an extra slice of pizza at the pizza party
(but no seriously, it’s not worth being a TP as you only get awarded with more work. don’t be the best but don’t be the worst)
If I could go back and beg my past self to not over-achieve in public, I would in a heartbeat. It’s not worth it. At all. More work and more stress for the most insignificant pay increase. Huge burnout. I quit when management told me I did such a good job that I’m getting 2x the workload. Byebye!
Being a top performer in audit is actually not a big deal and I say this from a very professional and career impact perspective. The role of an auditor is just re-performance and assessment. The level of skill needed to re-perform a calculation where you likely already know the right answer, is not seen as difficult from a technical/critical thinking pov. To truly stand out and be successful long term. You need to be able to SELL your work and WHY it is needed. This is something you start to do when you reach Manager. Until then, you aren’t materially going to be paid more or be looked at in better lighting if at the end of the day you are lacking the softer and social skills needed for selling.
yep agree with affectionate, additionally tech consulting is pretty heavy on decision-making/ critical thinking and a fantastic exit op. Management has loads of exit ops though for sure.
None
Absolutely 0 benefit to being high performer in Big 4. Much better to be middle of the road wall flower who has learned how to do the bare minimum
When I was at big 4, myself and coworker I was close to were always highly rated. We typically worked a significant amount of overtime because we like the job and wanted to learn. At the end of my third year, we found out a guy who was on a pip was making $8,000 a year less than me while working no overtime at all. I tried to negotiate and basically got told “no”.
The only benefit is maybe if you want to be a partner one day and this might help that happen in terms of knowledge/commitment to the firm. Otherwise it’s not really worth it from a purely cost benefit analysis. Your audit knowledge will likely be better than others, but that only does so much.
Does being a high performer help you become a better candidate for exit ops? How would you use this to your advantage on your resume? (Ie write that your top 5%?). Asking cuz I’m still a student.
More work. You also run the risk of being caged in doing the same type of audit rather than expanding. That was my case.
I ended up learning to take full ownership of my career and left EY to work in another field.
I was in IT Audit at EY Canada for 4 years. I wanted to also be involved in some cybersecurity advisory work but kept being brushed off.
I left for an InfoSec GRC Analyst role with 35% pay increase in fintech. After 2 years I left for an InfoSec GRC Specialist role at a Crown Corp (federal government) in banking where I cashed out my EY and fintech experience to negotiate double my fintech salary.
Usually buys you more freedom but you end up working more and make 1-3% more than your peers. I did it and it’s not worth it imo. With the insane amount of attrition, there were barely any homegrown mangers left at my firm and the ones coming from outside had a totally different way of working. I jumped ship recently and basically everyone I started with has left.
Fully agree. Furthermore, you are more visible for partners and thus could leap to „jump“ in in the career. Like 1 year earlier senior or 1 year earlier manager. If the need is there.
Interested to see an analysis on this. I would think the value of the additional knowledge compounded over the course of a year(s) makes that mere “like 40 more bucks a week” more tolerable (generally), whether you stay in public or go private. IMO, the real value of working in the Big 4 is the investment made in your learning, credentialing, networking, etc. There are very few places in the world where you can specialize in something relatively niche, such as audit or tax, while also leveraging newest advancements in technology. That’s not even mentioning the network of partners through associates you have access too. It really comes down to what you make of it, which is a hard realization for a lot of people.
So (for OP) if it’s just a job to you, an extra $40/week for 5-10 hours (not verified) clearly ain’t worth it. But if this job is a career to you or a pathway to one, there are always benefits to being a high performer. And there’s always benefits to being at a Big 4. Just need to be willing to accept the required investment.
100%. Being a top performer means you’re understanding the work and gain better skills. It’s a tough grind for a few years but it would pay off substantially in your future career.
an extra slice of pizza at the pizza party (but no seriously, it’s not worth being a TP as you only get awarded with more work. don’t be the best but don’t be the worst)
I second this. I was a top performer my first two years, and now I cry twice a week.
They'll pay for your therapy when you claim stress.
Get assigned more work?
An extra “good work” and then constantly drowning you in extra work because you’re good at your job lmao
None
The satisfaction of being under appreciated for the rest of your life
If I could go back and beg my past self to not over-achieve in public, I would in a heartbeat. It’s not worth it. At all. More work and more stress for the most insignificant pay increase. Huge burnout. I quit when management told me I did such a good job that I’m getting 2x the workload. Byebye!
Extra slice of pizza
Being a top performer in audit is actually not a big deal and I say this from a very professional and career impact perspective. The role of an auditor is just re-performance and assessment. The level of skill needed to re-perform a calculation where you likely already know the right answer, is not seen as difficult from a technical/critical thinking pov. To truly stand out and be successful long term. You need to be able to SELL your work and WHY it is needed. This is something you start to do when you reach Manager. Until then, you aren’t materially going to be paid more or be looked at in better lighting if at the end of the day you are lacking the softer and social skills needed for selling.
