[Anonymous]

Hello. I’m looking for a little career advice. I’m an experienced audit associate at my firm, and I am going into my third year of auditing (second year with my current firm). I am at a crossroad between leaving in the next few months or staying for a few more years. I’ve thought of arguments for staying and leaving.

Reasons to stay:

– I really like the people I work with.

– I’ve been told that I am doing a good job and that I am a pleasure to work with.

– I feel like I’ve learned a ton in public accounting, and I feel like there’s more to learn.

– I actually like auditing.

– The more public accounting experience, the better.

Reasons to leave:

– Busy season hours.

– I don’t consider public accounting a long term career path.

– Possibility that a future employer will help me pay for an MBA (one of my long term goals)

– My office mainly handles financial institution clients. I’m afraid that the longer I stay, the harder it will be to find jobs in other industries.

– My raise for the year is only about 3% (bringing my salary to $52k), which is towards the lower end of raises. I thought since I was told I was doing a good job, the raise would have been slightly higher (maybe around 5%).

– I probably won’t get promoted to senior for another year, and I’m not even sure if I want to be a senior in public accounting.

My biggest motivation to leave is probably my salary. I felt a little disappointed when I was told I’d only be getting a 3% raise, and I felt even more disappointed when I was told that it was on the lower end of raises. Then again, I suppose they didn’t have to give me a raise at all.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[QuesoDip]

It sounds like they're saying you're doing a good job but their actions are inversely related to what they're saying. A raise on the lower end of the spectrum can mean a few things. They don't personally like you or you're doing a bad job. I would say that the company might be experiencing financial difficulty but the fact that you're on the lower side of the range means other people got higher raises. I have to ask, is your employer commonly referenced by 3 letters, any of which might be p, w or c? Also, where in PA – I'm starting work there soon =O

My thoughts – you've done some time, I would start looking around for something better.

REG - 88 - 8 Weeks (Becker, Ninja Audio/Flashcards, Wiley TB)
FAR - 87 - 10 Weeks (Becker, Ninja Audio)
AUD - 98 - 6 Weeks (Becker, Ninja Audio, Ninja MCQ)
BEC - 87 - 2 Weeks (Becker & Ninja Audio)

[Anonymous]

My evaluations indicated that I am doing a good job and that I am well liked by my engagement teams. Unless my seniors and managers lied on my evaluations, then I would think that serves as some proof that I'm doing okay. If performance was an issue, I feel like I would have been let go by now. We had a few people let go due to performance issues a few months ago at the end of our evaluation cycle. I know for sure the firm isn't experiencing financial difficulties, so that's not the issue either. Maybe I was expecting too much of a raise.

I do not work for PwC, and I don't want to reveal exactly where I work. I will say that I work for a national firm in a mid-market area in PA.

[Anonymous]

I reached the same crossroads you did earlier in my career. I also was in a very niche area (Hedge fund audit – Ernst & Young). If felt that the longer I stayed, the more difficult it would be for me to transition into another area. I left at the 2 year mark and went back to grad school for a masters in another subject. After that I was hired as a portfolio analyst in a mid size I-bank. Now some years later I am a small business owner, so it didn't really matter in the end 😀

Most of my colleagues who stayed longer than I did are either still there, or work as fund accountants at hedge funds, which is pretty much what 80% from my practice ended up doing. It's a pretty mundane dead end gig in my opinion.

Employers will always tell you that you should stick to a very tiny niche, blah blah…it's great for them that you can do a small job very efficiently due to specialization of labor. But when it's time to move on your options will be limited. In my opinion giving yourself a more diverse employment background will give you more freedom and open you up to a wider variety of job options.

[mla1169]

Just investigate wherever you're looking very well-because every single one of your reasons to leave could potentially be an issue elsewhere, even in industry. When I worked at a prior manufacturing company we worked 70 hours the first week of every single month-so it was busy season just spread out. And company policy was raises were capped at 3%.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[fuzyfro89]

You're trying to rationalize a $52k salary with 3 years of experience? Are you a CPA? How does this compare to other jobs with 3 years of experience at your size/level of your firm and clients?

At the end of the day, your experience matters most. Your salary is really determined by market value of your skills in the long term (i.e. how well your experience stacks up against others). In the short term, anything could play out based on individual firm needs, timing, etc.

I know that every Big 4 person says this, but your experience is much more important in the early part of your career than your salary. Of course, as you look to get a job outside your firm/current company, your salary matters more as a baseline for negotiations, so you can't take the “better experience, lower pay” stance forever.

[Author]

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