thank you for your reply but from what i read here and close colleagues (those resigned from big 4 and jumped to commercial) they often get better pay which i believe might be many of my own isolated cases. my apologies if my isolated cases do not seem to hold any credit to my reply earlier...and of course if you wanna compare  those working in big 4 and those with experience from that particular line, then you are of course stand very much corrected.

but my POV comes from those that have chosen this path and which are sticking by it. of course, if big 4 companies are not good and nothing beneficial..i wonder why people still wants to join? (and for your to be still staying in big 4 ) no one owes us a living and you would still be working hard after big 4 but then again you will always have a choice to not to and still be earning the same if higher pay. as for new grad, trust me i have my fair share of problematic, lazy and incompetent juniors under me. experienced or fresh grads, all have attitude problems.

and yes, i am from big 4 with audit and tax experience too. there will never be a perfect job with perfect pay but i believe it is not constructive to be complaining here with the negative vibes. i have my fair share of really bad experience and no, i am not banking on the hope but rather i prefer to think on the positive side since i have already chosen to be working in big 4 (or shit hole where most would like to address this place as ). we are both just standing at the extreme opposite end of the ugly truth 

Actually you are not wrong hoping for a better future, at least its better than choosing to stay on but then complain in the thread about how stressed up ppl are about their useless newjoiners and trainees or sh!tty clients and assignments.

The previous comments speak from a more technical point of view. I'm from ex big 4 currently in Finance/accouting line and Big4 auditing experience is Mandatory for applying for most posts in large/overseas MNCs. Even if you only have auditing experience, without working in Big4 automatically disqualifies you from even being interviewed. Further, I believe the experience of handling all the sh!t being thrown at you when working in big4 auditing and the intangibles of just getting the job done is seriously under appreciated. Example, if I can review and clear a high risk file with one of the nastiest partners in the firm (cos my boss dumped/taichied the task to me), I sure as hell can handle the FC/CFO on the review of accounts/results for my list of companies before the announcements which I'm looking at for a whole year.

I also disagree that MNCs cannot pay you competitive salaries compared to audit firms, but then again as you said, maybe my sample is not representative. Anyhow, your effective pay per hour in commercial will beat most of the big4 ppl.

I also not sure, but for a lot of positions including my current one, it was mandatory to have big4 auditing experience.

From my own experience, I guess maybe one reason is because most likely your eventual boss will be from ex-big4 as well. In my case this has always been true, they were always ex big4 either locally or internationally. So therefore they require ppl who are from big4 for the exposure and also probably they want ppl with a similar method/line of thinking. They will require you to at least prepare some ground work or recommend the correct accounting choice, based on your understanding of the accounting standards and the potential audit issues based your previous experience from the big4 accounting firms.

E.g, for an accounting issue/choice, what is the applicable accounting standard and what are the risks associated with each choice. What is management's preference (to increase or defer profit) and will the auditors allow us to get away with this? Probably someone with big4 auditing knowledge will be in a better situation to ensure that the management choice is accepted the big4 auditors, by anticipating what and how the big4 auditors will approach the issue and have a ready solution/explanation for them. Hopefully end up with a win-win situation for all and not a lengthy ICM or agenda in the clearance meeting.

Thanks for the effort Dry Pillow.

hi, maybe i did not meet the minimum requirement with a second upper.I am graduated from University of london external studies with a second lower. Although I did not meet the minimum requirement (a second upper), big 4 KL did call me to go for an interview but decline the interview bcos i prefer to work in jb. However, big 4 jb (EY) told me that their minimum requirement is second upper so they asked me to complete my ACCA first. This makes me feel like !@#$%^&* how come same company has different standards. And, they should not compare the "second upper" in this way since different schools have different standards. Anyway, I will try my best to clear my last two papers in this coming sitting.

ICIC...no wonder JB office told me there is no vacancy but KL asked me to go for interview.

lets say a firm promotion period is September and I join in March/April.

Does it mean I need to wait 1.5 years before I get promotion?

Dude, please don't reply to something you're not sure of by using one-liners.

My own personal experience. Joined in May, annual promotion season is in December. Promoted in December of same year. This is in Big 4. I am not sure whether this still applies now, but 5 years back, it did to me.

So, if shirley_andy joins in March/April, there is still a chance for him/her to be promoted in September of the same year instead of waiting another year.

Back your statements up with either facts or personal experience please.

Year end stock takes.

Ah, the memories.

Now this I totally agree with. 4 years and I'm still in a big 4 lol. No other workplace lets me come in at 10am

Hi all,

Hahaha..I would like to ask whether anyone got 'kaki' to enter KPMG. I was never called eventhough I already submitted my resume on their website.

I was also told that recruitment in KP is not like any other big4 as it depends on the managers' need then the HR will contact you.

I was in medium firm before but now in commercial doing AP. I dont think I enjoy doing this routine job so would like to continue doing audit. But KP never call me...huwaaaaaa..