Why Its So Hard to Escape Public Accounting

"You're going to miss life. You've got to jump off the cliff all the time and build your wings on the way down."

The accounting industry, and the 'Big 4' accounting firms in particular, have perfected the art of psychologically manipulating their new employees into staying in a job most of them really don't enjoy. They are even able to instill a sort of Stockholm syndrome where the employees actually think its a great job and begin to look down on the people who leave. Its difficult to realize it when you are the one subject to the manipulative pressures. Its pledging. Its boot camp. The funny thing about it is that it works really well; most organizations use some aspects of it to build teams. It just seems that the people attracted to accounting firms are more susceptible to these pressures and tactics than the average Joe.

Authority- Your professors, your parents, partners, alumni all tell you that big 4 public accounting is the way to go. They would know, that's where they started, and so should you.

Secrecy- Nobody talks about the hazing that goes on, no one really recognizes it as hazing. Even if they do, certainly no one will warn you beforehand, they're already trying to justify their effort.

Foot in Door/Social Proof- You joined in a class of 50 or more people so clearly you have the social proof from your peers that taking the job is a great idea! Further, you saw how many people were at the super-day, and at least a quarter of them didn't get hired. You made it into the exclusive club, aren't you special!

Slippery Slope- You don't just start blasting out work-papers until 3am, that comes later. You start out in training, with a nice teacher and they hand you a brand new computer, some business cards, and explain how to use your corporate expense account.

Isolation- Busy season. You don't see your friends, you are lucky to see your your roommates. All you know is that dirty conference room and your engagement team. Auditing is now your entire world. You had better come up with a way to twist your psyche into enjoying it for the next four months. No one else out there can help you; they're all in their own little conference rooms preparing work-papers too, right?

Cohesiveness- You get close with your training class, your engagement team, your peers as you commiserate. No one else knows what its like. Its us versus them, and if your not one of us, your one of them. Don't leave the fold or we will think less of you, a lot less; you were around to join us in shitting on those who left.

Cognitive Dissonance/Justification of Effort- You just sunk two years of your life into this job to get that first promotion, so you can leave with some sense of dignity. You feel you have to stay put in order to prove to the world that you could hack it and didn't 'drop-out'. You'd think accountants would understand that sunk costs shouldn't factor into decision making, but the psychological need for consistency outweighs the intellectual firepower most accountants have left.

The End Game- 
You need to get past it and understand the cultural pressures and the psychological tricks for what they are.  The experience is designed to turn you into an audit machine. They want you to crank out work-papers as fast as humanly possible while paying just enough attention to quality and detail to make sure everything passes review.

Once you buy in for a few years, its hard to think outside the box and understand your experience for what it really is. You're an auditor, and you badly want to justify your work and your life decisions to this point. You convince yourself you are on a great career track, you look down on those who leave, and beat yourself up thinking about what everyone will say about you when you leave too.

The big 4 experience transforms you into an accountant with some valuable skills and experience, but nevertheless, you're a back office cost, and you had to pay a steep price in terms of youth and well being for the opportunity.

“If we listened to our intellect we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go in business because we'd be cynical: 'It's gonna go wrong.' Or 'She's going to hurt me.' Or,'I've had a couple of bad love affairs, so therefore . . .' Well, that's nonsense. You're going to miss life. You've got to jump off the cliff all the time and build your wings on the way down.” - Ray Bradbury

http://psych-your-mind.blogspot.com/2012/02/hazing-pest-that-just-wont-go-away.html