KPMG/Deloitte/EY/PWC/etc. federal advisory/consulting work life balance

[Anonymous]

Sr Mgr at ACN - depends on the role. Sales people and account leads do a lot of client happy hours, awards dinners, lunch with potential supplier type stuff. The mandatory internal stuff is flexible. Work is mostly remote unless it’s Intel / DoD. Some delivery / PM people get away with less networking and mandatory fun type stuff - but at the Director level networking is a big part of the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Manager at Deloitte and have been here since Analyst. Agree Federal, State and Local has better work life balance than Commercial purely because there are little to no travel expectations. More than 40% of our workforce is new in the last year so many challenges staffing and delivering work. Lots of senior people hate their lives. If you want to make Partner need to do it before 40 for it to make financial sense long term.

I am someone with a gap on resume who recently resumed corporate career. Eligible for both CPA and NY Bar, and in fact in my 40s I have way more free time to devote to my career. I am currently an associate with a large USAID contractor, thinking about moving to Deloitte or similar for advancement. I plan to work at least for the next 15 years, as I frankly don't have anything else to do with my life.

Why is it necessary to make Partner by 40 y.o to make sense financially? Is it s really young team, or they are open for diversity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Manager at Deloitte and have been here since Analyst. Agree Federal, State and Local has better work life balance than Commercial purely because there are little to no travel expectations. More than 40% of our workforce is new in the last year so many challenges staffing and delivering work. Lots of senior people hate their lives. If you want to make Partner need to do it before 40 for it to make financial sense long term.

I am someone with a gap on resume who recently resumed corporate career. Eligible for both CPA and NY Bar, and in fact in my 40s I have way more free time to devote to my career. I am currently an associate with a large USAID contractor, thinking about moving to Deloitte or similar for advancement. I plan to work at least for the next 15 years, as I frankly don't have anything else to do with my life.

Why is it necessary to make Partner by 40 y.o to make sense financially? Is it s really young team, or they are open for diversity?

Because you have to buy into partnership. In my old practice group it was 500k. Not everyone has that just sitting around without gutting savings/retirement, so many take out loans to cover the buy-in. They you have a mandatory retirement age, so you have fewer years to pay off the loan and make so much more (and there can be lean years) than a higher level Director/Sr. Manager that it makes sense. If you only have, say, 8 years to do this you might not come out ahead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Manager at Deloitte and have been here since Analyst. Agree Federal, State and Local has better work life balance than Commercial purely because there are little to no travel expectations. More than 40% of our workforce is new in the last year so many challenges staffing and delivering work. Lots of senior people hate their lives. If you want to make Partner need to do it before 40 for it to make financial sense long term.

I am someone with a gap on resume who recently resumed corporate career. Eligible for both CPA and NY Bar, and in fact in my 40s I have way more free time to devote to my career. I am currently an associate with a large USAID contractor, thinking about moving to Deloitte or similar for advancement. I plan to work at least for the next 15 years, as I frankly don't have anything else to do with my life.

Why is it necessary to make Partner by 40 y.o to make sense financially? Is it s really young team, or they are open for diversity?

Because you have to buy into partnership. In my old practice group it was 500k. Not everyone has that just sitting around without gutting savings/retirement, so many take out loans to cover the buy-in. They you have a mandatory retirement age, so you have fewer years to pay off the loan and make so much more (and there can be lean years) than a higher level Director/Sr. Manager that it makes sense. If you only have, say, 8 years to do this you might not come out ahead.

How much a higher level Sr Manager is making, and how many years would it take to get there from associate level? I am not necessarily interested in becoming a partner, but I do have own assets of about $4mm and can easily "invest" if need be. Just want to have a "career" to realize own professional aspirations, education etc which I could not do due to child care and my spouse excessive travel when my son was little. Now he's almost college age and I am thinking if it's too late to do something like this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Manager at Deloitte and have been here since Analyst. Agree Federal, State and Local has better work life balance than Commercial purely because there are little to no travel expectations. More than 40% of our workforce is new in the last year so many challenges staffing and delivering work. Lots of senior people hate their lives. If you want to make Partner need to do it before 40 for it to make financial sense long term.

