WHY WORKING AT A CPA FIRM IS PHENOMENAL, AND WHY STUDENTS SHOULD MAJOR IN ACCOUNTING BY MARC ROSENBERG, CPA WE’VE WRITTEN OVER 500 BLOGS IN THE PAST 15 years. Our material is pitched mostly to partners and managers. We would love it if this blog was read by entry-level hires, staff at CPA firms senior or below, and interns. Partners, you should forward a copy of this blog to your firm’s young people. We really hope that partners also read this. Why? To answer that question, we need to understand the genesis of this blog. For over a decade, partners across the country have told us how disappointed they are that some of their most talented staff don’t want to be a partner. This has always puzzled me. Given the tremendous benefits of being a partner (cited below), this lack of ambition makes no sense. I have always thought that staff have this attitude because they don’t know what it means to be a partner. They are blissfully unaware of the great reasons why being a partner is a fabulous job. Why don’t they know? Amazingly, it’s because the partners haven’t told them! When partners tell me about their staff’s exasperating lack of ambition, I flip the conversation back to them. I ask what they have done to mentor and groom their staff. What have they done to educate their staff on why it’s great to work at a CPA firm and how wonderful it is to be a partner? When partners are honest, many admit that, sadly, they have not addressed these issues directly and clearly with staff. When I started my first job out of college with Ernst & Young, my goal was to be a partner. I had absolutely no clue what it took to be a partner or even what it meant to be a partner. I just knew I wanted to be a partner because that was the pinnacle of success. Today’s young people aren’t like my fellow baby boomers who started their careers when I did. Baby boomers share many personality traits. One is this: When our bosses said, “Jump,” we asked, "How high?" Today’s young people say, “Why should I jump?” or “I’ve got a better way.” Plain and simple, they don’t want to be a partner until someone explains what it means. Why do I want partners to read this? Because I hope this blog causes them to ask themselves if they are doing everything they can possibly think of to mentor staff, especially those with partner potential. Partners should share with their staff how fantastic it is to work at a CPA firm and eventually become a partner. 22 Nebraska CPA
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