Company: Deloitte
Date: 2015-03-09
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Confirmed

No better place to start a career.
Pros: Great place to work right out of college. I stayed for six years and don't regret the time spent (nor, I should add, do I regret leaving).  Excellent resume-builder, plus you get an opportunity to make an immediate impact in a meritocratic, team-oriented environment.  Benefits are good; don't let anybody keep you from using all of those PTO weeks. I worked with many extremely bright people, and I would say the number of people I encountered with whom I had difficulty working I could count on one hand.  The opportunity to manage people so early on in your career is something I think some people who start at D&T might take for granted.. it is hugely helpful when you start looking for opportunities elsewhere.  You get so many great opportunities for development here.
Cons: Depending on the office and depending on the client, hours can be pretty bad. There were two primary factors that made me decide against trying for partner and led to me deciding to leave: 1) I saw that the "carrot" in making partner was largely monetary; you never really get a break from the tough hours and extreme demands of clients. If anything, the partners' work-life balance seemed worse than the staffers. And 2) the ridiculous demands and changing-with-the-wind whims of the PCAOB made me feel like I ended up doing more and more CYA work that was pointless and not helpful to the actual audit. I don't really blame D&T for this- they don't have a choice. But the over regulation by the PCAOB (and, to a lesser extent, the SEC) made it increasingly difficult for me to take personal pride in my work.