What is the hardest Big 4 to get into?
PwC is the most prestigious of the four and people working there know it. The firm's reputation and solid audit business means there's a sense of stability you might not find at Deloitte for example. Deloitte is smaller than PwC in the UK and keen to catch up.
1 in Vault's prestige rankings. PwC edged out Ernst & Young, which ranked second, and Deloitte, which ranked third. KPMG ranked fourth. In fact, during the 10 years that Vault's been ranking accounting firms, these four firms, also known as the Big 4, have always taken the top four spots in our prestige rankings.
PwC Work Culture
Though all the Big 4 accounting firms are large, PwC is known for being the more fastidious, traditional, and slower moving organization, opposite to Deloitte. The company has an extremely strong core of clients, so if you're looking for a more conventional and hierarchical company, PwC is for you.
What is the Big Four? Big Four refers to the top four accounting firms globally that audit more than 80% of US public companies, including Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, and Ernst & Young. For these accounting firms, this term is used because of its huge size, good reputation, and worldwide reach in the field.
Deloitte scored higher in 8 areas: Overall Rating, Compensation & Benefits, Work-life balance, Senior Management, Culture & Values, CEO Approval, % Recommend to a friend and Positive Business Outlook. Both tied in 1 area: Career Opportunities.
EY scored higher in 1 area: Positive Business Outlook. PwC scored higher in 2 areas: Culture & Values and CEO Approval. Both tied in 6 areas: Overall Rating, Career Opportunities, Compensation & Benefits, Work-life balance, Senior Management and % Recommend to a friend.
Among the Big 4, KPMG is the oldest firm, with its earliest parent company founded in 1818. In 1911, William Barclay Peat & co merged with Marwick Mitchell & co to form Peat Marwick. The largest merger of this firm took place between KMG and Peat Marwick that finally established KPMG.
Deloitte gives you the opportunity to learn and develop through working with the best and exploring the paths that are best for you. We provide a globally connected network that offers cross-geography mobility opportunities and approachable leadership to foster your growth and development.
Deloitte scored higher in 8 areas: Overall Rating, Compensation & Benefits, Work-life balance, Senior Management, Culture & Values, CEO Approval, % Recommend to a friend and Positive Business Outlook. Both tied in 1 area: Career Opportunities.
In my experience the Big4 does pay less that tier 1 firms. This is probably because high quality grads want the name on their CV rather than selecting an industry for the rest of their career straight out of university. Therefore supply and demand…
Is it hard to get into EY?
You're in luck. In 2016, EY has plans to hire 30,000 people at an experienced level. This is a big figure, but is easily dwarfed by the number of applications it receives. Last year, 1.4m people applied to the firm globally – this means you have a 2% chance of getting in.
EY scored higher in 5 areas: Overall Rating, Compensation & Benefits, Work-life balance, % Recommend to a friend and Positive Business Outlook. KPMG scored higher in 1 area: CEO Approval. Both tied in 3 areas: Career Opportunities, Senior Management and Culture & Values.
Employee Ratings
KPMG scored higher in 1 area: CEO Approval. PwC scored higher in 6 areas: Overall Rating, Compensation & Benefits, Work-life balance, Culture & Values, % Recommend to a friend and Positive Business Outlook. Both tied in 2 areas: Career Opportunities and Senior Management.
Like Goldman or J.P. Morgan in banking, the Big Four are prestigious firms that look good on any accountant's resume. They are climbing the ranks with their consulting businesses, too.
Deloitte scored higher in 8 areas: Overall Rating, Compensation & Benefits, Work-life balance, Senior Management, Culture & Values, CEO Approval, % Recommend to a friend and Positive Business Outlook. Both tied in 1 area: Career Opportunities.
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Leading consulting firms in the United States in 2021, by prestige rating.
Making it through the door at PWC is a tough ask. It only hired 2% of the experienced candidates who applied last year. The trick is to get in early - it hired 11,000 of the 70,000 students who submitted an application, meaning that about 16% got a job.
EY scored highest among other professional services employers for professional training and development, opportunities to take on challenging work and for being a good reference for future careers. EY was ranked #1 professional services employer in four countries: China, France, Russia and India.
- Highly regarded in industry: The PwC name carries weight in the corporate world. People are genuinely impressed when they see the name on my CV / mentioned in conversation. - Good place to make friends: If you're a young 20-something out of uni, you'll love working here.
PwC is widely considered to be the world's most prestigious and progressive accounting firm. It offers extensive career development opportunities, including formal coaching and mentoring, informal mentoring, excellent trainings, and clear promotion paths. It's also heavily focused on CSR initiatives and improving DE&I.
Is working in Big 4 worth it?
Yes, it's totally worth it working in Big fours. It's a very challenging and enriching experience. If you wish to have a career in consulting, I feel there's no place better to be in. Things are dynamic and you learn a lot of things along with good pay, brand name and really quick growth.
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Comparing the careers.
| Rank | Avg. Score | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8.984 | McKinsey & Company |
| 2 | 8.738 | Boston Consulting Group |
| 3 | 8.600 | Bain & Company |
| 4 | 7.121 | Deloitte Consulting LLP |
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#5 – Grant Thornton LLP.
| Grant Thornton LLP | Details |
|---|---|
| Revenue | 1.45 billion USD |
With total revenue of approximately 50 billion U.S. dollars, Deloitte was the biggest of the Big Four accounting firms in 2021.
In 2016, EY has plans to hire 30,000 people at an experienced level. This is a big figure, but is easily dwarfed by the number of applications it receives. Last year, 1.4m people applied to the firm globally – this means you have a 2% chance of getting in.
Typically between 90% and 93% of KPMG get offers to join the firm full-time after graduation, and the acceptance rate hovers around 95%.
Making it through the door at PWC is a tough ask. It only hired 2% of the experienced candidates who applied last year. The trick is to get in early - it hired 11,000 of the 70,000 students who submitted an application, meaning that about 16% got a job.
As one of the big four, Deloitte receives an overwhelming number of applications. With over 500,0000 applicants applying for Deloitte job positions. The high number of applicants can make it very difficult to land a job at Deloitte. You are expected to be the industry's best and a confident professional.
