in corporate banking at a BB (syndicated facilities) for the past 18 months and am currently in the process of attempting to move internally up to the FX trading group - albeit as an analyst. This has been something I have wanted to do for a long time (have been trading my strategies on my own account - often at my desk at work !!).
OK - so I am an anlayst whereas my friends I started auditing with are all managers. Salary wise we are not that different and my potential bonus payments were better before the current blow up.
Just saying that if you leverage off your experinces and work hard it is possible to take many different routes to get the role you are after. Just can take a little more time ;-)
Good luck.
glad to hear of stories of
by balooshiglad to hear of stories of people starting in big 4 and moving into high finance.
I have always maintained most firms really like this, certainly in australia. and a lot of people on here chastise big 4 experience, which is clearly unwarranted.
Just wondering, do they do
by Ray AllenJust wondering, do they do the signing bonus strategy for internship offers too? Obviously, it would be a small amount but even a couple thousand would be great for a college student. They start recruiting so damn early, and I want to interview with them, but would definitely like to interview with other companies too. If anybody knows, please let me know. Thanks.
thanks again
by Lost_In_the_Fin...thank you all for your insight. i definitely did not know a lot of this information. It is the IT part of the Audit (testing controls). We dont do a lot with real accounting and numbers. It may be hard to leverage this experience.
My plan is to ask my career advisor at school for advice and touch base with some university alumni from BB firms (also build relationships, maybe opportunities will follow?)
Here is another question. How and when do you think is a good time to let my team, coaches at big4 firm that I would be more interested in Transaction Services (M&A)? I would be more able to leverage this experience, I believe.
Thanks in advance! and for all the replies!
finding my way.
im lost in the financial world
They do signing bonuses for
by powertimeThey do signing bonuses for internships. They made me sign my internship offer letter by June 2008 for an internship during summer 2009 to get my $5K signing bonus. It really sucks how they try to lock you down...
Never Settle for Sth You Don't LIke!!!!
by bunjaiAlso did the same route as the guys here... articled at Big 4 straight out of uni (double majored in accting/finance)... obtained the CA designation after 3 yrs here in Canada and then did a yr on exchange for Big 4's NYC office with hopes of landing a job in high finance...
I remembered how my heart sank when all recruiters told me it's merely impossible to straight transition from pure audit to high finance (IB, ER, etc)... Per them, options were:
1) Transfer to TS of Big4 for 1-2 yrs and try again
2) Get into MBA program of top BS
3) Enter into reporting of top IB and internally transfer that way (which in reality never works!)
I chose none of those options... resigned after my return from NYC... got an industry job as corporate finance analyst in big listed company...
After doing a yr, got lucky and landed sell-side ER role for BB IB...
Looking back, this was not an easy route by any means with no guarantees... If I were you, in this market, I'd get into the Big4 and transfer into TS asap. I hated audit and by your comments, you share the same feelings. Never settle for sth you don't like... gotta go for it despite ppl laughing in your face... for all the doors that slammed shut in my face, i just kept knocking... i'm sure if you're hungry enough, it'll work out for you. good luck bud.