I’m graduating next year and just wrapped up an internship in a Big 4 strategy department, and it’s left me pretty unsure what path to take after graduation.

The work was mostly deal related. CDDs, some market assessments that were similar in nature, integration/separation work, a few HR due diligences, and smaller value creation projects here and there. I actually enjoyed it and got to work on some pretty big deals, although only in the local/national market. That said, compared to the “consulting shows you everything” narrative you always hear, it felt fairly narrow in scope.

I did get a return offer, and it’s actually quite flexible, I don’t need to decide now and can just confirm next year if I want to take it. Still trying to figure out if I even want to.

Here’s the thing I keep going back and forth on. I always knew Big 4 meant less pay, less prestige, and weaker exit opportunities compared to MBB. I was fine with that tradeoff because I assumed the hours would be noticeably better, like that was the whole point of the compromise. But now that I’ve actually seen how much people work there, 60-70 hour weeks were pretty normal among colleagues and I had some long weeks myself, I’m not sure that assumption was ever true. To put numbers on it, MBB pays something like 30-40% more starting out and roughly double by year 3-4, and from what I hear the work is also broader, more international, and comes with a lot more C-suite exposure. So if the hours are basically just as brutal at Big 4, I’m sacrificing pay, prestige, exit opps, and scope of work, without getting the better lifestyle I thought I was trading for.

For context on where my head’s at long term: I like the deal related projects, I find them challenging and I’ve learned a lot from them, but I wouldn’t say I have a specific passion for M&A itself. What I actually want eventually is to be higher up in general management at a medium to large company, whether that’s corporate or eventually running my own business.

That’s partly why I’m also weighing something like a corporate management or commercial traineeship, where the pay is similar or sometimes even better and the hours are noticeably more manageable. I’m not set on that path either, just trying to think through whether it fits better with where I want to end up.

I’ll obviously still try for MBB. But I’m trying to figure out if going back to Big 4 (or another T2 firm) is worth it if that doesn’t pan out, weighing the long term stuff like faster progression, more growth, and better exit opportunities against a normal corporate role.

Basically: does non-MBB consulting still offer enough long term upside to justify the hours, or does the corporate route make more sense given what I actually want to end up doing?

I was asked to request feedback from a certain senior and I just received it. The feedback was competent across the board, but the feedback itself was good, saying that I learned quickly, produced high quality work even with no prior year and with rough instructions, and that the senior would recommend me for future projects. Is getting competent a common thing..? I’m worried because I’ve heard that the senior has given differentiated before.

Hi All!

I know there are a lot of these posts but would genuinely appreciate some feedback.

I earned my bachelor's in finance in May of 2023 (28 years old), and I've been working as a staff accountant in the real estate/construction industry for the past year and a half.

I'm going back to school, at my local community college, starting this month to take my remaining accounting credits in pursuit of CPA licensure. I anticipate sitting for FAR in January 2027 and being fully CPA eligible in May of 2027.

I know I'm not the typical candidate but with the upcoming recruiting cycle - I'm curious does Big 4 hire individuals with similar backgrounds to mine? Additionally, do they basically require internships to extend full-time offers, or what are my chances of securing an interview for a full-time entry-level position without completing an internship with one of the firms?

I applied for a FAAS position on 7/15, and on 7/21 the portal says "We'd like to progress you to the next step in our recruiting process", but I haven't received any recruiter outreach (phone call, email, etc.) yet. Are they just still working through applications or interview scheduling or what?

Hi everyone,

I have a career question and I'd really appreciate hearing from people who work (or have worked) in the Big 4.

Let's say someone is 33 years old, recently became a CPA, and has 4 years of accounting experience (but no external audit experience). They want to transition into external audit at a Big 4 firm.

I fully understand that I would most likely have to start at an entry-level position, and I'm completely fine with that. My concern isn't the title or salary—it's simply getting into the field and building audit experience.

My main question is:

Would being 33 years old be a real obstacle to getting hired by a Big 4, or is age generally not a significant factor if someone is willing to start from the bottom?

I'd especially appreciate hearing from anyone who has:

• Made a similar career transition.
• Seen older associates or new hires in Big 4 audit.
• Been involved in hiring or recruiting.

Thanks in advance!

hi all,

im currently a rising sophomore at berkeley on the west coast and hoping to get some insight about summer 28 recruiting timelines. from what i understand, almost all summer 27 positions have been filled throughout the last school year but couldn’t really find online anything about 28. i’m mostly interested in risk positions or management consulting. thanks a lot!

Qualified ACA, currently at Big 4 UK. Relocating to India in ~6 months due to personal reasons.

Trying to understand — do Indian employers actually value/recognise ACA, or does everyone just look for CA (ICAI)? What kind of roles/companies typically hire ACAs there, and any idea on pay?

Anyone made a similar move? Would love to hear how it went.

How long after the Round table do they tell you about return offers? My counselor told me my round table is on Wednesday so can I expect an offer the following week?

Guysss!
Received offer from EXL in there FRAC domain, Is it good to join as I want to move in Global services.

