One of the Big 4 is hiring an M&A Advisory manager which, on paper, reads like I'd be a good candidate for the role.
My background: worked through college (relevant work related to accounting), 2 years in assurance at a Big 4, left for a promotion into an internal audit group (came in as a senior), got promoted once after that. Now I'm an internal audit manager with a top organization after 2 1/2 years here. I was always interested in more financial/technical roles. Not a CPA and no desire to become one. End-goal was that I would be happy with any one of these three things: 1) have kids and raise a family if I could be a stay at home mom 2) Work in strategy or FP&A for my company or another large enterprise or 3) Building my brand here and then trying to get into management consulting (people from my department have been courted by the major consulting firms – so not a total pipe dream). I like advising/growth/nuturing – both businesses and people.
My concerns: I am concerned they will not match my pay (low six figures – new manager in assurance pay at my office was significantly lower, not sure what advisory is). I am concerned about the travel – travel/hours were better in advisory (2 1/2 years ago when I was at the firm) than they are in my current group but I would like to be home for a full weekend most of the time (we can be temporarily relocated internationally at the company's whim and it is not uncommon to have one day weekends if you have to travel somewhere). I have a boyfriend who I am talking marriage with – he supports my desire to become a stay at home mom when I tire of the corporate life but is concerned he would never see me in the meantime if I went back to the Big Four.
Those closest to me think I would be nuts to even consider applying for the M&A advisory role. I think I have the potential to be happier if the pieces land well. The Big Four is notorious for offering something different than what they advertise, so I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.