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I am a director in title only! Still doing Senior work every god damn day…. Not sure I will ever actually function as a Director! Good luck!
We are 2! I have engagements where there are more managers than seniors or associates. Sick
Make sure your budget is updated so you have enough hours before you are given more work because you are showing availability, if you will be doing senior work. My first year as a manager: My senior left on the biggest job in the country that runs from April until end of February; couldn’t find replacement for 3 months, worked directly with staff the whole time as a manager one of the biggest areas on the job, then scheduling screwed up where another of my seniors was gone during January and I was literally teaching a first year how to sample and put together a client email/request, along w being given areas when another manager quit. At the end I had my performance discussion w the partner, told him I was without a senior for months and months during the year and I had too much on my plate because I was given more areas when another manager quit. His response was I don’t think you had more on your plate than any other manager. After the call, I went into the manager split file, looked through the audit file and started counting number of screens I’ve signed off on, realizing that it was more. The following week I updated my resume, found a job and quit the week after.
It never ends. A promotion in PA just means you get to do the job of everyone below you.
I ended up having to “senior” on a big job even though I was also serving in the manager role. It happens. I would suggest just going with it and still looking for ways to elevate yourself. Enjoy the manager money and know you won’t be stuck for more than a year
Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and advice.
I was told that I wouldn't be in this situation when I'm a second year manager. So I'm optimistic going forward.
The trap I fell into was the availability trap. Someone needed a "senior", so I got put on a job as a senior for any hours I had open. Staffing below me is kind of limited too at the moment, so it's kind of crazy.
Looking forward to the day when I'm only managing jobs and don't have to be a senior anymore. But there has been insane turnover at the senior level.
Due to staffing we promoted a lot of seniors to managers in title only and they are expected to have a heavy senior/light mgr roll for this next busy season unless we can find a handful of seniors by busy season. The transition between roles is usually not clearly defined, there is all sorts of gray. Good luck with the promotion
What are the partners you work for saying? Are they shooting straight with you?
Happened to me too. Second year gets better.
My office is so shorthanded that I'm still staffing and senioring over two years after making manager.
You can bring it up and complain (I have), but ultimately if they don't do a better job of staffing, it's not going to change much.
You don't get promoted so much as you add an extra set of responsibilities to what you're already doing. The onus continues to remain on your shoulders.
First year managers inevitability end up doing senior work on a lot of their engagements. I’m on my 3rd year as a manger and although my senior work has drastically decreased there is still a couple I do senior work. It’s just the nature of the job.
I think there is a transition period at every level where you wear your previous hat and your new one simultaneously. It’s not akin to flipping a light switch. For some that period is longer than others, however it is something that should be trending in the right direction, otherwise you will have issues starting your transition onto the next rung above the one you are on currently.
All I can say is good luck. I strongly recommend making scheduling your engagements for next year a top priority. I made the mistake in my first year as a manager of waiting until later in the fall to schedule my spring/summer jobs for the next year and as a result I ended up senioring almost every engagement. But then I tried calling to be more proactive and 3/4 of my seniors had quit by the time the engagement started. I would say this is probably the thing that made me give up and leave PA in the end.
I'm acting manager in a public company by working three jobs - manager, senior and staff.
Same. I'd talk to the Partner on the engagement if you haven't already to get their thoughts. I'm also a newly-promoted manager and was told I shouldn't be both doing the work and managing the project/client (as it would be overwhelming).
Haha same here as an A3, literally doing all the planning and everything until partner review
Yeah your screwed. Especially with the way things are going with talent in audit. Good luck…
That’s normal