I am someone with a gap on resume who recently resumed corporate career. Eligible for both CPA and NY Bar, and in fact in my 40s I have way more free time to devote to my career. I am currently an associate with a large USAID contractor, thinking about moving to Deloitte or similar for advancement. I plan to work at least for the next 15 years, as I frankly don't have anything else to do with my life.

Why is it necessary to make Partner by 40 y.o to make sense financially? Is it s really young team, or they are open for diversity?

Because you have to buy into partnership. In my old practice group it was 500k. Not everyone has that just sitting around without gutting savings/retirement, so many take out loans to cover the buy-in. They you have a mandatory retirement age, so you have fewer years to pay off the loan and make so much more (and there can be lean years) than a higher level Director/Sr. Manager that it makes sense. If you only have, say, 8 years to do this you might not come out ahead.

What is the mandatory retirement age at Big4?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Manager at Deloitte and have been here since Analyst. Agree Federal, State and Local has better work life balance than Commercial purely because there are little to no travel expectations. More than 40% of our workforce is new in the last year so many challenges staffing and delivering work. Lots of senior people hate their lives. If you want to make Partner need to do it before 40 for it to make financial sense long term.

I am someone with a gap on resume who recently resumed corporate career. Eligible for both CPA and NY Bar, and in fact in my 40s I have way more free time to devote to my career. I am currently an associate with a large USAID contractor, thinking about moving to Deloitte or similar for advancement. I plan to work at least for the next 15 years, as I frankly don't have anything else to do with my life.

Why is it necessary to make Partner by 40 y.o to make sense financially? Is it s really young team, or they are open for diversity?

Because you have to buy into partnership. In my old practice group it was 500k. Not everyone has that just sitting around without gutting savings/retirement, so many take out loans to cover the buy-in. They you have a mandatory retirement age, so you have fewer years to pay off the loan and make so much more (and there can be lean years) than a higher level Director/Sr. Manager that it makes sense. If you only have, say, 8 years to do this you might not come out ahead.

What is the mandatory retirement age at Big4?

Partners and Principals is 62.

No retirement age for Managing Directors, and no buy-in, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Manager at Deloitte and have been here since Analyst. Agree Federal, State and Local has better work life balance than Commercial purely because there are little to no travel expectations. More than 40% of our workforce is new in the last year so many challenges staffing and delivering work. Lots of senior people hate their lives. If you want to make Partner need to do it before 40 for it to make financial sense long term.

I am someone with a gap on resume who recently resumed corporate career. Eligible for both CPA and NY Bar, and in fact in my 40s I have way more free time to devote to my career. I am currently an associate with a large USAID contractor, thinking about moving to Deloitte or similar for advancement. I plan to work at least for the next 15 years, as I frankly don't have anything else to do with my life.

Why is it necessary to make Partner by 40 y.o to make sense financially? Is it s really young team, or they are open for diversity?

Because you have to buy into partnership. In my old practice group it was 500k. Not everyone has that just sitting around without gutting savings/retirement, so many take out loans to cover the buy-in. They you have a mandatory retirement age, so you have fewer years to pay off the loan and make so much more (and there can be lean years) than a higher level Director/Sr. Manager that it makes sense. If you only have, say, 8 years to do this you might not come out ahead.

What is the mandatory retirement age at Big4?

Partners and Principals is 62.

No retirement age for Managing Directors, and no buy-in, either.

Looks like I have time still. The question is how are they open to diversity hiring someone in mid 40s with good credentials and who can work without a break for childbearing etc.

