Big
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011
The Big 4 “Senior Associate Bond”
On a Thursday afternoon in my internship training, our instructor, a Senior Associate, spent some time talking about the relationship that develops between senior associates and first and second year associates. More or less, he said the following:
“Throughout your first couple years with the firm, you will have the opportunity to work with many Seniors. You will learn more from these people than anyone else in the firm. At some point, you will find that one Senior who you click with 100% and a mentor relationship will develop.”
I remembered these words throughout my internship and by the end of the summer I asked myself: “have I found that Senior who I click with 100%.” I had to honestly say that the answer was ‘No.’ While I enjoyed working with many of the Seniors, I could tell that other interns had hit it off better with the Seniors than I had. Somewhat discouraged, though ultimately thrilled at having had a great summer, returned to my final year of college with a full-time offer in hand.
Fast forward one year and I’m working full time. My second engagement was a large fortune 500 company. Our office had a team of about 15-20 staff who I worked the engagement full-time, year-round. There were 4 seniors on the job each responsible for 2-3 associates.
My Senior was one of the smartest people I had ever worked with. More importantly, I realized that he made everyone around him smarter as well (a common trait in Big 4 employees). The discussions we had, regardless of the complexity of the issue, were always focused and intense. He took the time to explain to me not only what I had to do, but why I was doing it and how it contributed to the big picture of the audit.
He taught me how to ask the right questions of the client and gave me confidence to hold my ground with our contacts at the client, some of whom had been with the company longer than I’d been alive. Working with him, I finally felt like I had finally bridged the gap from college student to accounting professional. I worked hard to impress him and always, always made sure to ask if I could help him with his work when my work was done. Finally, I had found my Senior-mentor.
He and I worked together off and on that first year and then we both rolled off to other clients. He was a mentor to me during my time with the Big 4 and we’ve stayed in contact now that we have both left the firm. We talked many times about how well we worked together. He told me that when he was a first year he had a Senior who worked the same way and they had a similar bond. Likewise, I worked with the associates under me in the same manner, passing the torch on to the next class. This is one of the most important parts of working for the Big 4. There is so much collective knowledge that is passed through the ranks year to year. This is one of the reasons Big 4 alumni are valued so high in the marketplace. and why some companies will only hire those with Big 4 experience.
Writing this post makes me nostalgic for my days with the Big 4. The comradery, learning and excitement of those years with the Big 4 has never been matched in the roles I’ve had since I left. To all of you hoping to land a job with the Big 4, I truly wish you the best of luck.
As always, thanks for reading.
About the Author
ig 4 Guru is a career coach, author, CPA, Big 4 alumni and creator of the website Big4Guru.com. Big4Guru.com provides career consulting services to accounting students, graduates and professionals.
Big4Guru.com has helped hundreds of accountants land their dream job with one of the Big 4 public accounting firms.
Scotty McCreery – I Love You This Big (Audio)
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