Life of an auditor

I know this businessweek article is a couple weeks old and has generated a good amount of news already. But I didn't really skim through its rankings until recently. I really don't get these rankings. The big 4 are ranked as the top 4 best places to launch a career. You're telling me GE, Goldman Sachs, Google, Mckinsey, Apple and Microsoft are worse places to start than the Big 4? You have got to be kidding. Going down the list of things they looked at - a) pay: The avg. starting pay is nowhere near the starting pay of most of the companies I mentioned. b) bonuses: "Signing bonuses: 90% of entry-level hires received them in 2009". These signing bonuses go upto $5k. Add that to the starting salaries and that's still nowhere near a google, apple, goldman or mckinsey employee. c) 401k match: sourced from a commenter on this post -"Deloitte will match 25% of the first 6% you put in. So, you make 80,000, put in 6% (4,800), you get $1,200 matched. But...no mo...

It really looks like 80% of the senior managers and partners balding or have receding hairlines. That's a bad sign. It's almost like a prerequisite to become partner. Rogaine should advertise heavily in the accounting firms, it'll generate a good amount of revenue here. All the stress that comes up with managing jobs + the fact that the stress doesn't reduce when they see their direct deposits + dealing with miserable people in their early 20s =

Please, oh please, stop with the usage of audit terms in your daily lingo. It is not funny. As much as you think it is the greatest thing in the world and is absolutely humorous, you are not Dane Cook or Robin Williams or Chris Rock. Stuff like "we have to waive on today's difference of opinion", " don't worry about spending $10 on this, it is immaterial", " we need to remediate this issue". I could go on, but it is cringe-worthy. Use them only when it concerns auditing issues, don't take it outside the workplace.

On the topic of leaving, what are some of the best offers you've heard colleagues take elsewhere when they left at the Sr. Associate level. (based on salary and work/life- assuming the Sr. was making around 70k) I'm curious what kind of "jumps" are possible? Good question. most senior associates who leave get a pretty significant raise..between 15-30%, plus bonuses. Most go to senior accountant, manager or assistant controller. Sure, the firms make sure everyone knows that these new salaries will stay the same for atleast 2-3 years. But by the time we get to a 20-30% increase if we stay at our firms, it'll take 2-3 years anyway. The alums could have already moved on by then. Spoke to one friend who recently got a 30% bump, including the yearly bonus. More importantly, 8 out of 10 people who leave/got laid off have said/will say that it was the best thing that happened to them, because they are significantly happier. I mean, their smiles are plastered to their face...