Lessons from my Big 4 manager

You’re not in Big 4 for the money early in your career. Your 20s should be spent laying the foundations of your career in your late 20s to early 40s.

Money will never be fantastic compared to industry. People aren’t paying Big 4s for expertise, they’re paying for temporary / agile resource allocation or because something requires external parties (e.g., external audit, independent reviews etc.).

You can absolutely succeed outside the Big 4, but YMMV. For every industry success story, there’s always someone who worked at a great company but got stuck playing musical chairs, screwed by a restructure, thrown under terrible leadership or just lacked that sweet serendipity that everyone needs to score that next promotion. The Big 4 by comparison provided structured training and career progression. The price you pay for this is money and work life balance.

Recruiters love ex big 4 hires just like why they love CAs. It’s a reliable stamp on someone’s CV to shows that someone’s gone through an appropriate level of professional training and professional experiences. For example when hiring an experienced senior / manager I’d be comfortable that they’d have experience coaching new staff, people managing, advising senior leaders or even navigating complex political environments.

Networking and its benefits are never felt immediately. The people who realise this too late are always the ones who get caught with their pants down in the middle of job interviews or complex matters at work. They often have no friends, peers or ex colleagues to turn to for advice or just as a general sounding board. You’ll realise just how many people you know in various companies/roles once you leave the Big 4.