I am currently a Big 4 auditor with 1.5 years of experience. I have experience "senioring" an engagement in which the previous senior jumped. I have performed 5 year end audits (two public, with one headquartered in Canada). I do not have my CPA license. I am a PPA with a Masters in Finance.

My priority is work life balance and reasonable pay over career advancement at this point.

My life goals outside of work at the moment are (in order of immediacy)

1. Devote myself to treatment for my OCD/Tourettes/Anxiety issues.

2. Knock out the CPA exam.

3. Look into Law School. I toyed around with the idea throughout school. I have just under a 3.8 undergrad GPA and I scored a 155 on my cold diagnostic in school, and I am confident that I am the type of person who can study his way into a 170. I scored poorly on the analytical reasoning (logic games) section, which is the most improvable. I am a nervous test taker (see OCD/tourettes/anxiety) and I feel like familiarity would go a long way for me. I am fairly certain that I am ready to commit to at least taking the test. If I score a 170 or above, I'm probably going to go. If I score below a 165, I almost certainly won't.

I want a job that gives me the ability to devote time to all of these things. Ideally, it would not be as time consuming as public accounting. However, I would also like something that looks better on a law school application.

Would you think that small practice or working for the IRS would be more valuable in that instance than working in internal audit?

Also going to post in the Academic forum.

I am living in Houston right now.

Fly to Australia
Find Rachael Needledinger
Seduce her

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Fly to Australia
Find Rachael Needledinger
Seduce her

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That's step 4.

?????

5. profit

Once you seduce her, trivialities like jobs and profit will no longer matter. Your eyes will be opened to your true purpose.

Step 6

Make video and post it.

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I want a job that gives me the ability to devote time to all of these things.

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Avoid law school and the legal field in general.

OP, take this **** to the job network board. Post some more pics of hot chicks with almost no clothes on.

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I want a job that gives me the ability to devote time to all of these things.

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Avoid law school and the legal field in general.

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I am unsatisfied with my current line of work because I don't feel as though I can advance the way that I would be able to in Law. I can work 60 hour on average week if I like my career trajectory. If I can score high enough and land an acceptance at a top 10 school, I feel like it makes financial sense.

Been here, done that.

Was and still am a tax guy. Unless you get really lucky you're not gonna be able to do a whole heck of a lot without Senior title and CPA on your resume. Stay in, knock that sh*t out and bounce after you check those off the list.

My situation is pressing.

I'd like to be able to expedite step 1. I do plan to stay one more year end so as not to be the guy that ****s his engagement team over, but have 2 more lined up after that, and I don't want to wait for the senior designation. I'm falling apart right now. I want to pick up the pieces first.

Honest advice - skip law school. The field is very saturated right now, and most careers within that field are not going to afford you a lot of work/life balance. A good amount of the people I know personally that went to law school wish they hadn't and would likely give similar advice. A career in law lends itself to a very specific subset of people, and chances are you would know if you are that type of person. These careers also tend to be high stress, which might not help with your anxiety/other issues.

The best advice I have - get a job as a staff accountant, preferably with a company in the same industry as your audit clients. The hours are INCREDIBLY easy and you won't have a lot of stress; the pay should be decent as well, very likely more than you make now.

Though I am pretty far afield now, I started my career very similarly. There are a ton of recruiters out there (good and bad), so start to make contact with some of them. I would also suggest you reach out to any former colleagues working at firms in which you are interested. If you have any specific questions or possibly some companies to look into, I might be able to help. Good luck.

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I want a job that gives me the ability to devote time to all of these things.

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Avoid law school and the legal field in general.

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I am unsatisfied with my current line of work because I don't feel as though I can advance the way that I would be able to in Law. I can work 60 hour on average week if I like my career trajectory. If I can score high enough and land an acceptance at a top 10 school, I feel like it makes financial sense.

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Then you'll feel horribly unsatisfied as an attorney. Rode hard and put up wet is how young attorneys are treated in the current market.

I am not committed to law school, though work life balance in the long term isn't necessarily a priority. I just want to take a step back to reevaluate, and with 5 year end audits across my first 1.5 years, I don't feel like I have the time to breathe and take inventory. I feel like if I can get my head straight, I won't have an issue with working 60 hours a week, like I do now, in whatever field I go to. I'm doing okay right now. Mental health issues do present a challenge, but I have learned to live with them, and I am able to drag myself along for now. If I can get my head straight, a return to public or a transfer into a Law career may be good options in the future.

A career in law is incredibly stressful. My dad is one fwiw

I am liking the thought of just jumping for a staff position. It would give me the chance to do more than tread water. I'm learning a lot, but the toll of 5 year end audits and mental health issues are holding back my performance. I'm not sure that I am going to be promoted to Senior in 6 months. I've impressed a few people. I'm a quick learner and a hard worker, but I'm inconsistent due to burnout, taking on a senior-ing role on a poorly planned audit that's dragging out and requiring follow up amongst my other audits. It's too much for a person in my situation and I fear that it is making my performance look poor.

What I'm getting at is that waiting for that senior designation in 6 months might be foolish. I know I'm better than a lot of the staff that are going to be promoted, but I fear that I am stumbling too much along the way.

I fear that I'm being buried in lemons, and I'm not able to turn it into lemonade quickly enough.

Seek professional help before making any big life decisions.

Get your mind right and the rest will take care of itself.

Suck it up, quit whining. If you want to change jobs, do it. No one wants to hear about your problems. Everyone has them, not everyone is self-centered enough to feel like they need to share them with everyone.

