Company: Deloitte
Date: 2008-06-02
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: former

Prestigious but not that Great
Pros: Working for Deloitte was pretigious, and being in the New York office meant that we were working with some of the biggest companies around.  Working for a smaller accounting firm might not bring the same opportunities, such as contacts with the finance and business world.  Such a large office meant that there were definitely opportunites to move within the same company; most people only think of Deloitte as an accounting firm, but they also have a large finance and consulting wing.  Deloitte also paid pretty well for the base salary as compared to some smaller firms.  The benefits were pretty good, and we got over three weeks of paid vacaction a year.  There were lots of layoffs this year, but Deloitte, to their credit, tried really hard to help us move to different parts of the firm before ultimately letting some of us go.
Cons: If you are working on the business side, as opposed to accounting, you'll be working with the investment banks a lot.  You might be disgruntled knowing that you are doing a lot of the same work as your counterparts at the bank, yet making significantly less than them.  Even in the good years, your bonus will be almost laughable - and in the bad years, as this year, don't hold your breath expecting a bonus.  Also, as an accounting firm, your hours are at the whim of the client - you managers may be able to reason with the clients, but don't expect that to affect your hours that much.  You can't scoff at working well past midnight or on the weekends - and then other times you may have nothing to do for long, boring stretches of time.