Life of an auditor

Just joined one of the big 4 as a first year senior. Any tips on how to succeed and navigate the political side of things? The audit firms are not immune to politics unfortunately, not sure if any companies are. It's part and parcel of the game unfortunately. There are three ways to play - 1) Stay above the fray - Don't play the game. If you're good at what you do, word will spread. Let your work speak for itself. People will clamor to put you on their jobs. As a senior, it's harder, since managers and partners don't spread the word as much as seniors do about staff. Why? The amount of communication decreases at higher levels, and the managers want to make sure the other managers don't steal the good ones. The only bad part about this is that you might not have control over the type of clients you get. Ideally, this is what everyone should do, but unfortunately, it's not. 2) Be a pawn in the game - Be a participant in the game. You add to the politics, you ...

I'm going to be an undergraduate senior with an accounting minor at UCSD this coming fall. What's your advice to getting ahead of my peers prior to fall recruitment? I've been emailing recruiters and trying to reach out to the audit staff but getting their actual contact info is difficult. Thanks to the commenters for some good responses to this question. Other than their advice, I can offer the following - a) consider switching to an accounting major b) apply to a smaller firm. You can always try and get into a big 4 firm later. c) consider expanding your geographic choices and look outside of the bay area. If you were an accounting minor, and only want to do it so you can get a job, then I'm not really sure if you want to pigeonhole yourself into accounting.

When is the best time to ask for a transfer? Is it frowned upon or presumptuous to ask for a transfer in your first year or is it better to wait until you are a senior? What is proper etiquette in this situation? Also, what are your thoughts on transferring from a large office and a large market to a small office and smaller market? Any benefits or drawbacks? I'd say the best time is after your first year as a senior associate. This way you have some leverage in that there are always offices looking for senior associates. You can always try planting the seeds for a transfer after a year, but it might be hard since it all comes down to supply and demand. Most offices have enough staff associates, but are lacking when it comes to senior associates and above. From a process standpoint, talk to your mentor/advisor first, then build a business case prior to going to HR. Don't just go to HR asking for a transfer because you want to move to a different city. I mean, that's fine, ...

Just wondering if you can offer any further insights on the job prospects for the IT counterparts? I'm not the right one to touch on this. If there are other readers who can shed some light on the IT service industry, do so in the comments section. From what I know though, and based on conversations with an IT partner, they are really busy and are definitely looking to hire.