Spend Two to Three Years at a Big Four Firm: A Long Career Starts with Strong Fundamentals

An earlier news report: only 18 of 120 National Taiwan University accounting graduates joined the ‘Big Four,’ putting the industry on alert. Other financial institutions and banks were offering such attractive terms that the Big Four could face a talent shortage if they did not improve their offers. Robin: 1. First, I still encourage accounting graduates from leading universities to spend two to three years honing their skills at a Big Four firm. The reasons are the same as in my previous posts. A career is long and will likely become even longer. If it lasts 45 years or more, it is worth discussing career planning with more experienced graduates, teachers, and mentors. Think of it as entering the Shaolin Temple to master its eighteen martial arts, passing the bronze-warrior gauntlet—the abbot and difficult clients—and then setting out into the wider world. The Big Four also have comprehensive training programs for the first two to three years. Each year, you work on different audit accounts and financial statements, gradually developing through practice. By the third year, you are planning an audit team’s work. It is actually one of the fastest environments for newcomers in the field to grow. (After so often helping the venture capital association with recruitment posts, I feel the Big Four could ask me to endorse them too. Endorsement hotline below!) 2. How well you develop your accounting, auditing, analysis, and optimization skills still depends on your own commitment. Two chairmen of major corporate groups, for example, come from accounting backgrounds.