Related Posts
Hi, I need a referral for an internship
in Financial Advisory Team
Valuation, M&A, FDD, or Financial
Consulting - at Big 4 in Germany,
can anyone help me?
I did my bachelor's degree at the
University of Mannheim.
I would appreciate any kind of
support and advice.
I'm not above reaching out to alumni
directly via Linkedln, but l'd prefer to
bug as few as possible. So if you
want to help, guide, or mentor,
please pm me.
PwC Deloitte KPMG EY
More Posts
Rising Star
Can dogs talk to each other?
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
What type of work did you do?
To be brutally honest, if you have a "generalist" sort of background at smaller firms it is very difficult to break into big4 at your level. Might have better luck at a larger regional/mid-size firm
Depending on the size/complexity of the international clients, you might have a good shot at bigger mid-size firms (i have no idea what the market kn KS is like).
Bigger firms probably won't be impressed by administrative duties at such a small firm.
What's driving your motivation to move to a bigger firm? (Just curious)
Bowl Leader
I would keep your goal but look into larger or mildly larger companies than what your experience is. Also, always good to even get recommendation letters to have on your from prior supervisors, leaders and coworkers.
What specifically do you want to do at a larger firm? Big 4 might not be realistic, and quite frankly that would be a huge culture shock and change for you, but a middle market firm (BDO, BKD, Grant Thornton, Crowe, Alvarez & Marsal, Forvis, etc) would be a good transition. If you still want to go Big 4 after working at one of those types of firms for a year or two then you will have a better chance with a larger firm on your resume. I’ve seen a few people come from smaller firms and it rarely goes well. They almost always seem to quit within 6 months - 1 year.
Did you go to a large university or a small university? A large university might help some too to show that you are comfortable in large organizations. Also, your university’s alumni center may have career resources to help put you in contact with someone that could help.
Unless you have highly specialized knowledge, you’re going to have a very hard time getting into the Big 4 at this stage. You have around 20 years of experience at much smaller firms. It’s not necessarily impossible but you need to identify what makes you special or a unique talent and then use that as your sales pitch to the Big 4. If you’re hoping for more of a generalist role then you’re going to need to be open to a lower title than you’ve likely had in recent years. You will have to spend time proving that you want to be there and can work successfully at a Big 4 pace and that you have the knowledge to promote to a higher title.
Before you apply, you need to be ready to answer the question of why you are just now pursuing Big 4. With your history of working for such small firms, the sudden desire to pivot to Big 4 is going to be concerning to a recruiter or interviewer.
why do you want b4?
grass isn't the always greener. those are issues we deal with too