Life of an auditor

Given the volume of people leaving the firms for greener pastures, I started thinking about the reasoning behind why people at different levels within the firm leave. So let's give this a shot... 1) First year associate - You go, WTF is this job? You realize that this is not the career or field, let alone the job, for you. You realize your calling is nursing, teaching in an elementary school, running a store, or something on those lines. This is when you leave, or should leave. 2) Second year-third year associate - You complete two years at the firm. You cannot deal with the hours, and your main priority is a good work-life balance. You'd rather be an accountant at a company, and have your own desk and 9-5 hours. This is when you leave, or should leave. 3) First senior associate year- You now have senior year under your belt. You probably have your CPA by now. The offers are pouring in. You hate the salary you're getting paid. You went through a really difficult year and st...

So I'm just recovering from a bombshell dropped by my manager. I've literally been working with him since I began, and he's essentially my point of contact for all accounting related questions, regardless of the client I'm on. He's also my buffer to senior management, i.e. takes in their bs and only drops a little down to me. Following is a recollection of my conversation. 8:30 am Manager (after walking in, while standing up) - So there's no other way to tell you this, but I just got an offer. (Silence) Me - umm..ok.(We get offers every week, so I brushed it off.) 8:32 Mgr - Wow, that was easy. I wasn't looking forward to telling you. Silence. I stare at him. He stares back. None of us blink. 8:33 Me- Wait, an offer offer. Mgr - Yep Me- So you're considering it?? Mgr - Yep Me - How seriously? Mgr - Pretty seriously Me - You're not going to actually take it are you Mgr - Blank Stare 8:34 Me - No F**king way. No No No..You can't..F**k...no. No shot...

This is to respond to the following blog question - "on average how many years do most auditors stay at big 4 before moving on and what position are they before they leave?" On average, I'd say 3 years. The way I've seen it unfold.first year.. 5% of the newbies leave..the second year, around 15-20% of the sophomores leave...the third year, 20-30%. By the time you hit manager, 70-80% of your batch will probably be gone. It's good for the firms in a way, because they can't promote everyone to the managerial level. And so the audit factory churns. Ideally, I'd say..if you want to be in the accounting field but don't like the hours...stick around until mgr and then leave, if you don't want to be in the accounting field, leave asap...if you don't mind what you're doing and don't know what you want to do yet, keep at this job until you figure it out. Heck, maybe one will make partner by then. Honestly though, the best accountants I see at my ...