Related Posts
Bowl Leader
More Posts
Bowl Leader
Additional Posts in Accounting
TIL: I don't have rights as a public accountant
How much is RSM’s referral bonus?
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Good enough to get on good clients but average enough that you don’t have to do all of them.
Yes, in life…but who truly wants to be a high performer at a professional service firm?
Always aim to be a high performer and that applies to everything in life
Rising Star
You want to be slightly above average so people want to work with you but they don’t expect you to do all the work.
be a high performer with the aim of getting promoted at an accelerated rate. don't try and be a high performer by working lots of hours
I'm a director, been in 2 service lines. getting on the big name clients that suck or working extra hours for low-level work that doesn't position you for promotion is not worth it. if you get promoted a year/6 months early a) resume looks stronger b) pay is better (who cares about maxing bonus at the lower level) c) your learning is accelerated (why I say ignore the big name client or whatever if it doesn't work in this context) d) if you want to leave, but wait until getting promoted to XXX level, you achieve that option faster. this is the framework I'd have any junior people in PA view their career through
Just be average. It’s not even worth it to be killing yourself for the bonus. Besides, the way you’re rewarded by being a high performing is by having the privilege of doing other people’s jobs.
Being a high performer only works out if there’s something to gain from it. Started my career in B4 audit and for all the hard work got a pat on the back and a nice job but the difference in pay was negligible. Went GT to do TAS, had a chance to get promoted to manager 18 months early and then was able to leverage that title when I exited to industry.
My early promos were acknowledged by the people I’ve interviewed with as a positive, and I was paid higher than any peers by being T1. My bonuses in audit were also often 15%
I want to say aim to be a high performer, but most of the time it doesn’t pay (at least not in GCR tax in a very HCOL office). There is a senior 2 in my office whose salary is about 5K lower than the top performer in our class. Last FY, his/her utilization peaked in the low 40’s. He/she was assigned to accounts but never did his/her share of the work. In the end, other seniors who were definitely busier than him/her had to be brought on to fill his/her role numerous times. It definitely rubbed people the wrong way because almost every senior did two to three times the work as him/her. He/she is still earning almost as much as others while doing a fraction of the work. Almost everyone else from our year has left the firm because they were tired of being overworked and he/she is still cruising. Only thing a high performer gets rewarded with is more “great learning opportunities.” Though if you are able to early promote a whole year early, it might be worth it because you can rise up the ranks quicker. I don’t think a mid year promo is worth it because you only get an 8% increase unless you want the title so you can leave quicker. Depending on the service line, promoting a whole year early might be plausible. IMO, as most people mentioned above, it’s better to be slightly above average.
How has a senior with a utilization in the 40s not be canned?
That wouldn’t last in my group. You might do that one year… and if you didn’t change really quick you’d be gone by interim of year 2
Chief
IMO the raises and bonuses for high performers over average performers is not enough to justify the additional hours required. Get your work done and do it well but don’t go above and beyond.
Chief
That would be my advice. Raises for high performer may be 8% but average performer will get 6%. The extra 2% isn’t worth an extra 200 billable hours IMO. Plus if your plan is to jump to industry they won’t know if you were a high performer or not. Just make sure you stay on track for promotions “on time”.
The only “downside” if you can call it that is that everyone wants to work with the high performers. It means you will have to get proficient at communicating and balancing priorities. To me, these are great skills to develop anyway.
Slightly above average. Not top nor average.
Honestly starting lower it doesn’t matter. Your bonus will be an extra $500 is it worth it? Not to me.