Are you wondering what happened to Colin's numerous typos? Curious why we don't let interns run our Twitter account? Want to see me virtually pie a failed CPA exam candidate on Skype? Editorial questions, comments and complaints are welcome, just don't expect us to actually read them.
Hey there cynical GCerz
I have a question for you: what did McGladrey ever do to you? I don't work there but I get the feeling that you all snub your nose at them. There is a strong undertone of disgust towards this firm on your site and I am curious why. Easy target? Firm who wishes they were Big 4 but never will be? Maybe Colin is hiding a Mickey G layoff from his resume? In the spirit of open information I would appreciate a response on this.
Curious George
We almost didn't even acknowledge this one as we're not in the habit of explaining our editorial decisions (and trust us, it's not like we had a conference call about which firm we should be rudest to when we started this site three years ago) but I figured it would be good to open the floor anyway lest anyone accuse us of not being transparent.
That said, you wouldn't happen to be a McG partner, would you, George? I'm curious too, ya know.
Anyway, why are we all so mean to McGladrey? It's not like they did anything to any of us, except those of you who work for them and that one guy who got spammed with a bazillion recruiting emails in a span of half an hour. That one time Going Concern "accidentally" ended up blocked in several McGladrey offices, we wondered out loud what we could have possibly done to make them so mad but have to admit we were impressed when McG's not only got back to us but fixed the issue. In fact, their press team is far, far more helpful than most of the firms we cover. That doesn't save us from pointing out disturbing rituals practiced by some offices but it does allow the firm to tell their side of the story.
Here's my theory: accountants aren't exactly known as the most popular kids on the playground. Sure, now that some of you have grown out of that awkward teenage phase and moved out of your parents' house, maybe you're a lot cooler than you used to be and a decent salary goes a long way to getting you laid but you're still accountants. Remember the discussion we had about how to explain what you do for a living to people who naïvely assume you all do taxes? Just because the green eyeshade is gone doesn't mean the old stereotypes are gone as well and I'm willing to bet many of you had the shit bullied out of you for much of your youth.
Bullied people do sometimes bully the next group below them and in public accounting, that just so happens to be McGladrey (we're sure every KPMG office across the country is breathing a long sigh of relief right about now). Maybe it's the fact that they can't even keep their own audit clients in line. Maybe it's that unfortunate H&R Block situation (getting rejected by H&R Block is akin to getting dissed by the ugly girl you asked to prom). Maybe it's the embarrassingly desperate, questionably authentic drivel McGladrey posts on its Success Starts Here blog. I could go on but I'm not getting paid by the word here and we don't have all day.
Truth be told, I don't think anyone is mean to McGladrey on purpose, we simply report on the oddest occurrences and rumors within this fine profession. Perhaps if we weren't equal opportunity haters totally willing to bash PwC with the same vitriol we distribute to McGladrey you might have a case, OP, but I think you think we make fun of McGladrey all the time because the sheer amount of stuff worth making fun of makes it look that way.