[Anonymous]

Likely open for a SME role. Coming in as senior manager is difficult because you are expected to be leading sales work and have a developed following of people to deliver the work. Hard to do that as a new hire. But as a specialist SME you come in and add value with your knowledge, so easier to do straight away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Manager at Deloitte and have been here since Analyst. Agree Federal, State and Local has better work life balance than Commercial purely because there are little to no travel expectations. More than 40% of our workforce is new in the last year so many challenges staffing and delivering work. Lots of senior people hate their lives. If you want to make Partner need to do it before 40 for it to make financial sense long term.

I am someone with a gap on resume who recently resumed corporate career. Eligible for both CPA and NY Bar, and in fact in my 40s I have way more free time to devote to my career. I am currently an associate with a large USAID contractor, thinking about moving to Deloitte or similar for advancement. I plan to work at least for the next 15 years, as I frankly don't have anything else to do with my life.

Why is it necessary to make Partner by 40 y.o to make sense financially? Is it s really young team, or they are open for diversity?

Because you have to buy into partnership. In my old practice group it was 500k. Not everyone has that just sitting around without gutting savings/retirement, so many take out loans to cover the buy-in. They you have a mandatory retirement age, so you have fewer years to pay off the loan and make so much more (and there can be lean years) than a higher level Director/Sr. Manager that it makes sense. If you only have, say, 8 years to do this you might not come out ahead.

What is the mandatory retirement age at Big4?

Partners and Principals is 62.

No retirement age for Managing Directors, and no buy-in, either.

Looks like I have time still. The question is how are they open to diversity hiring someone in mid 40s with good credentials and who can work without a break for childbearing etc.

In my experience, they are not open at all. Not even a little bit. Like I would bet every dollar I have you would never make partner and Sr.Manager/Director is iffy.

Partners groom future partners and they like to do that with young people to mold them in their image. They don't even know how to handle a 40-something associate and don't view them as partner track in the least. A lot of them don't even view experienced hires as partner track and prefer their homegrowns that have spent their whole careers with the firm. The exception to a 40-something making partner would be someone who was a high level fed or something like a junior partner at a law firm who comes in with a big, fat book of potential clients and becomes a rainmaker.

I honestly can't imagine a less appealing white collar job than being a 40-something at the associate level at a Big4. Horrific hours, all the other associates are 22 and think you're a weirdo loser, partners your age who just don't know how to deal with a peer who is so low on the totem pole, etc. I always felt bad for these people, but they just seemed totally lost. I can't imagine opting into this if I didn't seriously need the money (not even that much) or had no other options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Manager at Deloitte and have been here since Analyst. Agree Federal, State and Local has better work life balance than Commercial purely because there are little to no travel expectations. More than 40% of our workforce is new in the last year so many challenges staffing and delivering work. Lots of senior people hate their lives. If you want to make Partner need to do it before 40 for it to make financial sense long term.

I am someone with a gap on resume who recently resumed corporate career. Eligible for both CPA and NY Bar, and in fact in my 40s I have way more free time to devote to my career. I am currently an associate with a large USAID contractor, thinking about moving to Deloitte or similar for advancement. I plan to work at least for the next 15 years, as I frankly don't have anything else to do with my life.

Why is it necessary to make Partner by 40 y.o to make sense financially? Is it s really young team, or they are open for diversity?

Because you have to buy into partnership. In my old practice group it was 500k. Not everyone has that just sitting around without gutting savings/retirement, so many take out loans to cover the buy-in. They you have a mandatory retirement age, so you have fewer years to pay off the loan and make so much more (and there can be lean years) than a higher level Director/Sr. Manager that it makes sense. If you only have, say, 8 years to do this you might not come out ahead.

What is the mandatory retirement age at Big4?

Partners and Principals is 62.

No retirement age for Managing Directors, and no buy-in, either.

Looks like I have time still. The question is how are they open to diversity hiring someone in mid 40s with good credentials and who can work without a break for childbearing etc.

In my experience, they are not open at all. Not even a little bit. Like I would bet every dollar I have you would never make partner and Sr.Manager/Director is iffy.