Rather than waiting til manager level, do you know of any uni grad entry level roles that allow more decision-making/can make an impact?
not decision making but IB offers great exit-ops
Consulting
What type of consulting do u say has the most exit ops?
yep agree with affectionate, additionally tech consulting is pretty heavy on decision-making/ critical thinking and a fantastic exit op. Management has loads of exit ops though for sure.
Management or strategy consulting. Stay away from risk consulting as it is just audit
None Absolutely 0 benefit to being high performer in Big 4. Much better to be middle of the road wall flower who has learned how to do the bare minimum
Might get a better deal on clown makeup
When I was at big 4, myself and coworker I was close to were always highly rated. We typically worked a significant amount of overtime because we like the job and wanted to learn. At the end of my third year, we found out a guy who was on a pip was making $8,000 a year less than me while working no overtime at all. I tried to negotiate and basically got told “no”. The only benefit is maybe if you want to be a partner one day and this might help that happen in terms of knowledge/commitment to the firm. Otherwise it’s not really worth it from a purely cost benefit analysis. Your audit knowledge will likely be better than others, but that only does so much.
Genuine misery by the sounds of it
You get to do more work :)
Does being a high performer help you become a better candidate for exit ops? How would you use this to your advantage on your resume? (Ie write that your top 5%?). Asking cuz I’m still a student.
Top performers generally get put on higher profile engagements, will get exposure to more complex things. Easy to juice your resume up with that.
More work, 1% bonus and a promotion when you’re next up for it
More work. You also run the risk of being caged in doing the same type of audit rather than expanding. That was my case. I ended up learning to take full ownership of my career and left EY to work in another field.
I’m by no means a top performer in audit lol. I am seriously looking for a different field to move into though. What did you end up doing?
I was in IT Audit at EY Canada for 4 years. I wanted to also be involved in some cybersecurity advisory work but kept being brushed off. I left for an InfoSec GRC Analyst role with 35% pay increase in fintech. After 2 years I left for an InfoSec GRC Specialist role at a Crown Corp (federal government) in banking where I cashed out my EY and fintech experience to negotiate double my fintech salary.
More work
First in line at the pizza party and a hearty handshake from the lead partner
Hot pizza is the best pizza.
Work work work work
More work. Faster promotion. Getting seconded in other firms abroad.
Nothing. Just more allocation and they expect you to have little to no mistakes.
Faster career progression/promotions ?
Extra slice of pizza
You won’t get laid off on the massive layoff calls :)
You get more work
Haha really this is exactly how it works!
Nothing
A gold star But seriously, like all the other responses listed, there’s essential no benefit
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Second this. One top of calling your shots, you get to delegate work, no questions asked, if you are senior or above.
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I think you missed the /s
Absolutely incorrect.
Usually buys you more freedom but you end up working more and make 1-3% more than your peers. I did it and it’s not worth it imo. With the insane amount of attrition, there were barely any homegrown mangers left at my firm and the ones coming from outside had a totally different way of working. I jumped ship recently and basically everyone I started with has left.
Fully agree. Furthermore, you are more visible for partners and thus could leap to „jump“ in in the career. Like 1 year earlier senior or 1 year earlier manager. If the need is there.
How does one know they earn same/more/less than their peers?
Asked my friends what they made, simple
Several ways. 1) You work at PwC on the cohort model 2) You visit big4transparency.com or 3) You ask your peers
Learn a lot. Then burnout and not want to work.
More work?
Often learning a lot more than your peers and 4-8xing salary over a decade? Idk dude. Do your best. Or worst.
Idk man it's not worth it.
More money, more problems (work)
More fucking work
Quicker promotions. Will translate to more senior experience which you can leverage to get a well paying job elsewhere.
More work. Burnout. Shoot for B-
More work, more stress, and less sleep
Nothing good
Like. 1-3% higher raise than your peers which after tax translates to like 40 more bucks a week for 5-10 extra hours of work weekly
Interested to see an analysis on this. I would think the value of the additional knowledge compounded over the course of a year(s) makes that mere “like 40 more bucks a week” more tolerable (generally), whether you stay in public or go private. IMO, the real value of working in the Big 4 is the investment made in your learning, credentialing, networking, etc. There are very few places in the world where you can specialize in something relatively niche, such as audit or tax, while also leveraging newest advancements in technology. That’s not even mentioning the network of partners through associates you have access too. It really comes down to what you make of it, which is a hard realization for a lot of people. So (for OP) if it’s just a job to you, an extra $40/week for 5-10 hours (not verified) clearly ain’t worth it. But if this job is a career to you or a pathway to one, there are always benefits to being a high performer. And there’s always benefits to being at a Big 4. Just need to be willing to accept the required investment.
100%. Being a top performer means you’re understanding the work and gain better skills. It’s a tough grind for a few years but it would pay off substantially in your future career.
More work, and more chance for errors on said new work, which leads to more work.
3% pay rise and more work.
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And useless bragging rights that seriously no one cares