Big 4 helps people establish credibility of having a great work ethic, good teamwork skills and people/client relationship skills. It's widely recognized by most hiring managers in any industry.
Audit serves as an excellent foundation for those starting in accountancy, offering both a great learning experience and a clear path for career progression.
It is not at all difficult. It depends on the role you are applying for and the skill requirements of the company. If you have the skills they are looking for, you will be hired. Main thing common in all the firms in Big 4 is communication skills. Your profile should be matching with the requirements in JD. That's it!
Good place to start a career if you want to be corporate
This was a while back, but PwC has the structure and resources in place to give early career employees a very good taste of what it's like to work in a big corporate environment.
Will I be the youngest member of the team? No, we hire a lot of students and the average age at PwC is only 33.
Very hard indeed. A recent article in The Time exploring the Big Four (and KPMG, especially) revealed that PwC had an acceptance rate in 2022 of approximately 2.5%, based on the 304,000 applications it received to its 7,500 roles (including 2,000 entry level ones).
While working at a Big 4 firm can accelerate your career, provide vast learning opportunities, and offer high salaries, it also comes with significant stressors, such as long hours, tight deadlines, client pressures, and intense internal competition.
Deloitte and PwC are described as more competitive.
If you want to make the most money in consulting, Deloitte pays the best. However if you want to make the most money in auditing or tax PwC is likely your best bet.
Working as an auditor is a promising career with good job prospects. You have multiple areas of specialisation and can progress to higher roles in the accounting or finance departments.
PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) LLP
PwC is widely considered to be the world's most prestigious and progressive accounting firm. It offers extensive career development opportunities, including formal coaching and mentoring, informal mentoring, excellent trainings, and clear promotion paths.
Small organisations may feel audit is a sheer wastage of time and funds as it creates disturbances in their routine work. It also involves too many formalities to be complied with. However, Auditing may be a luxury for small businesses but absolutely necessary for big organisations.
PwC is considered the most prestigious due to its position as the largest professional services firm in the world by revenue. Some key facts about PwC: Generates over $43 billion in annual revenue. Employs over 295,000 people across 157 countries.
"Better hours & work-life balance" earned a spot as the fifth most cited reason for potentially heading for the exit. But here's an intriguing twist: despite being the top complaint among Big 4 associates, the grueling hours land only at fifth place as a reason for leaving.
Whether you joined a Big 4 as a springboard for your career or were set on making partner, we generally advise professionals to make a move around three to six years of experience, in order not to leave either too early or too far into their Big 4 career.
KPMG, the smallest of the Big Four by most metrics, is tougher to parse. According to careers advice site thecambridgeconsultant, the firm received around 50,000 applicants to 3,900 roles in the USA, an acceptance rate of around 7.8%.
PwC and EY are at a similar level of prestige. Both PwC and EY offer strategy and operations consulting services, with the firms using acquisitions to bolster their strategy offerings. Specifically, PwC acquired Booz & Company (now “Strategy&”) and EY acquired Parthenon Group (“EY-Parthenon”).
We would, however, say that the minimum GPA required is 3.0. But if you find that yours is a bit lower than that, just work on your GPA for grad school, gain work experience, or take on leadership roles during your academic career. These are called compensating factors.
Know your schedule and work smart
If you've made a plan and you know your schedule, you can make sure that you are prioritising and managing your time effectively so that you hit your deadlines. By knowing your schedule during busy season, you can make sure that you don't over commit and then under deliver.
Audit and Tax Partner Compensation
The average across all partners will land right around $650k – $850k each year.
To apply for a PwC internship, students must meet certain requirements. For example, students must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and recommended to be pursuing a degree in accounting, finance, business, or a related field.
The Deloitte job application process is challenging, and it requires good credentials, extensive work experience, and a series of interviews.
The travel is extensive, granted, it is what you signed up for upon taking the job, and initially it sounds exciting to go out in the world and travel, but overall, travel sucks. You are gone Monday-Thursday. Thursday if you are lucky you will get 5 hours of sleep and then you have to work Friday.