Profession Leader Humbly Requests You STFU About Long Hours, Busy Season, and Stress

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez
black and white photo, man making "shhh" motion

You’re scaring the children!

Stories about the AICPA are like buses, you don’t see one for an hour weeks and then three show up at once. Today I come bearing a gift from this Journal of Accountancy article about new AICPA Chair Carla McCall, CPA, CGMA.

Let’s see what “New AICPA chair: ‘We need to promote the cool work we do’” has to offer us. Gotta be something cool and exciting, right?

Emphasize the future of the profession

Attracting the next generation of accountants starts with a paradigm shift within the profession, McCall said. “We need to promote the cool work we do. We need to stop talking about hours, stop using the term ‘busy season,’ and stop talking about how stressed we are.”

Instead, accountants should point to positive examples, such as guiding clients through complex financial transactions like IPOs and mergers and providing essential support during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, to emphasize the dynamic and varied nature of the profession, she said.

Oh. I posted a screenshot to Twitter earlier and let’s just say it’s not being received very well. Can’t imagine why.

Related Posts

Learning From Andersen: Opportunities and Pitfalls in a Long-Term Audit Career With the Big 4

Does anyone remember –- or care about -– the collapse of Arthur Andersen back in 2002? If recalled, what lessons might it have for young professionals taking serious stock of their career choices?

Despite the “Horror Stories,” an Eight-year Tax Vet Wants to Know How to Jump to the Big 4

Welcome to a special Thursday the Thirteenth edition of Accounting Career Emergencies. In today’s edition, a tax veteran who has spent their career working in smaller firms is looking to make a move to a Big 4 firm since they “can be even more flexible with schedules.” The problem is, our aspirant is having trouble getting any of the firms’ attention.

Want to know if you’re stuck in a dead-end job? Looking for some good press? Need help writing a farewell email? Email us at advice@goingconcern.com and we’ll help you keep your valediction out of these pages.

Returning to the Big 4 wannabe:

Dear Caleb,

I am a tax senior who has eight busy season and a CPA license under their belt. I have always worked for the smaller firms because of all of the horror stories I have heard regarding the Big 4. Lately, I have realized that I really don’t work that much less than they do and sometimes the Big 4 can be even more flexible with schedules because of the size of the workforce. (If you are one of several, there is not a lot of room to move stuff around.)

The problem is I have never been through the recruiting process with the Big 4 and don’t know where to begin to try and move into an experienced position. I have applied on the website but have not had any responses. Any thoughts?

Sincerely,
Lost in Transition

Dear LiT,

So the Times convinced you, eh? It’s a good paper (is that still the correct terminology?), we’ll admit but even the Gray Lady can find itself wandering into uncharted waters. ANYWAY, this problem you have – no communicado so far from the Four Horsemen; we can help.

Our first suggestion is to work with a professional recruiter that has placed others with the Big 4. A good one will be able to take one look at your résumé and flat out tell you if you’ve got what it takes to get in the door. Then it’s up to you nail the interview(s). Done and done.

The other thing you can do – if you prefer to avoid the recruiter – is to use LinkedIn to find who the experienced-hire Big 4 recruiters are in your market and contact them directly. You could get started by looking at some recent posts that have emails from recruiters that are floating around this here site but we realize that may be a longshot.

So off you go, Big 4 hopeful. We hope you hit the work-life balance jackpot.

2 thoughts on “Profession Leader Humbly Requests You STFU About Long Hours, Busy Season, and Stress”

  1. Tone at the top is looking like gaslighting from the top!

    1

  2. Cool work? 15% of my time at the most, thinking being very generous there. Then long hours of drudgery, well now that’s 95% cause I have to give 110% since you know I did that cool(extra) stuff.

Comments are closed.