Company: KPMG
Date: 2016-03-08
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Frat boys that take themselves too seriously
Pros: KPMG is rapidly growing and outpacing the other Big 4 accounting firms in terms of employee satisfaction.  Because of the rapid growth, there is a very open dialogue between the Partners, MDs, managers and associates about where the firm/team has been and where it is going.  In a lot of ways, the environment within the advisory group is similar to that of a startup because people are constantly being hired, new clients are always being sought after and signed, and the group is experiencing double digit growth in terms of revenue and headcount. 

The work experience is top notch.  The clients and nature of the work you are exposed to is excellent, and your ability to make an impact on the final product is huge because deal teams are small (3-5 people).  You'll learn a lot if you are proactive enough.
Cons: The downside of all the growth happening is that it is easy to fall between the cracks.  You really need to be proactive and look for your own work to be on by politicking with your peers, otherwise you won't get picked up on work.  The general composition of the group is 25 to 30-somethings that are all single and act like they're still in college.  The people in the San Francisco office in particular tend to take themselves too seriously and have a bit of an elitist attitude because the majority of the clients are private equity, and therefore they think that they are somehow working in private equity (they're not).    This is a well-documented fact amongst the group, as you can often hear other surrounding offices and advisory teams mention that they generally don't like to work out of the San Francisco office or with San Francisco-based due diligence folks.