What do you guys think of this? I am scheduled to interview on Tuesday. This hasn’t really been my main focus. I’ve been looking at research and PM, but it seems interesting. And Price Waterhouse Coopers was recently ranked the #2 best place to launch a career in business week. The problem is I don’t feel I have an incredibly strong background for this. And I am nervous about interviewing for that reason. Any advice? What should I know? Would this be a good position in your opinions? Risk Management Advisory Associate w/ PWC Challenging Opportunities Members of our Risk Management, Internal Auditing, Compliance & Investigation team specialize in supporting Management and Board of Directors’ objectives. These include assessing and mitigating risk, complying with laws and regulations, gaining assurance on control objectives and operating practices, and investigating issues or events. The capabilities in this Talent Network include Risk Management, Internal Audit, Compliance Management, Fraud, and Investigations. Depending on the capability, some of your responsibilities may include but are not limited to: • Assisting with the development of risk assessments and audit plans • Assisting in the execution of internal audit fieldwork or Sarbanes-Oxley work • Developing lost profit analyses and implementing financial models, as well as conducting comparative and pro forma analyses • Reconstructing financial statements and/or records using forensic accounting techniques • Analyzing and critiquing opposing party claims • Developing proposals for potential new engagements • Drafting preliminary reports of findings • Reviewing documents and depositions to identify information related to key damage issues • Interacting closely with counsel and company representatives to gather and analyze information • Interpreting and explaining the underlying financial aspects of an engagement to enable counsel to adequately understand the relevant business issues • Drafting value-added recommendations • Building relationships with clients
I wouldn’t be nervous about not having a background in this particular field. First of all, the responsibilities listed above are mainly filler - especially if you are graduating college next May. What I mean is, nobody will have any true background in this area coming out of college and odds are, if you take the job, you wont be fulfilling half of these responsibilities. Also, interviews at the big 4 accounting firms are not technical by any means. Obviously, know what is going on in the market/economy on a general level yet have the ability to tie this knowledge into what has been going on in the fixed income market i.e. risk management has been sh*t. Most of all, be personable because thats what the big 4 values the most - that and “teamwork” plus “communicating well”…I’m sure you get the idea… Anyway, starting your career in the Big 4 is certainly not a bad place to start. You wont get paid the big bucks, think around $55K for first years, but everything is pretty relative at this stage in your career. If you get the offer, keep it in your backpocket and pull it out if you have no other offers that you find more interesting. Get past the first level or 2 of the CFA and then leave if you want to pursue something better. If you learn anything in your time there it will definitely be how to “network”.
I have a friend in this group and he just passed level 3 cfa. His undergrad is in accounting and his masters is as well. He passed CPA too. He worked for PWC for 3 years and just accepted a nice job with a HF following many of the same things as his did at PWC… Think he started out of college at 52k ( 2004)…You will have a fairly 9-5 and studying for CPA,CFA or GMAT… I think it is a good place for first job. just my 2 cents
I passed CFA L1 over the summer. I wouldn’t be pursuing the CPA, I’m an econ major and I’m taking my first ever accounting course now as an elective, and this is my senior year. goldenboy09, your friend is doing the same function at an HF? How was the pay jump for this skill-set?
I would not say the same function but something that his PWC foundation will be a base skill set for. He will cont to learn new things in a more focused setting but he is looking forward to it. He has been in new role for about 3 weeks. He is being paid around 95 with up to 200% of salary. Think they mentioned no one has ever been paid full bonus range. It is a nice size fund that is very focused on its market.
Used to be in risk mgmt for trading, different from the description I skimmed over. Anyway, I often heard of people leaving risk mgmt roles to go to HFs with a nice pay package. That’s your exit op, thanks to amaranth bringing into light that most HFs need to do a better job with placing risk controls. That created a big demand for risk mgrs.
Big 4, especially PwC or Deloitte, is a great place to start, there are a lot of opportunities, and the culture is young, progressive, and fun. They will work you to death though. The saying around the firm is that PwC is actually the acronym for PeopleWorkingConstantly. At an entry level, you are just a number, especially in the larger offices (NYC, Chicago, LA, ATL, etc, I’ve worked in 2 of these) but for just starting out of college they do pay well and 2 years on your resume will open a lot of doors.
whodey- How well do you think entry level pay would be at this position? Everyone- Thank you for all the great responses and advice.
55
Do the big 4 give good bonuses at least?
I dont think so. Dont quote me on that. I know they get some decent time off days.
I work in compliance and this job sounds a lot like the guys who audit us from PWC. Similar anyways. It is not a bad field to get into with all the new regulatory hype it is expanding like mad and there is a lot of upward mobility. Not that exciting in my opinion though but definately growing.
whodey Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Big 4, especially PwC or Deloitte, is a great > place to start, there are a lot of opportunities, > and the culture is young, progressive, and fun. > They will work you to death though. The saying > around the firm is that PwC is actually the > acronym for PeopleWorkingConstantly. At an entry > level, you are just a number, especially in the > larger offices (NYC, Chicago, LA, ATL, etc, I’ve > worked in 2 of these) but for just starting out of > college they do pay well and 2 years on your > resume will open a lot of doors. I thought it was PricksWithCalculators? 
Bonus’s top out at 30% of salary (more for Partners). Senior Mgers/Directors/VPs make 100K + in my office (with decent hours)