Audit Partner in 2 Years vs. Mgmt Consultant MBB

EY / Acctg
F2O2O

Go to company page EY Acctg

BIO
Vancouver. Big 4 (EY) audit.
F2O2O
Jun 2, 2021 69 Comments

Hi all - I am currently a Senior Manager in Audit at EY, and undergoing discussions to make Partner in two years (by June 2023) - otherwise three years. After having invested 11 years here, I now find myself at a crossroads and have an offer to join MBB at the post-MBA consultant level (without MBA). Any input on how to go about this decision? Thanks in advance. #consulting #mbb

Refer to this post for background: "Audit at Big 4 - to venture out or not. (Management Consulting)"
https://us.teamblind.com/s/Cj4MOOkX

comments

Want to comment? LOG IN or SIGN UP
TOP 69 Comments
  • 2 years at EY you could be a partner. Whereas at MBB in 2 years you'll be lucky if you make it to manager, which is one level below where you are now. By taking MBB offer you may get a better brand on your resume but the risk is you are throwing 5 years of experience away.
    Jun 2, 2021 0
  • New
    KNsa

    New

    KNsa
    No doubt - partner in EY in 2023.
    Then open a new firm by yourself so that u can earn double.
    EY charge must be high, you will take those clients who cant afford EY.

    If you have offer as EM or Associate Partner in MBB, you might think otherwise no need to Rethink.
    Jun 2, 2021 4
    • IBM
      hydrogenn

      Go to company page IBM

      hydrogenn
      You can earn $1M salary as partner with EY?
      Jun 2, 2021
    • That's not how things work. If it were so easy the army of laid off partners would be doing it (and trust me partners get let go all the time ). You need to have large enough footprint and resources to audit a public company. Barriers to entry are high in public accounting for a reason . If anything, the public accounting firms have consolidated over time instead of new ones popping up left right and center.
      Jun 2, 2021
  • CVS Pharmacy
    πŸπŸ‰πŸ›΅βœˆοΈ

    Go to company page CVS Pharmacy

    πŸπŸ‰πŸ›΅βœˆοΈ
    Audit and strategy consulting are completely opposite fields. I'd suggest deciding what it is that you want to do with your career.

    Given your audit background I'm surprised MBB even batted their eyes at you. This sort of opportunity most likely won't come again, so I would switch to MBB.

    Yes you'll have to start over and build credibility etc etc, but the exit opps are incredible, not to mention you'll be working on more interesting things than soul sucking audit.
    Jun 2, 2021 6
    • Agreed that a financial skillset is very important for Strategy, but the actual work of Audit vs Strategy is vastly different. They both broadly fall under the CFO/Finance umbrella, but are on opposite ends of the Finance spectrum. In Strategy, you dealing with questions like "Which market should we enter into?", "How do we improve top-line growth for this business?", "Whats the best way to improve margins without sacrificing revenue?". In Audit, you deal with none of this. Audit is focused on making sure a set of procedures were followed properly and that Financial reports are accurate. You are essentially a compliance function in Audit
      Jun 4, 2021
    • Tesla
      teslaquila

      Go to company page Tesla

      teslaquila
      Yeah, I agree with you. I’m probably just conflating Audit with CPAs and to an extent CPAs with FP&A. When it comes just to auditing as a function itself, you’re right. It’s pretty black and white.
      Jun 4, 2021
  • BTW how did you land a post-mba consulting role at McKinsey with only Audit experience? I used to work in Audit and McKinsey wouldn't even wipe their ass with my resume, let alone give me an interview. Is this transition from Audit to top tier strategy consulting a real exit opportunity for Audit folks now?
    Jun 2, 2021 3
    • That's awesome man, I love hearing stories like that. Thats a super tough transition to make but looks like you put in the work to make it happen #respect
      Jun 2, 2021
    • Made the jump from consulting to industry a few years ago. It was great even at moments it was tough and still happy, but that's a well worn path and I had the right network.

      OP, you clearly have great networking skills to have been successful in your current career and now getting this offer. What about the details of what it will be like beyond money, wlb, and prestige as others have mentioned. I would recommend being honest with yourself about the following to know if it's really a challenge you want and are prepared for the daily reality

      Does a steep learning curve sound like an exciting challenge/a positive? Will your network help you with this/will you have to make new connections? Do you care about your career progression and know the requirements so you can pick the right engagements? Do you know what you want to 'specialize' in or have be your brand? Are you ready for competition from your peers and those directly above you as an experienced hire?
      Jun 3, 2021
  • So I have been at the exact same cross road a few years ago and can chime in. Left Deloitte as Senior Manager with locked partnership pipeline and joined industry. Best decision ever.
    Big 4, especially audit was just not interesting work for me after a few years so I switched to advisory side. But then the comp is just shit compared to industry. Starting partner makes ~300k, you can easily get that as TC now if you join tech or banking, MC will bring you to this level pretty soon too. As you make MD or partner in MC , industry will bring you in at $700-800k range easily.
    Stay at EY only if you love auditing. It's a great field if you have interest in it and as partner you can better control WLB. Everything else like comp, challenging and interesting work, even WLB is better outside of big 4.
    Jun 2, 2021 3
    • It's not bad at all - big 4 trains us well. I always did well at Deloitte from a performance eval perspective, but industry thought my work was the most profound thing they'd ever seen! (I am exaggerating of course, but you get the drift, the boss would use me as an example of a 'great hire', 'change agent' etc.) That's because I was creating deliverables and doing work that was an aggregation of all the things I had seen and done at my clients from Deloitte days. So building a brand for a hard worker who is smart , which you no doubt are, in industry is easy enough.
      Jun 2, 2021
    • Tesla
      teslaquila

      Go to company page Tesla

      teslaquila
      @ujpn04 - I feel like we’d be buddies. I thought I was reading my biography when I read your post haha. Completely on point though and I agree with what you’ve said.
      Jun 4, 2021