What the Big 4 Taught Me

Lessons they don't teach in college

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I worked at PwC for two years, and consumed 1,000 cups of Flavia coffee in my cubicle.☕️

Have you ever had Flavia coffee? It comes in a bag and tastes like chalk (that came in a bag).

Instant heart burn and regret (the coffee, not the job).

Like, how SAD is this coffee set up?

As a man child straight out of college, who had no idea how the economy worked or how businesses actually “made money”, the most valuable things I learned were not related to finance or the markets.

I learned how to be a professional.

Here are some underrated (and at the time, under appreciated) skills the Big 4 taught me:

• How to get into work before your boss.

• How to write a concise email.

• What “business casual” dress actually means.

• How to pack for a business trip (you don’t need to pack both black and brown shoes, you know).

• Why you don’t need to check that bag.

• How to conduct yourself at an event with alcohol present.

• How to dial into a conference call on that spider web rotary dial thing (OK, maybe this one isn’t that useful anymore).

The number of Brooks Brother shirts I sweated through while trying not to F’up the passcode with 12 people watching… I still hear that rejection tone in my nightmares.

I’m forever grateful for learning these skills, which they don’t teach in college.

I wouldn’t call myself a huge proponent of big professional service corps, or really any place with a linear hierarchy of promotion, or cookie cutter roles.

So I left.

When I jumped ship, I experienced two competing feelings:

1. I got called up to the big leagues. I’m the man!

2. I did them kinda dirty. I’m the worst!

The first sentiment came from a misconceived notion that I was joining an elite(er) group in private equity.

But in reality I was a lackey, and second class citizen to the investment team, as a valuation analyst at an LBO firm. Yes, I got to say I worked in PE, but we were located on an entirely different floor, and didn’t get meals cooked by a private chef (I gained 20 pounds eating tacos from a great food truck down the street).

Plus, I wasn’t that good at “playing PE.”

Thank goodness I eventually found a role on the other side of the table, where I’ve remained ever since.

The second feeling stemmed from the fact that a few successful people essentially said “CJ’s a good guy” to help me get the job at PwC in the first place. It’s not like I was applying to West Point, and had my local governor write in. But still, I benefited from their word and credibility. And in 2013 there were like 7,000 other qualified applicants they could have taken.

Net net, I stuck around for just under two years, which was approximately the exact time it took to mold me from a Busch Light drinking barbarian into an Amex wielding “management consultant”… and then bounced to apply what I learned elsewhere. Kind of a shitty move on my part. And not a great ROI for PwC.

But then again, it’s not like everyone can be a partner. The system is designed to generate billable hours at the bottom, in mass, which flow to the few who have survived the grueling trial of miles at the top. A partner actually called it “A pyramid scheme on steroids.”

And no, obviously not a real pyramid scheme. That’s what audit firms are there to guard against in the first place, lol.

He told me, “We can’t have all of you make partner someday. The math wouldn’t work. I make a lot of money.”

I’m forever grateful to the Big 4 for teaching me both what I did and didn’t want to be. And for softening my rough edges, while giving me a glimpse into how adults “do work”.

While I don’t think a big firm is the best place to end your career, I seriously think it’s the best place to start one.

So thank you.

Run the Numbers

Apple | Spotify | YouTube

I spoke with Adam Ante, the CFO of publicly traded payroll provider Paycor. Some of the topics we covered include:

• The tale of taking Paycor public, and a funny story about pricing it

• Combatting imposter syndrome

• Advice on asking a mentor or someone ahead of you for advice

• Training your capacity for stress

• Why the small things are really the big things

Quote I’ve Been Pondering

“Now this is not a tape recorder saying that he did it, but ever since that day, I’ve been looking at him different.”

-Kendrick Lamar, m.A.A.d city