I've been lurking around here since I was an undergrad several years ago (first WSO account made in 2012 - amazing how time flies), and I've been encouraged to give back to the community in the form of a Q&A. This site has been an incredible resource to me over the years and it's the least I can do to help prospective monkeys navigate the industry. A little bit about myself: I was a mediocre student at what I suppose is considered a semi-target on this forum. I took a job in Big 4 audit despite knowing I wanted to work in finance because I felt at the time it would provide me the best options given my transcripts and desire to obtain my CPA license. Needless to say, I disliked accounting with a passion and moved firms after a little less than two years; my next role exposed me to financial due diligence and transaction related accounting services (financial valuation for PPAs, private stock, and a variety of one-off consulting projects). After about 18 months in this role I successfully obtained an associate offer in IB (top 5 firm on M&A league tables). It has been an incredible ride and the adjustment to my new role has been a profound learning experience. I spent countless hours reading posts on this forum dreaming of the day I'd make it to front office, but as those of you in the industry know - getting in is one thing while surviving / actually succeeding is another. Happy to answer any questions about the steps I took to make it to the street, I know there are tons of people wanting to make the jump from accounting and it's completely possible if you work hard.
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Did you find it difficult having to create decks with much more unique content?
I don't mean this as disrespect, but this is one of the concerns we've always had hiring someone from valuation. 50%+ of each report seems canned / off-the-shelf (economic commentary, industry, etc.).
I'm curious if you found there to be a learning curve in terms of flushing out positioning and strategy in CIMs and pitches vs. what you were used to.
The fact that you seem to be doing well leads me to believe we may want to rethink our preconceived notions on valuation applications.
I haven't worked outside the U.S., but it seems to me that the Big 4 do much better in other markets. Deloitte has some decent deals post-acquisition of McColl and occasionally KPMG will land a nice one, but generally, they are not as highly thought of compared to the slew of MMs and boutiques in this country.
Strategic direction continues to change and lately it does seem like these firms are trying to get into more sell side and buy side M&A. But that may change.
Corp Dev/strategy is one of the more common exits. I've noticed that KPMG does particularly well in this regard.
None in particular! Congrats on the offer. Attitude is everything, keep your cool, and remember how hard you worked to get where you are. Don’t let anyone take that away from you. Things get easier every single day, and time will fly.
I can add a little color to the problem with internal transfers between groups at Big 4.
It also involves a weird game of balancing being an excellent performer and being dispensable. If you're too good at your job, you're too valuable to the audit and the clients you've been staffed on. If you're not any good, the new group won't take you. Do you be above average? Well, nobody is sticking their neck out for someone who is above average in my experience, unless they really had a great rapport with whoever can help them with the transition.
It's really unlikely that you would be able to transition into something like valuation or TAS with the blessing of your partner when you're so important to the audit's efficiency (and thus their bottom line). One way they try to get around this is they will often say you need to have X years as a senior under your belt. Sort of a "work hard for me another two to three years, and I will repay you for that loyalty by helping you move into the group you want."
There are two problems with what they are saying, IMO. The longer you stay in Audit or whatever LOS you are in... the harder it becomes for you to transition into those roles because you begin to be viewed at as an "auditor" "accountant" or "compliance" type (this is my opinion). Good luck breaking into an external TAS/VAL/IB job with 4-5 years of audit experience. It certainly can be done, but where do they place you? You are the age of an associate or possibly even VP, but you most likely will be having to perform analyst tasks. It just makes you face an uphill battle. Not to mention you be making much more money by then, meaning you will be more expensive to them without the increased productivity. Many people make this transition, so you can definitely do it then, but I think it will put you behind the eight ball. You're better off going for it earlier on and telling your team that's what you're going to do unless they commit to a solid timeline of moving you.
The second problem is that, by the time you put in the X years... you don't know if the group will need you when your partner is willing to help you move. Then you might end up being stuck for another busy season, and next thing you know you could be an audit Manager. This is how I think some people end up getting stuck in audit even when they didn't intend to. Not to mention, it's also a lot easier for these TAS and VAL groups to take people who are high performers in their own offices, which is mostly significant if you're not located there.
A guy on my last team made the move from audit into TAS, but he did it after 5.5 years of audit. He also had to be willing to go whichever office that needed him (less of an issue). I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't have been better off looking to make the transition externally after 2 or 3 years and going into an office of his choice instead of the nondescript location he went to.
All of this is why I decided to move externally after 1.5 years, despite facing some backlash with the old firm when making that decision and going to a less prestigious institution.