Looking for intern now, a little bit about myself, 3rd year accounting degree with 3.6 CGPA from a somehow reputable local U.
People say I should go for intern at Big 4, 1stly my internship duration is 6 months and it poses advantage over other uni (2~3 months which is less preferable for the firm to hire), 2ndly my CGPA is not that bad after all although not of top notch.
But many of my relatives, parents' friends (some of them actually worked in Big 4 before) told me that although in terms of career advancement Big 4 is very promising and polishes the resume, but not good if I'm seeking for work-life balance. They told me that it would be better to be in mid-tier audit firms such as BDO, Baker Tilly, Mazars, Crowe Horwath, Moore Stephens. They told me that indeed every audit firms are having long working hours, but at least the stress, workload and working hours is not so crazy at mid-tier firms if compared to Big 4, at the same time able to gain exposure (various sectors and also listed companies) and somehow looks still ok in resume if I would like to jump into commercial line in the future.
Just to note that I'm the kind of person that does not seeks maximum profit but rather a steady increment and also work-life balance. E.g. Earning 10k per month by mid 30s is not my target. Would instead ok to be earning 6k per month at mid 30s but not having deteriorated life quality and health condition throughout my 20s. (Figures are just for comparison, please don't bash me on the inaccuracy of figures )
To add on, I would say that I do not plan to stay in audit line for too long, probably 2 or 3 years I would like to jump to commercial line.
So I wonder, which mid-tier audit firm is best? Seems like BDO is the 5th largest audit firm in Malaysia and more well-known, but when I do my research some of the forumer mentioned it treats employees like slaves as well. In fact I did quite alot of research myself particularly in Lowyat forum, but many of the comments and threads are quite outdated. I wonder in current context (2017), which mid-tier firm is the best choice? In terms of work-life balance and also recognition/reputation (in resume).
And would appreciate if someone could verify the extent of truth of the statement that mid-tier firms has less stress and workload but still looks ok in resume when I want to jump into commercial line in future as well.
This post has been edited by dgg_123: Dec 7 2017, 06:54 PM
Which mid-tier audit firm is best?, Need advise