Big 4 auditor

[Sleepypeepy]

Name changed. Really looking for advice from those that know the industry/job. Those in audit usually work around 45 - 60 hours (or longer) depending on deadlines etc but since having DC, who are still young, I have worked between 35 (contacted hours) and 45 hours as I need to pick up DC. I sometimes work when I get home but once I put DC to bed, then have dinner, it is often 10pm and I am knackered. I have only seen one mother been promoted in my dept in the whole time I've been there, pretty poor since promotions are twice a year. There have been a few fathers promoted in that time but they usually leave the childcare to their OHs

Argh! Posted too early. My question is, am I mad to stay in this industry/company and is it any better in industry?

What do you mean by industry? 45 house a week is a really short working week for a professional in any field tbh.

Whoops- 45 hours.

How senior are you?

I'm a PA in a big 4... Those seem short hours to me.. How senior are you?

All of my DHs team have recently left big 4 companies - he did many years ago- actually left one, worked in banking then joined another. All of his team find the hours shorter, the money is better although long term if they are real high fliers the prospects probably are not as good but there isn't the glamour or variety

Following the with interest. I'm also Big4 but moved away from being client facing after having kids in the hope that hours would reduce. Overall they probably are less but definitely not the right balance for me. I'm actually considering doing something completely different or quitting altogether. My husband works away from home a lot and I'm on my own Monday-Friday - I find it all a bit much really but am definitely not looking for promotion any time soon. I don't want the hassle!

I don't think auditing for a big 4 is a particularly family friendly career path, as you are never in the same place for more than a couple of weeks (and I too am a bit surprised at only 35 hours a week - when I was an auditor I would regularly have to do 12-16 hours a day in busy season, plus travel or staying in a hotel)

I moved to industry about 10 years ago and it is so much better - just the fact that you know where you are going to be makes a real difference. Also much more ability to work from home, get flexible hours etc in my experience. Not saying the hours would be less, it is just more on my own terms.

I've never regretted moving in house. I've been there long enough that I've seen my pay rises lag behind the big 4 so I am now on a par but I work better hours (and my boss was happy for me to go part time after kids) and the benefits are much better

Totally depends on where you end up though. Different companies in the same industry have a much worse work life balance and others a much better balance.

I qualified big four many years ago now work part time in industry I have a nice job good work / life balance mostly but much less career progression / pay get annoyed about it as everytime I go to FD / CFO conference type things its maybe 1/10 but actually more likely 1/30 women. But then I am not willing to work more with young children so it is a choice

I am doing shorter hours at the moment, probably at the expense of promotion. I doubt I am working 35 hours, considering I work through lunch and regularly work on an hour or so and sometimes at night when I get home, just put as a minimum. I am a manager at the moment. I'm thinking hours at the current time of year, busy season is a league of its own really.

My finance colleagues (large listed company) are largely ex audit. I think they do have a better time of it than our external auditors, but they still have very busy periods and work very long hours when the results are coming out. But it can also be a Segway into non financial reporting roles internally if you're so inclined if you join a large department.

Professional services is rarely family friendly, particularly at the high end, and you generally have to work extremely hard to progress. If you want progression you need to have some frank conversations with those who control it above you as to what you'd need to do and timelines so you can consider whether you want to pursue it, suck up the current position, or move on.

On a practical point I find it a nightmare trying to pick up work (more than a little emailing) post DC bed. Instead when I need to get more hours in I prefer to stay pretty late in the office 1-2 nights per week, crank out what I need to do and go home for bed time the other nights.

• largely ex big 4 audit. And our external auditors are also big 4

I work with lots of ex-auditors, as others have said there are opportunities in house, and hours will depend on the company. I know people have moved to us, probably for less money, but for far more family friendly hours and more interesting work. A lot people in-house seem to like the continuity and seeing things through rather than just coming into firms for brief periods.

I got out of Big4 about 8 years ago as it was just grinding me down too much. I suspect not a lot has changed since I left despite them constantly trying to improve things - I was interviewed by 3 different HR/Partners when I left as they were really struggling to retain women in their 30s who were on the 'talent track' or whatever it was called at the time.

The trouble I found was that for all they talked a good talk about family friendly etc it was all still predicated on being contactable at the drop of a hat (not practical on a NWD when you're toddler wrangling or having a jolly day out) and that at the end of the day they could never say no to a client...which meant they then cascaded the demands down to DSMs etc with the demand 'but we have to have the staff, find them'.

I was running a department, managing clients work and my team 4 days a week and then coming in and doing all my admin, compliance, file reviews and DSM stuff at the weekends - the sales targets just got fitted in around all of the rest. The travel also doesn't help if you're at client site - even if you're just doing the 7hrs a day add on the travel either side and all of a sudden it's horrendous.

I'd stayed for years because I loved the variety and I wanted the career track but I also got passed over for a promotion when I'd been doing the job for a year already and I looked around and realised that even partner wasn't the holy grail - you weren't partner for life, you were partner for 3 years and then the pressure started up and you could easily find yourself moved back to Director.

The good thing about audit is you've got clients, there is almost certainly an escape route there if you look for one. I don't regret making the move at all - the hours are better, the pay has kept pace (I was being underpaid for my role as a DSM I later discovered) and because I'm happier and have a better work/life balance I actually resent the professional overtime far less.