Big 4 while Black? (KPMG, PwC, EY, Deloitte) [Where did all the Black Accountants go?]
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- Опубліковано 17 бер 2021
- What does working in the Big 4 feel like as a Black Accountant? Tayo talks his experience working as an auditor at a Big 4 accounting firm (EY, KPMG, PwC, Deloitte). In this episode of Colormind we're tackling the anomaly of the Black Accountants(1% of Black CPAs are employed by the public accounting firms), the 'work life balance' fantasy, and other lessons I learned during my time in public accounting.
This was great, thank you. Being black in the big 4 is a lot, but you motivated me to keep going with the CPA. Shoutout to you for breaking the statistic!
This is the best video I have seen regarding blacks in Accounting. Thank you!
glad you found it helpful! are you interviewing for firm rn, i think recruiting season is coming?
@@COLORMIND.mp4 No I am not. I have 1 year left to finish my Bachelors in Accounting. Question, do I have to go for my Master's? I am 37 and once I finished with my Bachelors I am DONE.
@@amberlee582 No you don’t have to go for a Masters but you do need 150 credits. Any missed credits can be taken at a junior college. Of course you can do it at your current university as well but it might get expensive.
As black accountant who just left big 4 this year, your CPA vid + this have been hella relatable. Great content
Same experience about email. So weird. I felt so underevaluated. I could not make it. I left big 4. It was a so toxic experience especially as a black. I felt also discriminated. So bad stories. Not for me. I will not return even they offer me trillons of $$$. Life is so short. Mental health is important. Thank you for your video. 🙂
This video really helped me get to know what to do with my future. Thank you!
Thanks for this video! Definitely learned a lot man.
I'm a Mexican girl working at a Big 4 firm right now. My team is one of the biggest at my office and it's basically all white people. There's like two Asian peeps, and 3 Indian peeps out of like a 50 person team. And then there's me. I'm the only one with big poofy curly frizzy hair, in video calls my skin tone turns red because that's my undertone and my camera lowkey sucks lmao I didn't think this type of thing would ever effect me because I grew up in a prodominently white neighborhood, my college had some diversity but not much so I was used to being the only Mexican representation for ppl.
But it's just like a whole other thing pyschologically when money is involved because it's personal. It's about how you grew up and why. And you see partners and managers, and you realize "corporate culture" is really just more assimilation to try to get the white people to like you so that you belong and are looked at as trustworthy, just to climb the fucking tax bracket and change your family's history/situation due to racist history. At least that's what the hierarchy looks like and feels like.
Every time I see a Hispanic person in a high position (which isn't often) but I feel like they had to change/hide part of themselves to be accepted and that's bullshit. It's like when native children had to go to those white schools (in a way less intense/terrible way obviously) but same feeling of assimilation. "Kill the Indian, Save the Man" When we go into a corporate setting I feel like I conceal my culture and assimilate to what the white standard is of "appropriate" because they are the ones who got to make the rules and had the money and now it's the norm.
Also, I really don't feel like explaining every part of my existence to someone like how I eat tamales during Christmas. I feel like white ppl just forgot that other cultures exist sometimes lmao Like we all know IPOC ppl for sure didn't create the "corporate culture" we have now. Those corporate dinners would be so much better and REAL too bro 😭😂
Anyway thanks for the video Tayo 💗 Subscribed
*Disclaimer: these opinions are very American based obviously lmao so if you live in a different country your situation may be totally different and also I don't like America's toxic workaholic culture anyway LOL This is my personal reflection on why I'm experiencing isolation & loneliness in the workplace right now*
what a great comment!
I felt this entire video! I get tired of being the only black!
Great video!
thank you more importantly im sorry 🥺😭 we aint deserve that
Me too
Only black guy in my accounting classes and club. EY came to the club with a powerpoint, id say 85% of the faces they used in their ppt were black..... Had me wondering if their offices really carry that same distribution or if its all for show.
dont fall for the trap, thats how they got the slaves 🤡
Essentially they use schools as a temp agency, they never have to post jobs in their careers section, they always have a steady flow of recruits coming in.
so true, but thats why big 4 is struggling rn no one wants an accounting degree anymore 😂😂😂
I love it! You got a new subscriber here! Currently at a big4 myself… looking forward to more content
thank you! hope youre having a better experience then i did 😅
I love this video! Getting my CPA license was a struggle. I'm on my 5th year in public accounting lol I never thought I'd stay this long.
I'm thinking of becoming a CPA...at 40 yrs old😬....any advice?
I'm looking at obtaining an accounting post-baccalaureate certificate since I have BA degree already. That will get me to 150 credits.
I hope the accounting does a better job at diversifying their workforce.
Interesting discussion, those numbers are mind blowing.
and yet somehow unsurprising 😪 thanks for watching broski
Great video. I’m going back to school for accounting in my 30’s.
Love this video! Thank you.
thanks for watching, i hardly see any POC corporate experience on youtube so gotta change that 🙂
The people (personality type) that you mentioned to excel at the firm are actually not preferred traits of auditors in Europe. It's very important for the auditor to understand why he/she does what they do. For example, what is the point of even perform test of detail when there is no risk related to an account or the system that generate the information is not reliable. Yes mental health is important, to do list before big 4: Have a stable relationship (preferred married), exit plan, goals on what you want to achieve, learn to say no often, learn scheduling habits, play SETS (card game). edit: grammar
Great video, a lot of great advice
thanks mate, glad i could help someone avoid the plantation
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have an opportunity to work at EY this fall in tax. I’m at a small CPA firm now. I’m the only black person. It doesn’t bother me at all…If I get the job, I’ll most likely take it!
