Very true. Your statement is reflective of the current practice.

To put it another word, there are plenty of auditors out there and even Big4 auditors are no longer a competitive advantage as it used to be. Most got reality check during interview when they see their fellow colleagues going for the same post during interview. That’s why some even pursue MBA / CFA to further distinguish their self.

On the applicability of your tax knowledge, my simple answer is no.

Each country operates a different tax regime. For you to jump to SG, you need to learn to be familiar with their structure. This is especially true if you are dealing with regulatory or tax compliance which requires you to ensure your client is complying with the law.

You may find tax advisory is easier if it’s more related to strategy or cost saving. These knowledge are more general and transferable.

Banking/FS audit are quite specialized compared to others. I think it’s easier to switch there than vice-versa. About the switch itself, it’s mostly left to partners’ discretion. Due to lack of resources, most partners are reluctant unless you threaten to resign.

All departments are understaffed. So it’s quite hard to transfer unless you make an official request to HR. HR will then ask the partners for endorsement. If you are too good, partners will not be keen on the idea. If you are too toxic, the other department may not want you. Banking audit is more stringent due to the additional reporting to BNM. So they prefer people with more varied background rather than just accounting.

You can always give it a try.

I thought normally recruitment is heavy in 4th quarter as the staff got time to train the juniors. Somemore there is a lot of stocktake in Nov / dec that needs a lot of manpower. A lot of people also may tender before peak period (post December).

Hmm let's take rough math. 4 firm. 1 Advisory team is normally less than 10 people (including partner). Some are bigger like risks (due to mfrs 9 project recently). Hmm let's put 15 different advisory team (ie: m&a, CF, valuation, risks, ...). So 4 X 10 X 15 = 600 plus position in Malaysia to fill? Let's take turnover rate of 20% per annum. That's around 120 position per year? Imagine you have 1000 grads of different background applying? Your chance is around 10% (regardless of bias of academic results)?

Asset management? You can try join place like khazanah? For in, why not try apply directly?

In relation to the asset management info, you are quite right. It’s supposed to be small and lean so it’s easier to dismantle and restructure based on the markets trend or investors preference. The competition is to maintain / get new investors while maintaining the required IRR. You may find better chance to start from boutique firms first to get the ropes and build your track record. You can look for them under the prescribed list in SC website.

Khazanah, its better if you have referral. They prefer someone with experience as the scholars will take up the fresh grads position.

Advisory, also better if you have referral to get the interview. In career fairs, they normally give standard response so just take it with pinch of salt. The tests are normally quite standard and your interview performance will matter more. Try to look for dept that focus on valuation / financial modelling rather than those on presentation / project management.

Taking up CFA also helps as it will give you networking opportunities (if you take classes). Quite a few investment specialist takes up CFA to boost their profile so you can get close to them. Alternatively, you can also look up for glcs/glcs (Ie: BNM, SC, EPF, KWAP, PNB,…)

Firstly, your experience in either firm will depend on 3 key factors. Your team, your manager followed by your client. The firm culture / system is not something you can control so I put that as last factor.

Something I observed in audit is no matter how bad the working hour, terrible client or tyrant manager, a good team can support you through. As most audit engagement involves team working, you spent more time with your team members than anyone else. Your client leaves after normal working hours and your manager is only during planning and wrap up. The key factor here is you. You can determine how the team is gonna work. If you like being solo or uncooperative, good luck facing the manager and client alone.

Your manager will determine your kpi, workload and learning. Most manager are hands off and will let you work independently unless you work in a very large engagement which audit fee eclipses 1 or 2 million. Should be higher in pwc. A nasty manager is nothing compared to a toxic team. At least with good team, y'all can enjoy after work or after job activities. Although having a good manager can help you in your exit / transfer. Btw, you may have few managers due to different project or turnover issue.

Nasty client is manageable as it's periodic basis and you only deal with them like only few hours the most in a day. If you got good team and manager, a bad client will just improve your relationship with your manager and team. Nothing unites people compared to a common external enemy.

On to menial stuffs. Benefits difference are negligible between both firms. You will not feel it compared to the stuffs I mentioned above. I never lose sleep due to rm100 difference. If you got good rating you get even more allowance. Beware of extra work and expectation though. The tag super staff got its pros and cons. Pwc work methodology is more modern and risk based compared to ey and others firms. You will work less on substantive procedures / tocs but focus more on analytics. Ey is more old school. Due to this, some perceived pwc as only they will know what they are doing.

During non peak, you will stay at hq doing admin work. Most will clear their leave at this period. They rather see you off rather than charging your timesheet.