Partners groom future partners and they like to do that with young people to mold them in their image. They don't even know how to handle a 40-something associate and don't view them as partner track in the least. A lot of them don't even view experienced hires as partner track and prefer their homegrowns that have spent their whole careers with the firm. The exception to a 40-something making partner would be someone who was a high level fed or something like a junior partner at a law firm who comes in with a big, fat book of potential clients and becomes a rainmaker.

I honestly can't imagine a less appealing white collar job than being a 40-something at the associate level at a Big4. Horrific hours, all the other associates are 22 and think you're a weirdo loser, partners your age who just don't know how to deal with a peer who is so low on the totem pole, etc. I always felt bad for these people, but they just seemed totally lost. I can't imagine opting into this if I didn't seriously need the money (not even that much) or had no other options.

Are you talking about accounting/federal consulting departments at these firms? E.g. those who would be CPAs etc? I am CPA eligible but I am also thinking of NY Bar+tax LLM in Georgetown, as tax lawyers seem to be less subjected to ageism. Work as tax attorney at Big4 a few years, and then going to a smaller firm or IRS, or something similar. Also, since I am currently in federal consulting, I can try getting a contracting certification instead of another law degree, and try finding a position with federal government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: all the other associates are 22

Tell me about it. Any time one of these people makes a mistake and needs to be corrected, I feel like I kicked a puppy.

The lack of oversight from their senior managers has gotten worse, you can tell they have staffing issues. As a result, we're ramping down the use of Big 4 for business augmentation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: all the other associates are 22

Tell me about it. Any time one of these people makes a mistake and needs to be corrected, I feel like I kicked a puppy.

The lack of oversight from their senior managers has gotten worse, you can tell they have staffing issues. As a result, we're ramping down the use of Big 4 for business augmentation.

Any other suggestions to me if it's worth thinking about tax law specialty at 44, and where I would go if not Big4?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spouse is senior manager at Deloitte. There are plenty of roles and options in the company for people who don’t want to do all the extras, but like PP said you have to play the games if your goal is partner.

That said, spouse is remote 3 days a week, able to coach kids’ teams, and has done morning drop off at school for years without issue. They will likely never make partner without picking up decent travel and working longer hours, but that’s okay with our family.

Can someone stay senior manager forever? I always thought it was up or out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Manager at Deloitte and have been here since Analyst. Agree Federal, State and Local has better work life balance than Commercial purely because there are little to no travel expectations. More than 40% of our workforce is new in the last year so many challenges staffing and delivering work. Lots of senior people hate their lives. If you want to make Partner need to do it before 40 for it to make financial sense long term.

I am someone with a gap on resume who recently resumed corporate career. Eligible for both CPA and NY Bar, and in fact in my 40s I have way more free time to devote to my career. I am currently an associate with a large USAID contractor, thinking about moving to Deloitte or similar for advancement. I plan to work at least for the next 15 years, as I frankly don't have anything else to do with my life.

Why is it necessary to make Partner by 40 y.o to make sense financially? Is it s really young team, or they are open for diversity?

Because you have to buy into partnership. In my old practice group it was 500k. Not everyone has that just sitting around without gutting savings/retirement, so many take out loans to cover the buy-in. They you have a mandatory retirement age, so you have fewer years to pay off the loan and make so much more (and there can be lean years) than a higher level Director/Sr. Manager that it makes sense. If you only have, say, 8 years to do this you might not come out ahead.

NP but I don't think everyone becomes a partner. Isn't a managing director or principal the same level of responsibility but without ownership?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Likely open for a SME role. Coming in as senior manager is difficult because you are expected to be leading sales work and have a developed following of people to deliver the work. Hard to do that as a new hire. But as a specialist SME you come in and add value with your knowledge, so easier to do straight away.

OP here - what company is this? I think Deloitte has something called specialists - is this the equivalent of senior manager?