BEST VIDEO EVER!!!! Thank you for your honesty. I feel the same way being a black female and have to check with my boss before I send an email to my peers.
thanks for watching and OMG thats terrible!! get that “experience” and dip asap queen i promise you big 4 is not the norm 😊
I am an intern at big 4 and I am already experiencing most of what you’re saying, hope to find you on LinkedIn or connect with you to pick up your brain with a lot of questions I have, especially that I am new and and I am immigrant from Africa so it’s even worst for me lool !!!
i dont really use linkedin but you can find me on IG @thatstayo, thanks for watching!
Congratulations on your success. I am white, a managing partner of a local firm (size around 16 professionals). Try as I may, I never see black candidates when we post job openings. In fact, in 15 years I have not seen one applicant. I do hire many females, people of color from asian, hispanic and middle eastern communities are readily available and are well represented at our firm. We are as diverse as we can be, what can we do to help? I did start big 4 (well, actually big 8, so I give away my age). Great message.
I never knew this. Thank you for the information. I’m currently a financial accountant (my first year) and I just decided to go back for my masters degree.
Sir you are amazing❤❤. I wish I saw this video earlier! I felt the same about the “family” culture however I work for a smaller organization. I thought it would be different within larger organizations.
Irs agent is a great way to make a great salary without having a cpa at least it was years ago. I started in 1987 i was senior accounting major with over 3o accting credits at a top college known for producing accountants
I started as a grade 5 and made it to grade 13
Without a cpa
Over the yrs things have changed now they seek folks more so with masters and cpas
But i think they still have internships and accept folks without CPAs
It is a great place for minorities to get experience and classroom training in taxation after 5 yrs yiunget enrolled agent status
And you can move into a variety of other career paths in federals if you get tired of accounting or taxation
You can also move to another agencies like dea or FBI etc or go to cid at irs that pays a much high salary than an agent.
I want to study accounting but i’m kind of worried I won’t get an opportunity to fulfil this as a black minority & I don’t want to waste my time. It’s a mental battle right now your parents deter you even more
Hello man, I am currently 28 and just got back in school for accounting and will graduate at 32 from Florida State University. Do you have any helpful advice as someone who aspires to grow in this field? Will me being a non-traditional student create obstacles for me? How would you recommend I get experience before graduating? I appreciate any advice. Love seeing other black professional in prestigious jobs!
What's ur linkedin page link can u show us on here
I'm also an Aries, and I'm told my directness comes off as rude in emails.
According to those numbers, it is less than 1% of black CPA's according to those NABA statistics.
Do you think the NABA is effective in changing that statistic and increasing the representation of blacks as CPAs?
No at least when I was active in 1980s. Maybe now?
The best is to get a mentor who is well experienced
I’m not black but I noticed this fact at my big 4 accounting firm, every minority is highly/equally represented, except for black ppl?!
Make a vid talking bout your current job?
lol im about to leave this job too (its cool and all but now i want to see what recruiting is like!)
“I decided to run away from my plantation” lmao
I work in Big4 in Chicago which has like 35% black population and 35% hispanic population, however the office that i work at is like 90% white with a few asians/indians here and there. The worst is, when we go to the kitchen the servers and cleaners are all black.. It kinda suggests this is 1950s Jim Crow when it isn;t supposed to be. Whatever the reason is it isn't right.
For the majority of the video, you indicate that you were in a very unprofessional and isolating environment where it would have been very difficult to learn. Then, all of a sudden in the section of your video titled "Lesson 4" you seemed to suggest that you had a great learning experience with meaningful exposure to countless industries. Tell us more about that. What kinds of activities did you perform that you could not have just as easily learned working in corporate accounting?
hey brad thanks for asking! I think the biggest thing I learned while in Big 4 was the importance of time management in a very hands on way. I was forced to pick up new tasks quickly and turn them around efficiently, with hard deadlines pressed against my back. This is a good skill to have no matter what field youre in but imo its actually hard to instill unless you work in a very dynamic work environment. Which a lot of public accounting is, everyday is different and having my first adult job be in a place like that made the transition to corporate accounting (with the focus on one client forever, flexible deadlines) feel always laughably light.
Bro, black people/white collar job/60k+ is lonely across every industry, even truck driving. The only way its not is if you are in a silo department where it just so happens to be alot of blacks in a specific office or building.
There is no retention!!
and why would there be! its like the upside down place in there 🤧🤧
@@COLORMIND.mp4 Don't you find that problematic. I worked for a big 4 at one time as well. In a meeting for individuals at a company sponsored group of African Americans, I asked the MP uncomfortable questions in front of the group regarding retention. Didn't go over well.
D3 schools can’t offer athletic scholarships
Accountants are low-key known for drinking 😂
I dunno; with so many opportunities available to CPAs, is Big 4 so important? Big 4 will chew you up and spit you out. There are better ways to pursue a career in accounting.
honestly im not sure? no doubt at all that i wasnt happy in the big 4 system but the clout it gave me when i exited idk if id be where im at now any other way
Pay your dues get in for a few yrs and leave... You should get irs experience big four and corporate and then do your own practice
You need all of it to beef up resume and to be a well rounded accountant or executive or business owner
If you get accepted take it and do two yrs or a bit and leave
Immaterial 😂
Bro what’s your linkedin? I’d love to add you and seek advice from you from time to time.
I have so many questions, let’s chat. I’ll hit you up Instagram
I agree that it’s not for everybody, and yes I’ve worked like a dog (Tax), but the amount of shit I’ve learned in one year is truly mind blowing, so I think it will be worth it. Salute
Apply irs as well ....Good experience and good classroom training
@@keithwisdom1663 No man, the pay is lower than what i can get in Public Accounting and Industry.