big 4 rankings

My question to you would be why? In terms of pay, exit options, or experience, you are likely to get a nearly identical experience at any of them. You should go where you seem to fit in with the people the best. Each office location is going to differ in that sense.

PwC EY toss up between the other two. All four are good, PwC and EY just have slight edges overall. It also depends on what group. For consulting, Deilotte (spelling)would be first.

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michaelye86,

here is a good website that will break it down for you...

www.yourfucked.com

hope that clears it up

The Big 4 were huge at my school, and basically I saw two tiers with respect to where the "talent" was going.

Tier 1 - PwC and E&Y Tier 2 - Deloitte and KPMG

in that order, based on tax & audit functions. Maybe some other people can chime in on the Transaction Services divisions of each; I don't know a whole lot about them.

I-banks > Big 4

That should solve your problems

There's a difference between them?

I thought they were lumped together as the "big 4" for a reason...

Within the Big 4, you might say that EY and PwC are the "Big 2."

I think EY is the best of them, but they're all pretty close.

Andersen used to be head and shoulders above the rest of the competition but PwC is the strongest of the surviving Big 4, followed by Deloitte, KPMG, and E&Y.

I am really surprised to hear people list E&Y as top tier - they missed out on the land grab after Andersen and made a critical misstep with the Cap Gemini merger.

In any case, the Big 4 is similar to IBD in that each company has its strengths and weaknesses. So, it is hard to make a blanket assessment of the companies.

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The Big 4 recruit heavily at my school. Of the students who go to the Big 4, the best typically go to E&Y and PwC. Deloitte is a step behind and KPMG seems to get little recognition. As far as experience goes, I can't imagine one would be particularly better than any of the others. I'd say go with whatever one you meshed with the best.

What's the most "prestigious" thing to do at a Big 4 firm?

If I had to work for a particular Big 4 group, I would do TAS.

But making partner with any group is pretty much the most "prestigious" thing you can do, if that counts.

I'd say pwc is a step of ahead of the rest in terms of desire by most undergrads, then EY and Deloitte, with KPMG a few steps behind but not off the map. EY seems to have a more professional atmosphere while Deloitte from what I've read/heard from friends is more a "fun" place to work. Not that any accounting is fun, so maybe less mundane is a better description.

In some places EY is the shit in other's it's PwC or whoever.

The best part of big 4 life are the, generally, "blank check" expense accounts and the trainings.

At my senior training I saw all the girls in my start class and a couple of 30+ year old manager chicks get hammered and dance tables.

Then I saw some dude that was engaged make out with this chick that he worked with (she knew he was engaged.)

Unfortunately, those experiences in big 4 are few and far between. Most of the time you are digging through stacks of checks and invoices and dealing w/ surly AP clerks. And everybody you work with hates it.

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if you were working in TAS, does that change the ranking at all? how does EY compare to PWC?

MM is so fucking boring. Fuck exit ops. I'd go for TMT/financials in any ibank.Or better yet lev fin.

Ranking depends on location. On audit side, PwC is big in Europe, Deloitte in the US. KPMG small in US but big in Europe. E&Y big in both.

On advisory side, E&Y scores low everywhere. Deloitte/PwC big in US, KPMG/PwC big in Europe.