Info appreciated regarding milk round decision

kmb

Hi all,

My daughter has been offered five trainee graduate positions in different companies.
I would appreciate any advice that ye might offer with regard to these as I am sure many of ye have faced this decision before.
She is based in Cork and have been offered the following:

Dublin
1 x Audit job Offer
2 x TAS job Offers

Cork
2 x Audit job offers

Her main interest is in TAS but this is in Dublin and would entail house sharing etc and the cost of for 4 years.
Can you advise would selecting Audit over TAS be better for her in her final exams or is it all the same at the end of the day?
Is TAS more rewarding with regards to future job prospects within the sector?
Which of the companies above would provide the better support and job prospects during the 4 year term?

Any and all feedback would be appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Kieran

endacl

Probably nod the feedback you're looking for, but....

Your daughter? The graduate? The adult? Why is her daddy asking these questions for her?

kmb

endacl wrote: »

Probably nod the feedback you're looking for, but....

Your daughter? The graduate? The adult? Why is her daddy asking these questions for her?

I am because i want to help her through this without a keyboard warrior popping up!
Some parents do give a damn, hence this post.

Choc Chip

I worked in one of those firms for 7 years and have no idea what tas is. Do you mean tax or ts or am i being stupid ( i was up v late with the elections).

Transaction advisory services.

If she wants to do TAS tell her to go to Dublin.

If she wants to be an auditor or accountant tell her to stay in Cork.

She has already expressed a clear preference.

It won't make much difference to exams - it will make a difference to her future career options.

I have no idea about the difference between the firms.

Edit: Your reference to within the sector isn't clear. They are different jobs with different opportunities (to progress upwards or leave) and it depends on what she wants.

Choc Chip

Deleted User wrote: »

Transaction advisory services

Cheers! I was thinking about transaction services but had ts in my head not tas.. I obviously need to get some sleep in.

I'd agree with everything pg633 said. I'd just add that it can be beneficial to have one of the big four accountancy firms on your cv. However, your access to quality work can depend entirely on the individual you work for and so I'm not trying to infer that big four are necessarily better, just that the perception can be there.

Also, if you look at exam results the big four generally achieve the most placings. However, they have more graduates and if you're able for the exams then where you are working is not the ultimate decider, you'll get there anyway.

kmb

Hi All,

Thanks for the reply's so far.
I suppose that I just want to help her choose the most appropriate company/sector as the contract is 4 years and as she has a high work ethic, that she can maximise her chances of a successful career within the companies mentioned above.
If she started with Audit for example in Cork, is it possible to switch to TAS in year 2 or would her chosen field be fixed for the 4 years?
Incidentally she is not aware that I am posting here and I want to glean as much information as I can.
She has exams this week and some contracts need signing after the weekend.

Kind Regards,

Kieran

Choc Chip

Probably not helpful, but: it depends.

Generally, she has a better chance of being able to transfer internally if she picks somewhere with more employees as there can be more opportunities, but if they oversubscribe the milk round then it can be difficult to move later. Generally they hire on their expected need so it depends how well they forecast this. Also depends on the economy. For example, TAS is picking up and so there was a better chance of being able to transfer into it over the last few years but they've probably resolved that in this year's milkrounds (at her level anyway). During the recession (in the firms I'm familiar with) there was no chance at transferring into TAS.

Also depends on how well she does in exams. People with the highest marks who produce the best work and are more valuable to the firm have more opportunities in deciding where they work. This is even more true when the trainee comes out of contract and can leave more easily.

Just to note, if she picks a big four firm she could end up in a more specialised area whereas smaller firms can be more general. This is similar in deciding between Cork and Dublin - Dublin can provide bigger deals/clients but she might end up in a more specialised area.

Timbo1987

agree with what has already been said mostly.

with regard to transferring, if a place is big enough to have both TAS + Audit then usually thats where you will be for the extent of the contract.

if she wants TAS then more opportunities in Dublin, no 2 ways about it. Start saving now for Dublin rent!!!

tell her be prepared to stretch her work ethic (patience + temper) to the absolute limit!!!

bobmalooka

A few thoughts but worth remembering that there's plenty of different opinions on this. Most important is your daughters opinion. Share information but let her follow her gut.

It would be very difficult to transfer out of Big 4 audit until exams are passed, that's the point when the balance of power shifts and they are willing to negotiate. It's difficult to even move to different clients up to that point.

The plus side of audit training is the relatively more diverse opportunities after.

If she knows she wants TAS then it's off to Dublin for 4 years .big 4 preferably and more likely as they'll dominate the sector.

Money will be tight but she won't be the first to make that sacrifice for a couple of years, she'll have her pick of good jobs after her contract.

Whether right or wrong the perception is that former big4 are better, training there will open doors throughout your career.

Numbers Guy

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