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Hello everyone,
I am a new graduate and I really need some help making a decision between the following 2 job offers (difference in starting salaries negligible):
1) a role in the tax line of one of the Big 4 accounting firms
2) a graduate government rotational program – duties can include things like controllership, financial planning, forecasting, etc.
For several reasons, I’m hesitant about the Big 4 offer. For one, my tax prof hated it so much that he went back to school for 6 years to get an accounting PhD and friends of friends of mine working at the Big 4 also admit that they don’t like it. The main factors that are leading me away from this option are the long working hours and also potentially being pigeon holed in tax if I find I don’t like it. I mean, is being a tax director in industry even an enjoyable/less stressful job than public accounting tax? And are the hours in smaller public accounting firms that much better, relatively speaking? In addition, I have no interest in ever becoming a partner of a firm, much less the Big 4. Personality-wise, while I’ve been a top student throughout all of my undergrad, I am very much an introvert and tend to get very stressed and flustered when working in competitive environments or when working on extremely difficult and technical problems and I feel like this will further hamper my possibilities of success at a Big 4. I also always saw the prospect of jumping ship to government after receiving my CPA in a positive light.
The 2nd option appeals to me more for several reasons: almost-equal salary, standard 40 hour work week all year long, variety of work, friendly atmosphere, lots of learning opportunities and much support is offered to you in terms of finding extended employment either during or after the 2 years. In addition, this position will give me the required experience to obtain my CPA designation. However, while the salary is definitely very competitive in the short run (I’ll probably be making around $65k after 2 years) I am afraid of being stuck at that point for many years without a chance for promotion or salary increase. Having completed internships at the IRS, I can also attest to the fact that the typical stereotypes of lazy government workers is in fact a reality for some cases (although the employees I saw that fit the bill were clearly the underachieving/low-ambition types). While I have no interest in making an extremely lucrative salary, it’s hard for me to gauge at this point whether making probably $70-$75k at age 30 will be sufficient due to living costs and possibly having a family.
I guess my question is this: do the supposed post-Big 4 benefits from having the Big 4 on your resume make hating your life/job (I’m assuming this will be likely) for at least 3-5 years worth it? Or am I better off pursuing the government role now and reaping the rewards of a decent salary, great pension and work-life balance although probably making less money?
Thank you for any advice.
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