A senior designation by itself isn't going to mean much when you do decide to jump to industry. Typically, it's one busy season as a senior that will make any difference. If you already have experienced in-charging an engagement, it might be worth testing the waters.

It ultimately only affects your starting point at a new company, and even then, maybe not too profoundly. A lot of companies prefer to promote from within, so it helps to start accumulating experience within industry. Also, if you can stand out early and impress your supervisor/direct report (or better yet, their bosses), you will advance much more quickly. One of the advantages of industry is that you know exactly who you are responsible to and don't have multiple bosses from different engagements.

We are each assigned a Performance Management Leader- someone higher up in the firm that we can bring our job concerns to. I plan to bring up my concerns with him in a few weeks and shed light on my mental health issues. My desire is to fulfill at least one of my 3 scheduled year end clients immediately (quitting at 12/31 looks bad, but I've had so many busy season's already, that I'm not sure it's possible for me to actually leave in the off season, because I don't actually really have one). I'm hoping he can work with me, here. Perhaps he can guarantee a senior designation for me as I am going to leave sooner than later. It wouldn't present any risk to the firm.

I'm a likeable guy with a pretty honorable work history. I'm not someone who complains or demands a lot. I'm given a lot to the firm already. I think I could land a pretty good dismount if I talked it through.

And you are also going to have a lot more downtime to study for the CPA. Most companies do not require CPA for their staff positions, and if you can demonstrate the ability to do quality work while also studying/passing the exams, that will also go a long way in establishing a reputation for yourself at a new firm.

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Suck it up, quit whining. If you want to change jobs, do it. No one wants to hear about your problems. Everyone has them, not everyone is self-centered enough to feel like they need to share them with everyone.

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I am humbly submitting myself for advice. I'm not here to complain. I'm here to leverage good advice, because most people like to give it.

You're good people Four Thin Inches. You're generally on the same page with me more than most when I read between the lines of your trolling. I'm pretty sure that is what you are doing now, at least in part. Either way, I'm not taking offense to this.

Having spent a decent amount of time personally in the Big 4 and knowing many people currently in it - it is HIGHLY unlikely you are going to receive special treatment of any kind. I wish it were otherwise, but you (and all of your coworkers) are viewed as replaceable cogs at that stage...and for a long time after that even. You may have a different relationship with your PM or your experiences in public may be much different, but you would definitely be the exception. They just do not respond to anything even remotely viewed as a negotiation or threat, even if you do not intend it to be one.

Again, I hope your case is different, but I would really doubt it.

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I've had so many busy season's already

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What? You've had one busy season, come on.

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Having spent a decent amount of time personally in the Big 4 and knowing many people currently in it - it is HIGHLY unlikely you are going to receive special treatment of any kind. I wish it were otherwise, but you (and all of your coworkers) are viewed as replaceable cogs at that stage...and for a long time after that even. You may have a different relationship with your PM or your experiences in public may be much different, but you would definitely be the exception. They just do not respond to anything even remotely viewed as a negotiation or threat, even if you do not intend it to be one.

Again, I hope your case is different, but I would really doubt it.

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I will defer to your judgement. I like the idea of jumping out to a staff position quietly and starting from scratch. I don't feel the need to pull a good position necessarily. 5 year- end audits makes for valuable experience and I'll be able to use that to advance quickly.

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I've had so many busy season's already

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What? You've had one busy season, come on.

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This is what I've had since 12/31/2013:

1. Public filing after 12/31. 2. Private audit after 2/28. 3. Another Public filing after 5/31 in an off year-end. 4.Auditing a company going through an IPO (which means a heavy workload). 5. A 3 week inter-office year end audit. 6. two benefit plan audits. 7. Two interim audits.

I'm not counting the IPO or the Interim audits. I'm not counting one of the benefit plan audits either, as it was only for 2 weeks while the other was 4 weeks.

I have had at least 3 true busy season audits in the first three filings for the first 5 months of the year. Make what you want of the rest of it.

Have you gone to see a shrink about your ocd/Tourette's/anxiety yet?

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Suck it up, quit whining. If you want to change jobs, do it. No one wants to hear about your problems. Everyone has them, not everyone is self-centered enough to feel like they need to share them with everyone.

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I am humbly submitting myself for advice. I'm not here to complain. I'm here to leverage good advice, because most people like to give it.

You're good people Four Thin Inches. You're generally on the same page with me more than most when I read between the lines of your trolling. I'm pretty sure that is what you are doing now, at least in part. Either way, I'm not taking offense to this.

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You're a good guy, I didn't mean any of that. I was just being a *****.

Anyway, my priority is to get out and breathe for a bit and to get my head straight. I've gone most of my life just living with and hiding mental health issues, but I know that I can't/shouldn't try to keep that up. I'm not sure public accounting is for me. I'm sure that's understandable, given my first impression and being stuck in a never-ending busy season.

I just need to get my head straight and take a long hard look.

NM

Making a switch to law or going back to Public would both be contingent upon me making good progress with my anxiety-based issues.

I just kind of want something that would also look good on my resume if I did decide to to switch to a legal profession.

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I've had so many busy season's already

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What? You've had one busy season, come on.

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This is what I've had since 12/31/2013:

1. Public filing after 12/31. 2. Private audit after 2/28. 3. Another Public filing after 5/31 in an off year-end. 4.Auditing a company going through an IPO (which means a heavy workload). 5. A 3 week inter-office year end audit. 6. two benefit plan audits. 7. Two interim audits.

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And a partridge in a pear tree! Happy Holidays!