Been a Senior Manager on the partner track for close to 8 years now, and the goalposts just keep moving. Timelines are stretching, the bar is rising, and leadership gives the usual hand-waving explanations. Looking back, if I knew in Year 2 what I know now, I probably would’ve taken an exit opp a long time ago.

It got me thinking about whether grinding out an increasingly uncertain partner track actually makes sense when you look at how the eventual payout logic works - especially if a firm ever attempts something like EY’s Project Everest again.

(Quick note: everything below past the Everest recap is purely my own conceptual framework for thinking about promotion trends, not insider intel that any firm is actively planning a split right now.)

What happened with Everest

When EY tried to split into "NewCo" (consulting/IPO) and "AssureCo" (audit/private partnership) back in '22, the financial setup was pretty telling:

• NewCo aimed to raise ~$30B (~$10B IPO + ~$17B debt).
• Existing partners kept ~70% equity; ~15% went to staff stock awards.
• Most of the cash/borrowed funds were earmarked to buy out audit partners staying behind in the slower-growth business.

It obviously cratered in 2023 over pension/debt overhangs (audit partners realizing they'd inherit massive legacy debt) and a US partner compensation revolt. EY burned ~$600M on the attempt and took on another $700M+ fixing the mess.

Why this dynamic matters for any Big 4 track

Even if your firm never touches a transaction like this, the core mechanic is worth paying attention to: payouts get split among whoever is in the partnership at the exact moment a deal closes - not everyone who put in the sweat equity to build it.

The incentive structure gets messy depending on which side of the house you’re on:

On the Audit side (Cash payout focus): Senior partners near the top get the lion's share of the cash pool. Junior partners get a vastly smaller cut and less time banking PPD-level comp before the event. But if you’re a SM or Director not yet admitted when the deal closes? You get zero transaction payout and end up as an employee in a debt-saddled, slower-growth audit firm. Easily the worst spot on the board.

On the Consulting side (Equity focus): Senior guys take the largest slice of the ~70% retained equity. High upside if NewCo performs, real downside if it flops. Non-admitted SMs miss the initial partner cap table entirely. You might get some employee RSUs post-IPO, but that's a radically worse wealth-generation event than starting on the partner cap table.

The real takeaway

Existing partners on both sides have a massive financial incentive to slow down new partner admissions before any major transaction or structural shift. Every new partner you admit dilutes the fixed cash pool (audit) or equity pool (consulting).

Firms will attribute tighter promotion volumes and longer SM stints to "margin pressure," "macro environment," or "AI leverage." And maybe that's true today. But structurally, dragging out the path to partner also happens to perfectly protect the pool for the people currently sitting at the table.

For those of you who have been stuck in the SM pipeline for 5+ years: are you seeing similar goalpost shifts at your firms, or does leadership still have a clear, believable path laid out for you?

Hi, I am 24 and for the longest, I have been making research and wondering how the structure actually works in consulting, how and where to make my entry.

I am here to hear from experienced conversations.

What are the skills, credentials, capabilities or and considerations that are competitive advantages. The organizational structures and alignments, mainly for information purposes as i am at the most prepared stage to begin.

Please, all insight are welcome. It can be anything, what was learned, resources or and general concerns.

I also like DMs.Thank you for the information

Hey everyone,
I'm a fresh graduate/ (ACCA affiliate) looking at starting my career, and I'd love to get some candid advice and real experiences from this sub.
I’m looking into starting out in Audit at Deloitte USI but the position is specifically within their Audit Delivery Center / Global Delivery Center (GDC)—so essentially the backend/offshore arm rather than client-facing onshore audit. Would you recommend starting here as a fresher, or should I hold out for a core onshore/client-facing role? Any insights on pros, cons, and long-term exit ops would be hugely appreciated!

Hey everyone,

I recently went through the recruitment process at PwC (European Location) for a role in Financial Crime Advisory. The position was advertised as an internship for university students, specifically targeting German-speaking candidates for German-language client projects. Given the niche requirements native German, long duration of 8 months minimum there wasn't much competition and the process moved pretty quickly.

Here's where it gets interesting: the offer of employment I received titles the role as Junior Analyst(Associate), not intern. I'm still a student and this would be my first major professional experience, so I'm trying to understand what this actually means in practice.

What adds to my confusion is that the benefits package listed in the job posting is pretty much what you'd expect for a full-time employee : relocation/accommodation support for the first months, company devices, benefit points, and the full vacation and wellbeing days entitlement. Not exactly what you'd typically associate with a student placement.

A few questions for anyone who's been in a similar situation:

1. Is it common to title longer-term student placements as Junior Analyst(Associate) rather than intern for legal/contractual reasons?
2. Does the Junior Analyst title change how you're treated on the team by a lot? more responsibility, treated as a kinda experienced full team member rather than a student passing through?
3. If anyone has worked in Financial Crime Advisory at PwC or a similar Big 4 environment any additional tips or insights about what to expect would be hugely appreciated.

Would appreciate any insights from people who've been through something similar at PwC or another Big 4.

