Public Accounting Firms Would Be Wise to Incorporate a ‘No Bitching’ Clause Into Their Bonus Structures
When you work in public accounting you meet a diverse group of individuals. They all have different life, education, and professional experiences and that’s what makes working for these businesses so interesting. Despite these differences, all these people have one thing in common. Something so basic, so fundamental to the culture of the public accounting […]
How Dissatisfied Are Accountants? An Unscientific Poll
On Tuesday we shared with you an article from Crain’s that quoted executive recruiter (and maybe former astronaut?) Buzz Patterson, “I’d say the dissatisfaction index would probably be at a 10-year high, in the high 60s or low 70s,” with respect to the accounting profession.
If this statement is even remotely true, this means those of you just getting your chops are seeing the worst morale in a decade. We’re talking pretty flippin’ epic misery here. For those of you that have been around for years (or even a decade or more) is this really the worst time you remember? If you’re a veteran of the biz, share your perspective in the comments below.
Also, to get things rolling on this second-to-last Thursday of October, we thought it might be interesting to gauge the crowd here at GC. After the jump, pull the lever for your level of satisfaction with your job. Use these explanations as a guide: 5 – “Hand me a cigarette”; 3 – “Take it or leave it”; 1 – “About to go postal.”
Why Aren’t Accountants Getting Fired for Status Updates on Facebook?
A friend of GC recently made mention of the number of people belly aching about busy season in the filterless universe of Facebook. Yes, we realize this is a shock.
Granted, kvetching about your job is a God-given right but at what point is someone just asking to get their ass thrown out? While “experts” are constantly telling you to “be careful about what you post online,” that seems to be overblown because we’re hearing and seeing people hating their jobs out in the open with no discernible repercussions.
God knows there were status updates from E&Y people re: lack of hoops during the Lehman talk.
Case in point, our friend shared this recent status update with us:
“stock options, fraud interviews, preferred equity accounting…my job is sexy.”
Now maybe this isn’t a “get your shit and get the hell out” offense but accountants have proven to be an easily rankled bunch and if the right person were to read this update, there at least might be a frank discussion about this. It’s become obvious that someone at all the major firms is doing nothing but snooping around the Internet, doing nothing but reading employee complaints.
And maybe we’re premature on this issue. Busy season, while winding down, is still going on and warm bodies are still needed, so some gnashing of teeth on FB might be tolerable.
Maybe this is an unwritten rule in the industry that has evolved with the popularity of Facebook. We ignore your rants for all the world to hear, we take pieces of your soul, one busy season at at time.