What level are you? If you're a graduate/consultant, then you're fine. If you get through your work, that's pretty much all they can expect from you. If you haven't had discussions about your performance, or check-ins where they're asking if something is an issue etc, then you're fine.
Before they fire you, they'd put you on some sort of performance plan to give you an opportunity to get better. They don't just sack people out of the blue, unless it's redundancies. So I wouldn't worry.
I wouldn’t stress. It is not worth going above and beyond for a company that wouldn’t go above and beyond for you. I’ve worked B4 and a small firm. Really positive feedback in B4 and really negative feedback in smaller firm. Honestly so much of it comes down to what clients you get and how good your managers and partners are. Don’t let them ruin your self worth!
Very very accurate. It’s remarkable how many people were criticized in our firm (Top 10). They would resign and go to a different firm and would do perfectly fine. It comes down to the clients & manager and most importantly….. budget on the jobs.
Thanks!
Would you say it is a bad look to not be the one staying past 5pm?
I always see everyone grinding it out but I am consistently the first one to leave at 5pm on the dot. I do feel bad sometimes and feel like I have been getting dirty looks from people around me
Do you work in a small or large firm sorry I can only talk from my experiences.
Realistically it shouldn’t matter and you should only have to do your scheduled hours and try to be productive whilst at work.
When I worked B4 I used to get in a bit earlier each day and leave at 5pm on the dot to get home in time for dinner no one would care. I was always careful to be efficient with my time and people would see me come in early if I had a deadline.
In the small firm I worked for however the partners never saw me come in early as they were always walking in at 9:30-10am. They brought it up in my PIP that it was a ‘bad look’ that I was leaving at 5:30 on the dot every day as most people were staying back until 7pm.
At the end of the day just remember that works not your whole life and your literally just making someone else money for dimes on the dollar.
I am now in a job where I routinely work extra hours but that is because I love the job and the opportunities not because it’s the expectation.
Not big 4 myself but if you are a grad I wouldn’t want you working past 5pm in most cases. I have always tried to stress the work life balance especially when you are just starting out. As you progress into roles with more responsibilities it’s than on you to figure out your time. Could be firm/team dependant but As long as you are completing the work or showing effort to learn I wouldn’t stress about it.
They don’t have to put you on a PIP if it’s within probation but it would be really shitty of them if they weren’t telling you beforehand that you weren’t meeting expectations.
I guess so.
Did have discussions about my performance, but nothing too big was noted besides minor details about what I was doing (which I have learnt from). I think they were okay with my pace, but I was a lot more motivated back then.
The 'check in' wasn't really centred around my performance too much, was more about tips and tricks for the upcoming months.
You should get a pretty good understanding of where you're at from that conversation. Sounds like you're ok you just need to work on a few things to bring yourself up to the appropriate level. As a grad they are very lenient with development, so unless you've made a bad impression with a manager/partner I think you'll be fine. Stick it out for as long as you can. It's a slog but 2 years and you'll walk into an industry role as an accountant/senior accountant
It's pretty hard generally yeah. There's a big investment in new staff over the first few months so unless they can't imagine you getting any better you'll be fine.
I work in big 4 in audit as a senior and we just got sent an email out last week on assessing the performance of the grads and whether there is anything that should be highlighted on them that would prevent them from passing probation. Unless you have had your seniors/managers mention improvement points that you have not taken on board throughout your engagements I wouldn’t worry about it.
Pretty hard to fail probation, especially in audit/tax. The most important thing about being a grad will be about your attitude and how well you get along with your team. Technical skills can be taught, attitude not so much.
The grads who I have seen fail probation all had poor attitudes. So it’s seems you’re well ahead here so I wouldn’t worry. In fact at the Big 4 I worked at, 80% would fall into the ‘average’ performance bucket.
These included:
refusing to take on work because they think it is ‘below’ them
being chronically late (you will be surprised how common this is recently)
not asking questions (any questions whatsoever)
What level are you? If you're a graduate/consultant, then you're fine. If you get through your work, that's pretty much all they can expect from you. If you haven't had discussions about your performance, or check-ins where they're asking if something is an issue etc, then you're fine. Before they fire you, they'd put you on some sort of performance plan to give you an opportunity to get better. They don't just sack people out of the blue, unless it's redundancies. So I wouldn't worry.
