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You actually made the best move out of everyone. I’d work 80 hours per week and not complain if I was getting time and a half.
But seriously, good way to get it off your chest. Don’t worry too much about your coworker, just do your job and build your career! Seems like you have great work ethic and drive.
to take breaks and log off early for mental health and wlb. He complained to senior (who is too nice) so much that they gave him two nights a week where he logs off at 6, he openly brags about how he will never take CPA exams, and openly admits that he will leave PA within 1-2 years and is a chronic oversharer/never shuts up while working in office. I get I’m an intern and I’m lucky to have a great team so I’m pretty shielded but I’m still working 65+hrs/week and am really enjoying the work. I can’t stand talking to this staff1, it makes me sick but he’s on my team so I have to pretend we get along. Doubting anyone will read all the way to the end so vent over lol
Exactly what EY4 said. Focus on networking with relevant people, ignore this particular douchecanoe
Somehow this post generated enough attention to be seen by TheGoingConcern and populate my Google news feed.
Anyway, good for you for having a good work ethic and outlook on life. And it sounds like the hired A1 needs to learn a bit more professional decorum. He is working against the firm by complaining to an intern. I have many items I dislike but I do not speak to my A1 about it, because I want her to form her own opinions and I want to at least set her up for as much success as possible despite my own reservations about the Public Accounting stereotypes and asks of us.
However, I would like to ask the original poster if they really think 55+ hours is reasonable? While hourly, that can be fair, but at a salary rate (we will use 65k for an example) you suddenly go from earning a potential 31.25 an hour to 22.72 an hour.
That is extreme, implying all 52 weeks are compared to a 40 hour work week and 55 hour work week.
But as an intern, statistics would say you don't have much of a life put together yet.
55 hours a week is incredibly detrimental to not only mental health, as it makes you prioritize work over hobbies, physical fitness/health, appointments whether medical or even things like haircuts/appointments.... As well as strains relationships. After 10 to 12 hour days, I don't have the energy to entertain, bond, or give proper attention to my significant other or our teenage daughter.
Again, the Hired A1 you are referring to sounds like he needs to reel it in when talking with actual work colleagues, but he isn't alone in believing that PA is a disaster and not a good way to live your life, certainly your younger years. Public Accounting - especially the Big4 has a massive turnover problem which they have come to expect, and almost welcome. But they also continue to try and push initiatives to make the client experience better and more efficient. That's a catch 22. To offer the clients more efficiency it's best to have an experienced team - so they know what PBCs to expect, where to find them, how they are used and so on... But more often than not each year there are new comers in the associate and senior rolls that never get that mastery of the clients data, meaning it's a constant re-learning. Managers asking associates to send things off shore like it's obvious, but the manager has never once written instructions to a level where an onshore individual could comprehend what to do, let alone to an offshore team separated by 11 hour time differences and language/cultural barriers. You can't write instructions if you don't know what needs to be done.
Public Accounting is littered with ethical issues on the way they treat, train,promote, fail to retain, and almost every aspect of their employer-employee relationship. I think a lot of it has to do with people who went from highschool, to college, to accounting and never had an ounce of real world experience in the industry. They are blind and ignorant, and the world is moving too fast for an older generation of partners and leaders to set obtainable goals with realistic expectations.
So when you hear people complain, whether in your firm, or online... Just because your happy or sufficiently satisfied now, don't think your experiences invalidate others. Just because you can handle something, doesn't mean that others should have to accept it too. Your strengths make you unique. But the A1 of your story's own experiences will make him unique too, as it is people like him which will help drive change and create better working conditions. It's unfortunate that your strengths hinder that, and make somehow a 60-65hour work week acceptable.
Truck drivers are limited to 11 hours of driving a day, and require a 34 hour reset after 70 hours from consecutive days. Those rules are for road safety, as well as for not letting employers abuse their employees and demand more of them than what is humane. The accounting world just doesn't have that type of regulation. But just because there haven't been laws created, doesn't mean that it's ethically ok to expect people to give a business 60% of their time awake.
Keep up the strong work ethic - but don't let a business take advantage of you. Because by the time you do get burnt out, you'll have just helped perpetuate the cycle for those who come after you.
Really appreciate the response and your perspective here. While I recognize the hours may not feel as bad to me as I earn hourly/ot pay and like you said don’t have many obligations outside of work (I.e. family, spouse, etc), largely the reason I find this a1 so insufferable is that similar to me they don’t have many obligations outside work either. The staff in my story started at the firm in January as well so I don’t understand their reasoning for joining public accounting in the first place just to complain about wlb, capitalism, and the hours. Personally, and as you said this will likely change, my outlook is that I’m in my early 20’s with healthy parents and no other family obligations so why not work and learn as much as I can? I almost dread having to slow down and go back to college to get my 150 because I’m eager to get started in the real world.
Start taking his work and then delegating to him since that’s what you’re doing anyway and get the stellar review and get him out lol
I worked with someone just like that my intern season. Seniors and Managers would assign him returns and he’d say “oh, I can’t take any more. I’ve already gotten 4 new ones today”. It didn’t matter how many I had, I always took them (still do). He lasted one more year and was let go and I’m in my 5th year as staff and have been told to delegate some of my work to the interns and I’ll review their work.
Believe me - they notice. Just do you even when he’s annoying.
Everything I said above, paired with constantly having a one-way conversation with himself in public about how toxic our hours are is way more toxic than PA culture😂
Attitude is everything! He’s just a low performer with pre-drafted excuses
Forgot to mention possibly the worst part-in office he goes on and on about capitalism being a scam and how he only comes into office to mooch off senior manager for free lunch and coffee. If no one else from our team goes in to office but he’s there he hounds on me to ask people I know in office (because I network) so we can get a free lunch… like maybe you chose the wrong career pal??
Update: senior had me delegate some of my work to this staff1 today lol