Why Work in the Big 4? – KPMG, EY, PwC, Deloitte

Diverse Opportunities

The Big 4 firms have office locations around the world. Most of these firms have offices in every large city within the US and across Europe and Asia. The global breadth of these firms provides an exceptional opportunity for worldwide career mobility. Imagine having the opportunity to work from any large city across the world?!

In addition to their geographical stretch, the Big 4 firms have many different service offerings in every industry that you could think of. This wide range of industries and service offerings give the ability to test out many specialties and industries before finding what they truly love.

Brand Recognition and Exit Opportunities

The Big 4 firms are globally recognized brands, and they work with biggest and most well-known companies around the world (e.g., Amazon, Apple, Tesla, Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway, JP Morgan, Blackstone). They work with the biggest and most well-know companies because they have the most talented employees. The Big 4 is a demanding work environment where you have a lot of responsibility thrust onto your shoulders early in your career. As a result, these firms ensure that they are hiring the best and brightest talent. The combination of global prestige, well-recognized clients, exceptional talent, and early career responsibility leads to the perfect storm for finding exit opportunities from of the Big 4. Building your resume with Big 4 experience shows future employers that your skills, expertise, and work ethic are highly valuable.

Top-Tier Training and Development

The Big 4 firms invest heavily in the development and success of their employees. They provide best-in-class training to enhance employee’s hard and soft skills as well as formal learning offerings, access to global expertise, hands-on experience, coaching, and mentoring. Additionally, as mentioned above, employees at the Big 4 have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders earlier in their career. As a result, these unparalleled development opportunities will put you leagues ahead of your peers, and the skills and knowledge you’ll gain are transferable across companies and industries.

Challenging and Impactful Client Work

Working for Deloitte, KPMG, PwC or EY allows you to collaborate with some of the world’s most influential and innovative companies. As a Big 4 employee, you’ll get exposure to the management teams of these firms and be tasked with tackling unique and complex challenges for these clients. These experiences expand your expertise and drive real business impact. You may find yourself forecasting strategy for a technology unicorn, unraveling a global tax web for an international Fortune 500 organization, modernizing a manufacturing plant’s finance operations in the middle of Ohio, holding a 1-on-1 meeting with the CAO of Amazon, or advising a nonprofit on expansion opportunities. The variety and significance of client projects you’ll undertake for the Big 4 will keep you constantly learning and progressing.

Exceptional Career Network

In addition to high-profile client connections that often lead to job offers, a major perk of Big 4 experience is access to a global network of current and former employees. During your time at the Big 4 you will develop personal relationships with not only people who you work with directly, but also with people who you meet at corporate offsites (e.g., Deloitte University). Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG have a lot of alumni that move on to management roles at influential companies across the US, Europe, and Asia. As a result, your personal network will expand exponentially while working at one of these firms. It may be difficult to see the benefits now, but these relationships will provide contacts and opportunities throughout your career. As noted previously, the Big 4 hires only the brightest talent, and these people often move on to very powerful positions later in their career. Even in today’s tech-enabled world, relationships are still the backbone of business, and there are over one million Big 4 accounting and consulting alumni worldwide.

Competitive Salaries and Benefits

While compensation varies based on location, role, and experience level, the Big 4 pay competitive salaries, often surpassing those of other top employers. Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG also offer excellent benefits packages, including retirement planning, life and disability insurance, parental leave, personal/vacation days, volunteer time off, sabbaticals, and more.

Consistent Career Mobility and Progression

Spending a few years at a Big 4 firm springboards your career trajectory, thanks to consistent promotion opportunities. Because these firms are so massive, have high turnover rates, and consistently hire a large number of associates, there will always be room to continue moving up. Promotions typically come every 1-2 years, with a significant increase in compensation after each promotion. Additionally, as noted previously, you can transition between service lines, industries, and geographic locations. You may start in audit, move to advisory, then switch to tax while taking on increasingly advanced roles/promotions in New York, San Francisco, London, and Singapore.

Why Work at Deloitte?

Specifically taking a look at Deloitte, one of the Big 4 professional services leaders, there are unique advantages to advancing your career there. As one of the largest private companies in the U.S., Deloitte provides a number of growth trajectories across functions like audit, consulting, tax, financial advisory, risk management, and beyond. Of all the Big 4 firms, Deloitte has the largest and most successful consulting group. Working in Deloitte’s consulting group offers a prestigious resume builder and an exceptional experience. Deloitte it known for its award-winning culture centered on inclusion, development, and work-life balance.

Deloitte makes significant investments in social impact initiatives and pro bono services that allow employees to foster positive change for nonprofits and communities. Plus, Deloitte’s name carries prestige nearly everywhere, so you can expect doors to open following the experience you’ll gain solving complex problems for the world’s most important organizations.

Why Work at KPMG?

KPMG also offers an excellent place to take your career to the next level. KPMG’s culture facilitates continuous collaboration that helps both clients and employees solve even the most complex challenges. Practicing inclusiveness, empowerment, and flexibility, KPMG leverages the diverse perspectives of its people to make a meaningful difference for clients across digital transformation, customer transformation, future of work, ESG, and more.

With initiatives like KPMG’s Data Innovation Labs and Ignition Centers, you’ll participate alongside top-tier technologists, data scientists, designers, psychologists, and business leaders working on the cutting edge of technology and innovation. The firm’s culture also encourages openness, creativity, and innovation, critical to driving both personal and professional growth in today’s environment.

Why Work at PwC?

At PwC, you can build expertise and lead complex transformation programs that solve important problems for some of the world’s most successful and prestigious companies. With a focus on developing leadership, innovation, and society-wide impact, PwC offers an culture where high performers with diverse backgrounds can accelerate their careers.

By joining PwC, you will be working with purpose to deliver sustained outcomes that build trust and deliver value for clients. Significant investments in upskilling programs and technology capabilities allow PwC employees to provide premium guidance and solutions everywhere from ESG advisory to augmented workforce implementation.

The firm prizes both technical excellence as well as adaptability and curiosity when solving real-world business challenges. PwC employees receive support to craft their own career journeys, unlock their strengths, and create the best possible version of themselves. With expansive flexibility and mobility options, PwC allows their high performers to find and define success in their preferred methodology.

Why Work at EY?

Like PwC, KPMG, and Deloitte, EY is a global leader in business advisory services, and offers an exceptional place to elevate your career. EY has an inclusive, high-performance culture, exponential learning opportunities, and purpose-driven work. As one of the fastest-growing Big 4 firms, EY offers opportunities to develop skills and experiences that create value and build trust across global capital markets. EY is most known for its Auditing practice. Of the Big 4 firms, EY audits some of the most prestigious clients.

Targeted learning using virtual reality solutions and experiential simulations help ensure EY professionals remain at the forefront of capabilities. There are endless ways for top performers to carve out a personalized, purposeful career path at EY where they feel empowered, continuously learn, and grow.

Conclusion

A career with Deloitte, KPMG, PwC, EY or any Big 4 organization offers an exceptional experience, exposure to the best companies in the world, unlimited career mobility in terms of geography and expertise, competitive compensation, long-term beneficial networks, and unparalleled learning and development. The Big 4 accounting and consulting firms remain the standard for which other firms strive to replicate and compete with.