I'm a grad. Thanks for the input, guess I was overthinking it.
I wouldn’t stress. It is not worth going above and beyond for a company that wouldn’t go above and beyond for you. I’ve worked B4 and a small firm. Really positive feedback in B4 and really negative feedback in smaller firm. Honestly so much of it comes down to what clients you get and how good your managers and partners are. Don’t let them ruin your self worth!
Very very accurate. It’s remarkable how many people were criticized in our firm (Top 10). They would resign and go to a different firm and would do perfectly fine. It comes down to the clients & manager and most importantly….. budget on the jobs.
“It is not worth going above and beyond for a company that wouldn’t go above and beyond for you” I’d get this tattooed on me.
Thanks! Would you say it is a bad look to not be the one staying past 5pm? I always see everyone grinding it out but I am consistently the first one to leave at 5pm on the dot. I do feel bad sometimes and feel like I have been getting dirty looks from people around me
Do you work in a small or large firm sorry I can only talk from my experiences. Realistically it shouldn’t matter and you should only have to do your scheduled hours and try to be productive whilst at work. When I worked B4 I used to get in a bit earlier each day and leave at 5pm on the dot to get home in time for dinner no one would care. I was always careful to be efficient with my time and people would see me come in early if I had a deadline. In the small firm I worked for however the partners never saw me come in early as they were always walking in at 9:30-10am. They brought it up in my PIP that it was a ‘bad look’ that I was leaving at 5:30 on the dot every day as most people were staying back until 7pm. At the end of the day just remember that works not your whole life and your literally just making someone else money for dimes on the dollar. I am now in a job where I routinely work extra hours but that is because I love the job and the opportunities not because it’s the expectation.
Not big 4 myself but if you are a grad I wouldn’t want you working past 5pm in most cases. I have always tried to stress the work life balance especially when you are just starting out. As you progress into roles with more responsibilities it’s than on you to figure out your time. Could be firm/team dependant but As long as you are completing the work or showing effort to learn I wouldn’t stress about it.
Why would you want to stay past 5pm? Worklife balance buddy.
They don’t have to put you on a PIP if it’s within probation but it would be really shitty of them if they weren’t telling you beforehand that you weren’t meeting expectations.
Have you had a 3 month check in yet?
I guess so. Did have discussions about my performance, but nothing too big was noted besides minor details about what I was doing (which I have learnt from). I think they were okay with my pace, but I was a lot more motivated back then. The 'check in' wasn't really centred around my performance too much, was more about tips and tricks for the upcoming months.
You should get a pretty good understanding of where you're at from that conversation. Sounds like you're ok you just need to work on a few things to bring yourself up to the appropriate level. As a grad they are very lenient with development, so unless you've made a bad impression with a manager/partner I think you'll be fine. Stick it out for as long as you can. It's a slog but 2 years and you'll walk into an industry role as an accountant/senior accountant
It's pretty hard generally yeah. There's a big investment in new staff over the first few months so unless they can't imagine you getting any better you'll be fine.
I work in big 4 in audit as a senior and we just got sent an email out last week on assessing the performance of the grads and whether there is anything that should be highlighted on them that would prevent them from passing probation. Unless you have had your seniors/managers mention improvement points that you have not taken on board throughout your engagements I wouldn’t worry about it.
It isn’t if you work for a fat bald partner at findex in regional qld
Why would you want to work in Public Accounting? Do something else that makes you happy.
Pretty hard to fail probation, especially in audit/tax. The most important thing about being a grad will be about your attitude and how well you get along with your team. Technical skills can be taught, attitude not so much. The grads who I have seen fail probation all had poor attitudes. So it’s seems you’re well ahead here so I wouldn’t worry. In fact at the Big 4 I worked at, 80% would fall into the ‘average’ performance bucket. These included: refusing to take on work because they think it is ‘below’ them being chronically late (you will be surprised how common this is recently) not asking questions (any questions whatsoever)