When accounting goes unaccounted for
A highlight: “Generally, you shouldn’t have a year end one after the other,” says Tara. “But the company went under a hiring freeze and I wound up with five or six clients’ year ends back to back. I was working excessively long hours and work life balance just went out of the window. I’d get into work at 8AM and leave at 4AM,” she says.
Overworked and underpaid: Why grads are ditching jobs at the Big Four [The Tab]
KPMG has some sponsored content in Harvard Business Review about how to keep employees from […]
The Oakland Tribune shares this charming story of an accountant who discovered her talents would be more appreciated in helping animals:
Like many people who love animals, Sue James dreamed of becoming a veterinarian when she was a child.
“I looked into going to vet school but my parents, they wanted me to pursue a more traditional career,” said James, a Danville resident who grew up in a house in New York state where the family pets included dogs, rabbits — even a monkey.
After a long stint in the corporate world, James found an outlet for her lifelong love of animals at Tri-Valley Animal Rescue, an all-volunteer group founded in 1992 with a mission to prevent the unnecessary euthanasia of shelter animals.
Uncle Ernie gets a badass plug in the next bit:
She started volunteering in 2005 as she was winding down a long and successful career at Ernst & Young. There, she was a partner who oversaw audit work for some of Silicon Valley’s leading high-tech companies. Today, she serves on the boards of Yahoo, Applied Materials and Coherent.
Working at Ernst & Young, she learned the importance of teamwork to meet the needs of clients. That focus also carries over to her volunteer work. “It’s about the cats and dogs,” she said. “But also, for me, it’s how can we work effectively as a team.”
It makes sense that she’d end up at the shelter; from what I hear, actual auditing isn’t much different.
By the way, she’s 65. She holds a bachelor’s in math from Hunter College, New York (1967) and bachelor’s in accounting from San Jose State (1975). She taught math and science in junior high and high school in New York state from 1967-69, worked in San Jose office of Ernst & Young starting in 1975, was named partner in 1987, retired in 2006, then consulted for the company through 2009.
Those partners at KPMG U.K. who are living a lavish lifestyle might have to cut […]
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The vast majority of people entering the Big 4 need to continiously define there own career path. Only a small percentage of those who enter actually make it to the Partner level. For these people, once they’ve determined they don’t want to be a Partner, they should be planning their next career move. Working in the B4 is not easy as you chase the almighty billable hour. But don’t ignore the experience. The training and experience you get in the B4 is second to none. And the credential will open up doors for the rest of your professional career. It sux, but hang in there.