If you are very confident. I will normally take a more conservative view of I am switching to a new field / bigger company. You may need to adjust with new methodology, system and culture. People management is also critical. Big4 got half yearly promotion and double promotion. So if you can deliver, they should have no issue to recognise that.

Imagine if you come in as M1 and fail to meet expectation? Good thing about big4 is they rarely fire people compared to corporates, so why not?

How you perform in interview will affect the job offer. Your results will affect your job application depending on the HR filtration process.

Nothing stopping you. But I think internally big 4 got cooling off period. Can be 6 months to 1 year.

You can always negotiate and discuss with the engagement manager or partner. Whether they will accommodate is another story. You can discuss on whether the staff on penang branch can do the non-core jobs.

No clear requirement but the general preference:
1) Pass all first attempt + prize winner
2) Pass all first attempt
3) Pass all (but failed some before)
4) Pending 1 or 2 paper but you have a degree (Ie: OBU)
I think your interview performance matters more but Big4 interview for fresh grad is quite standard so as long as HR called you for interview, its left for you not to screw it up.

If you want to be involved in deals, the company must be a principal adviser registered under SC. Only Investment banks can submit all type of corporate proposals to the SC. None of the Big4 qualify to be a principal adviser. That’s why you don’t see their name / logo in public disclosure document.

Investment banks also have all the license below:
• Dealing in securities;
• Dealing in derivatives;
• Fund management;
• Dealing in Private Retirement Scheme;
• Advising on corporate finance;
• Investment advice; and
• Financial planning

Big 4 only have the license to advise on corporate finance that’s why you see they mostly do due diligence related activities only.

With only background in due diligence, simple answer is no. With diverse background yes. For example, if you have worked long enough in Corporate Finance in IB, you will be exposed to the following:
1) Familiarisation with laws (Ie: SC, MMLR, CA and maybe BNM). Companies like to hire those very familiar with regulations.
2) Exposure to deals / project management. Handling various stakeholders are vital in many conglomerates.
3) Drafting / preparing documents / framework / presentation. Saves time and resources if you can do it yourself.
4) Valuation / modelling. At least you can do preliminary work before hiring adviser.
5) Research skills. Useful anywhere

So if the CEO / CFO comes to you with a M&A question like can you buy X company at Y country at Z amount. If you know all 5 above, you can do the work. Companies normally have an internal M&A / CF department but the team is normally small, technical and experienced. Even the fresh grads need to learn very quickly. You can also look for investment holding companies. For example, you have Usaha Tegas (Maxis) and Axiata (Celcom).

Valuation skills will set you apart from the auditors. Based on my observation, IB received a lot of application from big4s (and reject most of them). Heavy emphasis is on good paper qualification background as you will be dealing with regulators, clients and advisers. Second, you need to have a strong core background. Finance (knowledge) and law (drafting) will help a lot.

Now IB is no longer a place where you can stay for long term. Most treat is as platform to jump to other greener fields. IB does give better opportunities that Big4. IB will normally meet with rich Dato and Tan Sris in deals such as IPO, M&A and privatisation. Some Tan Sris love the bankers so much they will poach to join their company with huge jump in pay & position.

Singapore and HK are financial hubs. They can hire highly skilled foreigners and not restricted with local quota like Malaysia. Unlike Malaysia, foreign investment banks have huge presence in Singapore like Citibank, Standard Chartered and JP Morgan. Faced with higher competition, all IBs need to step up the quality. However, SG is lagging in capital markets hence their IB is also serving other regions rather than just SG alone. The next rung is HK where they serve mostly China and the rest of Asia (ex-Japan). Their offices are mostly foreigners.

If you think it’s hard to join IB in Malaysia, imagine competing with the foreigners in SG. Most of their associate have Ivy league MBAs. In addition, Singapore laws make it very difficult for foreigners to join their local banks. So that leave market leaders such as DBS, UOB and OCBC out of the picture.

You can always try audit first then switch later to advisory. Most did it this way. For example, in EY, the current MP for advisory is from audit. This is very common even in banks where you can see people jumping different divisions to gain knowledge for the next career advancement.

You may even change your mind later once you start working. Most people have a fixed mind when they join an industry but came out with different perspective once they start working. That’s why you see a very diversified career path.

I thought legal firm offers:
1) Faster promotion
2) More challenging work
3) Higher increment (after mid-level)
4) Faster track to become partner
5) Less regulatory risk (unless you issue an opinion)
I am talking from the perspective of corporate law

Take a similar role from their assurance division salary plus 15% to 30%.