Well lads, I gather there are a fair few of ye around these parts.
I’ve been offered a training contract in one of the big 4, but am unsure whether or not to take it up.
I would be interested to hear what ye would think about going down this route.
I believe the pay is shite, but are you likely to get a well paid job when you finish?
Comments would be appreciated. If not, FOAD.
It’s a great route Jack. Go for it. The experience you earn will be worth more than the salary you lose. I suppose your ability to get a well paid job will depend on the market and your own ability but it should do you no harm. Chartered Accountants with INTEGRITY like Bandage are loaded.
Accounting is only for poofs mate.
Steer well clear
+1 if you like getting fucked up the bum join one of these and even then I’m not sure Clarkey liked it all that much.
Learn Spanish and go work in a bar in Buenos Aires, Medellin or some random place and you will learn more than you would joining one of those retard zones.
Chartered Accountancy is a wonderful journey and I recommend it very highly. The big 4 actually prepare glossy brochures to attract the best graduate candidates every year and they usually request the brightest, best and most successful former trainees to provide a quote of recommendation. I am thrilled to announce exclusively on TFK that the audit partner that I worked under has been in touch seeking my contribution to the 2011/12 glossy graduate hire brochure. What an honour. 
a feel good story for all the forum
Fantastic news Bandage, I knew you were in the running.
Poor KIB Man still pretending he enjoyed his “eye opening” experience in London.
Go for it Jack. Hours can be a bit shit relative to the pay when you’re training but it’s excellent experience and employment opportunities afterwards are excellent. It can be a bit like an extension from college with lots of people around the same age. Some arseholes obviously but you’d get to meet loads of people you wouldn’t normally meet - for example the tallest man I’ve ever seen is a Chartered Accountant.
The cunt. I emailed him recently as I like to “touch base” with him once in a while. He didn’t ask me. I’m hurt.
Rocko mentions the extension of college bit but tbh I think that culture is largely gone.
The work is shite, the experience is shite but the perception of it, the job opportunities and the pay at the end are all pretty good.
I was lucky enough to work under Bandage in my time in the Big 4 and lucky enough to not work with farmer.
If ever you feel low while working there, check out the Work Motivation Techniques thread. Some great advice in there.
P.S. If it’s EY - avoid.
Didn’t know the college vibe had more or less finished. Probable knock on implications would include less sniffy finger opportunities with female trainees so Captain Jack should factor that into his thinking also.
I think that culture only really applied to the popular people so perhaps Clarkey did miss out on it a bit.
His scoring conquests during his Big 4 time were appalling - and that’s being generous.
I was out larging it while you and Bandage were off playing stick cricket and fondling each other’s genitals in meeting rooms.
You once went on stress leave.
Jack - what are your other options?
As an FYI - I don’t think the experience has changed much from ClarkeyCat/Bandage’s time, there’s still very much a college culture among the trainees, there’s just not as many sponsored booze events as before.
You are one boring man.
Thanks for the advice lads.
I’m currently finishing up my co-op and have been asked back after college.
Is a masters the way to go or would I be better off going straight in after college?
briantinnion has called this one spot on, the fourth level college thing buzz is still there but less free booze than back in the mid 00s. Although 1 or 2 of the big 4 are ridiculously busy and are throwing around a few free pints to keep the minions happy-ish.
If you’re happy enough with what you’ve seen during your co-op I’d commit to getting the qualification. As the others have said it’s a great qualification to have and you’ll still be quite young when you’re qualified(unlike me for example but everything’s relative). If you don’t fancy it then you can fuck off and do something else, or travel and get work relatively easily.
The exams have changed since the other CAs on here sat them and are way fucking harder now with pass rates between 30 and 50%. Looking at the past papers from the old syllabus its easy to see why the country is in the mess it is with some of the clowns that scraped through the handy exams calling the shots.
CAP2 is a proper cunt of an examination. Doing the masters gives you an exemption from that so it may be worth it, particularly if they’ll pay for it which I presume they would. Then again it’s a tough enough year and a few punters I know who came from the masters struggled badly with the case study nature of the new FAEs, which is ridiculous because there’s a full year to adapt but people who’d gone through it at CAP2 grasped it a bit easier. There’s plenty of study leave so it’s well doable.
My preference would be to go straight into the job but it depends on how much you like college I suppose.
At the end of it all you’ll join and elite club with Rocko, briantinnion, Bandage, farmy and Clarkeycat. Truly a wonderful feeling.
Great advice from Appendage there. Bar the nasty dig at those of us who qualified in our 20s under the old syllabus of course.
It’s on nights like tonight when I’m experiencing crushing disappointment that I cling to my chartered accountancy qualification for solace. What a privilege and joy to be a member of this dignified body of people.