re: Accounting Majors -- Any experiences here?

I was at a large firm for 5 years and have been in industry for 4 years since leaving. Everything ENTIRELY depends on your team. If you get put on a sucky team, you can be screwed so it varies tremendously even within the same office. I had to leave because I had a family and never saw my wife/kids. 60+ hours from Mid January into May can take a toll. I have personally experienced 100 hour weeks and they suck the life out of you. It’s good money and opens up opportunities but there will most likely be some sacrifices made.

I was on several large clients where there is always something happening. YE audit turns into Q1 and then they have a transaction/offering right after Q1 that you weren’t expecting. Also, depending on the office, you could have some travel. You really don’t have much of a say in the matter. Right after we filed a brutal 10-k, I got an email from a staffing person saying i was scheduled to go out of town for 3 weeks on a first year client. Had a fun conversation with my wife who also has a FT job about how I couldn’t help with our kids for the next month.

I am in a great position now that I really like so I can’t shite completely on it but you just have to know what you’re signing up for.