I work for a big 4 firm in the finance department (not as an auditor or graduate or anything). I find their compliance testing unacceptable. They use peer reviewing with new people like me (even though I'm highly experienced, hired as a senior & have impeccable references) but it's out of control. My co workers aren't mature enough to be reasonable. They pick on petty things & it's something new every few days. I feel like an animal in a cage being observed all the time. Is it like this at all Big 4's or have I come across a strange bunch. ie: if I do my work & don't talk someone will report me as being anti-social, if I do talk someone else will report me as wasting time. I've also being hassled for being single & it's so conservative I feel afraid to speak for fear of saying something they consider inappropriate (ie: if you say you've seen a movie on the weekend you need to make sure it contained no swearing, etc or you'll get reported as being unsavoury or something!)
Hello, i worked for Big4 (as an auditor) and i had the very same problems at the beginning. It very much depends on who you work with and the only plus in audit is that you won't work with the team ever again if you all disliked each other, you just work with other people. I was an experienced professional when i joined and my first team was awful, i felt harassed all the time and felt people were jealous of my knowledge and experience, so at some point i simply got relaxed about it all and tried to make sure i perform my work at the excellent level without bothering myself with sociable issues. I did only what was comfortable for ME. Why? Because in case anyone would give me a low mark (or just said something), i could always tell manager about my well performed work and even to the partner (in case it went that far). As the result, i gradually realized that people are all different, you may get along with some and will never do with others. Eventually I found people I really adored there! Understand if there are reasons for you to stay at this job, do what you should do according to your contract, in case if someone says you are not sociable, say that you are happy to listen to them while they are chatting. Be harder and ignore stupid colleagues, you are a senior, so stay that way, don't allow them to harass you.
btw, in case you are from PWC, they have harsher policy on it, sort of - no friends, you are all competitors.
The very best of luck! |
