We love a good rant—whether about public accounting in general or about a co-worker, like this one posted on Fishbowl yesterday by a Big 4 intern about a staff 1 he/she works with who sucks at Excel, won’t shut up about work-life balance (or the lack thereof), and has no desire to take the CPA exam.
ICYMI:
Need to vent here. I’m a busy season intern and can’t stand a January-hire staff 1 I work with on one of my engagements. He asks me how to do tasks (he had a previous internship already) and comes to me with a problem in excel almost everyday (barely knew ctrl c,v). That stuff I can get past, but he will not shut up about WLB! Have not had a single conversation where he hasn’t brought up how everyone works too many hours, he is constantly telling seniors and even a manager that they need to take breaks and log off early for mental health and wlb. He complained to senior (who is too nice) so much that they gave him two nights a week where he logs off at 6, he openly brags about how he will never take CPA exams, and openly admits that he will leave PA within 1-2 years and is a chronic oversharer/never shuts up while working in office. I get I’m an intern and I’m lucky to have a great team so I’m pretty shielded but I’m still working 65+hrs/week and am really enjoying the work. I can’t stand talking to this staff1, it makes me sick but he’s on my team so I have to pretend we get along. Doubting anyone will read all the way to the end so vent over lol
You would think Mr. First Year’s annoying behavior would necessitate him being pushed out the door sooner than the one- to two-year time frame he set for himself. But the unfortunate part is, with so many Big 4 firm offices and teams understaffed and overwhelmed right now, Mr. First-Year could walk into a partner’s office, take a dump on his desk, flip him the bird as he walks out of the office pantsless, and still probably keep his job. As long as he has a pulse, he stays.
But good on the intern for telling it like it is. Any other interns working with dopey first-years this busy season? Let us know, either in the comments or shoot us an email or text using the contact info below. Any comments by email or text will be kept anonymous.
The intern sounds nauseating as well.
Petty office politics, I love it.
The intern is also receiving OT pay for those hours.
Bad match all around. The Intern – whether he remains in public accounting or moves to corporate – will be managing people like this someday. He needs to think about what to add to his own toolbox to handle this. The Staff 1 is ill-suited for public accounting, and he would be well served to look elsewhere in corporate, if he chooses to stay in accounting at all.
No life in public accounting. The pay sucks. The job is boring. No life, they work you to the bone. With pay that can only feed a birds
Complaining about working 65 hours sounds very reasonable.
Really? This story was even posted? Wow. I want my precious free time I spent reading that back, because yes, it’s true, wlb sucks in public, among many other things, so my precious free time was just wasted. But hey intern, keep up the “I love this” attitude, they’ll love you for it, and you’ll get used and abused accordingly. But if this is the path you choose, to each their own, we all like different things.
Enjoy those hours when you’re no longer making OT though! And enjoy watching your friends YoY have lives while you’re constantly working (and if they’re in private they’ll also make more than you). And to goingconcern.com, don’t post such garbage. Snore…..
Honestly, that first-year is pretty much a chad. He knows what he wants. He may be talking about it too much, but he got the twice-a-week signoff time! I don’t think the intern should be complaining, he should be taking notes.