Have you ever worked for a public accounting firm?

Question

If so would you be willing to tell me how you like it..?
Is it difficult to work your way up? (I heard avg. turnover is 25%/yr)
How difficult is the work load during tax season?

If your willing to talk about your experiences with me; could you leave a note saying it is okay to e-mail you and ask you about what work is like? If so that would be great.. I'm just wondering about some BASIC things..

Answer 1

I've worked for 2 of the big 4 and worked my way up. The hours were as bad as you've heard, including to midnight on a Sunday! If you wish to know more, you can email me at my profile.

Answer 2

I did from 1974 to 1990 but things have changed probably. Large firms are much different than small firms. Tax seasons used to be very long hours I worked 435 hours over time in 4 months one year. I worked small firms so there was not working your way up. Large firms are competitive you could make partner and people will fight you for it.
I enjoyed my small firm experience I had one job 11 years you do write up for small business through financial statements and tax returns. I started that one in 1978 and so when we got computers I was the computer expert and formated statements impute data and decided how to do everything so that was fun. You can write me at [e-mail]