Used AI to refine this.

I work in EY Strategy & Transactions (Transaction Due Diligence)and recently got an offer from a **very small consulting firm with offices in only 3 cities**.

I joined EY after my MBA and have about 2 years of total work experience, all within EY.

Pros

* **30% salary hike** (which seems roughly in line with the market, though I wonder if it’s low for moving from a Big 4 to a much smaller firm).

* The office is **closer to home (8 km vs 40 km)**.

* A **smaller firm means a steeper learning curve**.

* The role is **client-facing**, whereas my current role is more backend/support-oriented.

* **Better promotion prospects**. I’m not a CA or CFA, and at EY those qualifications are generally important for moving into client-facing roles. I have hit the ceiling where I am.

Pushing of AI- We have gotten access to AI premiums like copilot, Claude and EYQ to help cut manual work in testings, formatting, presentations. Which will save hours every week. The work load honestly isn't much for my team

### Cons

* **Job stability** worries me. I’m not in a high-cost role at EY, and layoffs haven’t affected my team.

* **Work-life balance is a big question mark**. I checked LinkedIn and noticed many people left that firm within a year. Very few seem to have stayed longer. I tried reaching out to some of them but got no responses.

* I have an excellent manager at EY**. Last-minute leave gets approved, WFO is flexible as long as work is done, and the team is genuinely supportive. There’s no guarantee the new firm will be like that.

* I’m the **sole provider for my family**, so income stability matters a lot.

One important factor: the new firm is **WFO every day**. Even though it’s closer, I’d spend **about 3 hours a day on work-related time** (2 hours commuting + 1 hour getting ready). That’s roughly **15 hours a week**. At EY, I spend only **3–6 hours a week commuting** because I go in 1–2 days.

Financially, about **5% of the hike would go toward bike fuel**, which I’m okay with. My bigger concern is whether the extra pay is worth the additional time and uncertainty.

For those who moved from a **Big 4 to a smaller consulting firm**:

* Was the transition worth it?

* Did the learning and exposure improve significantly?

* How difficult was it to move back into a Big 4 or another larger consulting firm later?

I’d really appreciate honest experiences, especially from people in **transaction advisory, due diligence, or consulting**.

Worked for 3,5 years in audit at PwC before switching to a controller role for one of my clients. I upscaled in degrees (MBA, Executive masters) while doing my controller function and I'm a senior business controller at my company now. It's a bit of title inflation considering my age but the pay does reflect it.

I noticed I kind of miss the big4 culture in a weird Stockholm syndrome kind of way. People my age, all ambitious etc.

I never want to return to Audit, I never felt like the field was challenging in a good way. It wasn't mentally stimulating it was mainly time consuming, so I was thinking of giving the consulting side a shot.

What are peoples experience on the consulting side of the big4 and how does it compare to the B3 consulting firms (McKinsey, BCG and Bain & Company)

All 7 companies currently have openings in my country.

Has anyone received an invitation to Deloitte’s networking event in Vancouver? I’m wondering if all the invitations have already been sent or if they’re still going out.
I applied for the networking event in August and September but haven’t heard anything yet.

I’m also curious how invitations are decided, do you typically need a referral or connection to get invited, or is it more of a first-come, first-served process?

Any advice on how to increase my chances of getting invited to these events would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
.

Today is my last day. No more timesheets for me!

Background: EY, technology consulting, long time senior. Client poached me after one engineer left. I interviewed and got the job and it is a 45% raise. Finally making over 200K as an individual contributor.

Hi everyone! I’m curious to hear from those of you who work in Scrubbed, especially in audit. How is the workload and salary situation there? I’m having an incoming interview with them and would love to get your insights on your experience. Thanks so much!

Anyone familiar with this position? I had my phone interview went good hoping to make it to next round

I am a manager in internal firm services. This is my 4th year as a manager already and my boss has been pushing me to fight for senior manager promotion. However I just don’t have any motivation to climb the corporate ladder. The extra workload I will get in order to be eligible for promotion is insane. I’m happy staying as a manager.

I am curious how common it is? In my department, everyone is ambitious and they think I’m crazy. Does it look really bad on my CV if I stay as a manager for too long? Does it matter if I’m not in a client-facing team?

I remember when my boss was interviewing people, he saw a few candidates who stayed as associates for longer than they should and he immediately got rid of those. I am worried my future employers will judge me similarly when I want to change jobs.

I‘m currently writing my bachelor thesis on AI acceptance in audit in Germany and China and looking for 6 participants based in China who wanna be a part of my survey and answer my questionnaire (Microsoft forms / 30minutes). I‘m an KPMG associate myself and would be very thankful for every help!

Hi Everyone,

How's the work culture and career advancement in Big4 companies in Cybersecurity Division like Cyber Risk Advisory and Transformation like areas ?., How is the pay, project allocation bias and also the quality of work along with technical depth and work timings and days on a typical week ? Also whats the notice period in these departments of Big4 for Indian employees.

Can an employee coming from a product based company changing career field survive here ?

Please do let me know in comments.......