Rant: I interviewed at a mid size firm for Senior Tax Associate role and went really well. Partner calls after a couple days to say they want to offer me a job and asked me if I wanted senior 1 or 2. I said senior 2 since I have a years experience as a senior and she was okay with it and discussed salary. She said she will think about the final offer and let me know. A week later she comes back to tell me that my small firm experience probably won’t help much and it would be difficult for me...

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Tbh I’m surprised they even gave you an option to choose levels. Typically that’s predetermined by HR/partners first. She might have been ok but when she brought it to the rest of the team they said no. And yes it’s normal to get demoted from small going to big forms due to the perception of quality/complexity of work, etc.

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Yeah I was surprised too because I was expecting them telling me what they thought I was capable of and offer accordingly. She just hyped me up and a week later came back to crush me 😅

Yes normal - I was about to make manager and I had to lateral as a senior right before my promotion. They said I would likely delay promotion another year because of small firm. I got in and performance spoke for itself I was promoted the next performance cycle. I still got a huge jump in pay from regional to b4 and small to regional. Don’t get hung up on titles if you’re a strong performer it will all work out.

likesmart

Yeah I was actually okay with title adjustment, it was the salary that didn’t make sense for me. When you took up the senior position I’m assuming they at least acknowledge your experience and offer you salary somewhere between your current salary and the ‘average’ salary for that title right. Or they just stick to what they offer for the title in general?

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Honestly fack that. I came from a small firm and now work at a large national firm and am rated as a top performer. I think you get exposure to some things at a small firm that develops you more quickly than a larger firm. S2 or you mf walk 👏🏼

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Same situation here. I worked at a couple small firms before a national firm.

as a Senior 2 so they can only offer me senior 1 with a salary offer of 10k below what I asked for (and what she originally agreed). I turned the offer down but wanted to know does something like this happen often. I just felt bad because she basically undermined my ability when I know I am good at what I do and if I were to cope or not should be left up to me. The job was a perfect match since my experience was exactly as what they worked on and I don’t know how my experience didn’t count in this case just because I was from a smaller firm. I just wanted to to rant since this was something I had put my hopes on.

likesmart

Even if you're at a big firm, if you work in a smaller office people are not going to think you have the experience with more complex issues. I've heard clients say they would rather work with a team based out of a big office because they don't want a small office team learning the complex stuff on their engagements. They would rather have a team that sees complex stuff all the time. So there's no question that bias exists with smaller firms. (Not saying there's no truth to the sentiment because i think there is, but its an unfortunate situation nonetheless)

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Hmmm fair point. And I actually understood her view on that at one point, but the salary offer didn’t seem to acknowledge my experience/current salary at all. And I guess that’s what I felt as an insult. But hearing all your responses is helping me realize what I should expect.

Sorry this happened. Unfortunately yes this does occur. Most of the big 4 offices around me bring people from mid sized or small firms one level below and promote them after that first year if warranted.

The key thing is the $$. I’d be displeased about the reduction in salary.

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Yeah if this firm isn’t giving you a good pay bump and basically making the recruiting process a positive experience, I’d probably decline graciously and wait for a better opportunity.

Agree with SA 2 : I came from a small from to a midsize. I had just got promoted to senior and they hired me as a senior even though I had no experience as a senior. And tbh wtf is the difference between senior 1,2,3 if ur at a midsize there’s only one senior on a job and that one senior would be expected to do it all. My responsibilities as a senior 1 did not change when I went to senior 2 : the expectations were the same. Run the job, train staff, review work, communicate w client & upper management etc. it’s good you walked

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Any thoughts on turning around and renegotiating? Ask for a review at the end of year one and potentially go to manager quicker. This happens a lot with mid size firms, they have trust issues cause they get burned a lot. But if you’re willing to consider a nice bonus (should you deserve it), and a re-review after you prove yourself in a year then you may get to the same spot. This also requires you to really want the job, so if there are other red flags then maybe walk away. Just don’t be afraid to compromise to make it work

It happens even within the big 4. I was a second year manager in another country. I moved to the US and I was hired as a S1.

From what country? I'm considering going from Canada to US, wondering if I'd get bumped down

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