I‘ll never understand seniors that give vague instructions and don’t make time to answer questions. I mean some stuff I have to figure out on my own but I need some coaching at the same time....

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You might reconsider that opinion once you make senior. Honestly could be various reasons like maybe they just simply don’t have time to hold your hand, or they think you are smart enough to figure it out on your own and don’t want to over teach, or maybe it’s something they have never seen before either and they are relying on you to get it somehow started and then they will take it and fix it from there, or maybe the manager gave them vague instructions too and it’s on the two of you to figure out the deliverable.

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While no longer a senior, this applies across staff levels. I frequently ask “How familiar are you with X,” when giving an assignment. If you tell me you need help, I will sit down and get you started.

But if you tell me you understand it, I’m not going to patronize you and waste your time and mine.

If you say you know something bc you think it is going to impress me, but you don’t, you are going to have a bad time. If you are embarrassed to ask for help when you need it, you are going to have a bad time.

I always recommend asking for help if you are struggling. Even if I don’t have time that instant, I will try to make time in the next 24 hours.

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You sound like a lot of fun to work with

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We ain’t your damn babysitter. You need me to tell you how to put your pants on in the morning too?

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I also don’t understand the replies saying they don’t have time for “hand holding.” No one is asking for that. But if you give me a task that is clearly more complex than a staff could figure out on their own without asking any questions and you dont make time to help out, it’s clearly never going to get done the way you want and it’s going to take much longer than you want. No matter how many pompous seniors reply to this post and say “I learned the hard way, so can you” or “I don’t have time to hold a staff’s hand” - the reality is, you’re not being a good coach nor a team player and therefore, you are not as good at your job as you think you are. It’s as simple as that, and you’re the type of people I look at when I’m at work and think that I want to make sure I’m not like you when I’m a senior

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Staffs' expectations of seniors are extremely high in general. Even my experienced staff think I know everything and expect me to be able to trouble shoot the issues they find instantly without context on areas I've never worked on for clients I'm new to.

My staff tell me I'm a good coach compared to other seniors they work with, but it does come at a toll of time that I can't always or won't always accept. The other thing that is worth thinking about is that a new senior is learning things same as a new staff. It's possible your senior isn't a high performer or is still growing into the role. Make sure you give tactful upward feedback on their coaching style if you don't find it effective, but keep in mind that your senior isn't perfect either.

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OP, there was onky one "hand holding" response, and you already replied to that one. You chose to ignore every other response. This says everything most of need to know about you.

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I will sometimes be guilty of not responding to associates just because as a senior, we truly get overworked sometimes and I forget about replying. That being said I also try to give more specific instructions. I find that the best way for an associate to get help is to create a list of specific questions (because as a senior, I wouldn’t know what you are familiar/unfamiliar with—the experience between each associate is always so different), emailing that list out, and directly scheduling 15-30 min with the senior to make sure it’s talked through. Also try to be a little more understanding and patient—seniors have a LOT on their plate. If we delegate something out in the first place, it’s probably because we were swamped and needed some work off of our shoulders!

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Ask them specific questions to help guide you. If they aren’t helpful ask the manager. It is their job to help you

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OP, many seniors don't know what you know or don't. I learned that the hard way. "Can you have this done by tomorrow?" sucks if you don't have a clue about "this", or if it is a new client.
I make sure to repeat back to them the instructions/ project I have to complete. I will let them know that I will reach out with questions... and yes, try a mgr om someone else available if the senior is not answering.

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OP I agree with you in some regards but that's not the world we live in, we're in public accounting and there's a lot to get done in a short period of time. I used to think the same but once I became a senior, I understood.

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I don’t understand staffs that can’t do things as simple as “rolling forward” and “taking notes”, but keep asking irrelevant questions.

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I love the people who say they don't have time. If you spent time teaching then they would spend less time reviewing.

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I only see one person who is acting defensively and is unwilling to accept feedback. You sound like a lot of fun to work with.

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Wow someone is getting really mad. Calm down OP it’s the nature of the job. It’s like some clients are posting PBC last mins and ask for something the next day, some managers are being annoying by assigning you work on Sunday night etc. Our point is sometimes it’s not something we can control and of course we want to coach staff so that we can receive higher quality work. We are working on it and nobody is perfect. What we asked for is understanding but not trying to throw anyone under the bus

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Just wait til OP is a senior, see how he gets any work done when associates ask too many questions. I don't mind coaching and answering good questions, let's be real here, there are stupid questions, make them count.

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Here is an example of the vague instructions OP is referring to:

Senior , “complete cash testing.”
OP, “what is cash testing? How am I supposed to test that?”
Senior, “read the procedures in the wp.”
OP, “what kind of cash is WP?”
Senior, “No, the directions are in the workpaper”
OP, “where do I find them?”
Senior, “in the wp.”
OP, “Where’s that?”
Senior, “In the Audit file...”
OP, “So what am I supposed to do with this wp?”
Senior, “complete the cash testing...”
Op, “How am I supposed to do that?”
Senior, SMH...😞🤦‍♂️

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OP, never say never.

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That’s me. I was just really busy and really don’t have too much time to answer all the questions. Sighs. I also need to get the work done and handle the pressure but I’ll try to answer more this year.

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I feel like no one really said that we don’t want to hold your hand? There was only one response like that?

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