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Marsh & McLennan Hi Fishes,
I am currently serving notice period and 30th sept 2022 is my LWD.
Role : Java App Support Analyst
Tech stack : Java,Linux,SQL,ITIL, Jenkins
Current CTC : 5.7LPA
I have offer from Marsh : 14.LPA fixed + 10% variable
BOA is offering 13.5 LPA Fixed+ 1.5 JB
However, BOA is giving DOJ as 7 Novemeber.
I am looking for your suggestions which one to join. Kindly help.
Bank of America Marsh McLennan
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USI Insurance brokerage and consulting - thoughts? A recruiter reached out to me via linked in and I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on this company. They seem to have decent reviews on Glassdoor but I was hoping to get more insight into workload and comp. Thanks in advance! USI
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Chief
I don’t think these things are universally true
I went from b4 to top 20. Most of what you’re saying is not true. I got a 33% increase, I work less than b4, I have a way better chance of making partner here than b4, I see a lot more variety from a technical perspective. B4 is very SALY which is not the case with my clients. The work I do is very dynamic and a lot changes from year to year.
You are have bought the BS that b4 dishes.
Agree with this. I’m a boomerang back to Deloitte from a top 25 (4 years in audit at each) and my technical skills improved significantly when I left D because my clients were so varied, had a lot of accounting questions they needed my help with, and I often had to prepare financial statements from scratch. Plus never worked a weekend and felt more valued.
OP is 100% correct. As someone who went from the B4 to CR and back to the B4, the tech is nonexistent and money is horrible.
Yeah as someone who has worked at Both CR and PWC the money is not better. My buddy who is a CR manager makes only about 7-10k more as me PwC S2. When I make m1 I’ll be about 20k more than CR M1 base salary alone. Factor in bonus and you’re blowing them out in comp.
Does big4 not work every Saturday January through April?
@PWC…that’s my point.
99% sure the work life balance is better at smaller firms. Did someone from your team leave you for a smaller firm and now you have to pick up their work?
Been at CRZ a few years. WLB is same, if not better, than a local firm I started at and worked for 10 years. I do wonder if I should’ve just applied for big 4 for more money but I’ve been very happy here and like the teams I work with. During busy season I don’t feel pressure to work Saturdays if I get my work done during the week. Summer work is very little OT and the last two months of the year are dead, so I enjoy that
Can attest.
At which level of assurance?
It’s not that common to make that move, it’s usually the other way around (Smaller firm to Big 4) as someone who worked at CR and Deloitte. CR has a difficult time getting any experienced hires in the door let alone Big 4 experienced ones.
Unfortunately a lot of what you said is true at smaller firms, busy seasons at CR were long painful slogs of untangling messy clients. Also I never got a bonus as senior, apparently a partner has to write a recommendation for it! Meanwhile every senior at Deloitte gets AIP.
I think people that move from Big 4 to smaller firms because it’s usually their first job ever and don’t know any better. Also switching service lines is easier at a smaller firm and for the more senior switchers it might be the move to make if you don’t see a partner path at Big 4.
That said most smaller firms are office specific and i’m sure some are great and don’t have those problems but CR was exactly as you described.
This is accurate
As someone who came from one of the big4 to cohnreznick, I'm very happy here. The PTO is generous, the people are great, I'm happy with my compensation, and my WLB is awesome. However some of these things are office/team dependent. Big4 had its advantages, but I'm much happier at cohnreznick. If you can't tolerate busy season, you should leave public accounting.
To address OPs comment about the clients being non-complex - I've learned more at cohnreznick than I did at pwc. We see plenty of complex clients and transactions.
The reality is that it’s the luck of the draw. You could have just as easily ended up on an awful team at PwC
I have worked one midsize firm and one smaller cpa firm . I agree with you. I’m now at the big four better pay , benefits , internal and external opportunities
Rising Star
I really don’t see why so many of these threads pop up what seems like every day. If you try and group all B4 or small firms in a single bucket your just ignorant. So much will depend on location, team, practice etc. as well as your personal goals. Either way you can have a good career just depending on your career goals and aspirations.
To. Say that everyone at a smaller firm works required weekends 4 months of the year is just a stupid statement and not true. I’m sure some do but definitely not everyone.
CohnReznick does not have this mandatory Saturday thing you’re talking about, at least my office doesn’t
I can confirm WLB is terrible and my busy season is longer than my peers at big4.
Well that’s because Cohn sucks. If you’re going from big four it should be to GT, baker Tilly Crowe or RSM. I know a lot of people who hate Cohn and BDO
Everything you said is the same experience I’ve heard from multiple managers and seniors at Cohn. You don’t really a ton of people leaving GT, Crowe, Baker Tilly or RSM because of management and workload. It’s to go to big 4 or better pay, Of course there outliers.
Chief
I think you may need a bigger pool of people to ask then just your peers. All the firms are trying new things and some are sticking to their “old ways”. I’ve heard people going into middle market from Big 4 and vice versa and their experiences are both better and worse than before. It really depends on the office and service line. But in general terms I’ve seen middle market firms have better WLB since they need a competitive advantage over Big 4.
But at big 4 you’re at your busiest for maybe 3-4 weeks and outside of that you’re down to about 55 hours a week. And you’re done by March. While at mid tiers you’re in busy season through the end of April.
Why do you think culture is outdated at smaller firms?
To switch service lines I got a 24% bump switching to baker Tilly