Career Talk: Why I Decided to Quit Public Accounting

Hello!

I still remember the excitement I felt getting my first job in public accounting. I was ecstatic for months before my job began.

Pros

• The People
• It's so nice to work at a place that everyone is around your age. Most of my managers were around their early 30s. Everyone likes to joke around and it definetly more relatable. You get to work with people that very passionate about their job and are so so smart. During my first work training in New York, I roomed with this other girl that work in the Indianapolis, Iris. While going taking the elevator to go to breakfast the first day, we met Sarah from the Salt Lake City office. Fast forward 2.5 years later, we still really good friends and kept in touch with each other.
• Big 4 Accounting Firm
• Everyone knows the Big 4 Accounting firms (Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG). You get to work on fortune 500 clients and deal with the most complex issues in the accounting world. Some companies specifically look for experience hires that have that Big 4 experience. 
• Trainings/Travel
• One of the best experiences was being able to travel to other cities. I was able to go to Chicago, New York, and Pittsburgh! Nothing better than going on company traveling and especially during trainings it's similar to a workcations.
• Challenged/Fast Progression
• You always workings on areas that will challenge you either because the complexity of the client or a high risk area. We're always progressing towards the next level. Its honestly the perfect job for someone who doesn't know what they want to do in life or was to get promoted fast. 

Cons

• Extremely long hours
• Something that is expected for busy season is those extremely long hours through the months of January through March. The bare minimum expectation of work I would say for me was 55 hours. Typically that means working Saturdays. Depending on the client need it would be determined if you need to work on Sundays too but I always felt the unspoken pressure to work on Sundays too while being a senior. The longest day I ever worked was right before filing. I left client site at 3am and woke up at 6:30am the next day went back to work. I never want to do that again. 
• Stress
• I cried three times while working as a senior. The amount of stress is unbelievable. You are expected to be within budget and be able to do what you are expected to get done within a certain timeframe. Additionally, you have to manage your staff and coach them while dealing with your managers too. I would get to the point where I was stressed about work during the weekends. 
• Discouraged/Unmotivated
• Everyone has high expectations for you. It's so easy to feel down on yourself if you don't get the assurance that you are doing it right. When I feel like not good with the quality of work, I feel so discouraged and unmotivated.
• Pay
• Everything is pretty much transparent these days and you can tell what comparable jobs are making. Public accounting does start your salary lower however the increase when you get promoted is significant and at the partner level you make a lot of money. There's always a price that you have to pay in order to get a nice salary and that is your time.

Overall it was an intense 2.5 years. There way so many highs and lows and moments where I felt so good about myself and times where I felt my world was crashing down and nothing is going right. I do believe that even if you stay a couple of years the knowledge you gain and the experience will make you well prepared for your future endeavors. Hope this is helpful.

XOXO

-M