Some generalizations

A couple of things need to be considered. For one, the Advisory groups at the Big 4 are exploding right now. They are fast becoming the lucrative powerhouses for in the market. Some of you have even attributed the shift in audit representation to firms dropping audit clients in order to pursue them as advisory clients. That said, all of this change has caused the TS groups within Advisory to change titles, departments, and segmentation of responsibilities. I’m not going to try and pretend that I know every practice/sub-group/lunch click name out there. For the sake of this post, TS/Transaction Services covers the M&A/due diligence teams that have traditionally been the attractive groups in the career crosshairs of you overly ambitious auditors.

BUT — something to consider for your long-term career — advisory groups may be growing like genetically modified foods today, but they usually see the most drastic cuts when the economy hits the skids. During the dark days of 2008, 2009, 2010, it was downright ugly. Budgets were cut and jobs were eliminated to the point that people were actually trying to get back into audit (CAN YOU IMAGINE??). If you’re of the mindset that the global economy is on a path for complete destruction, think twice before putting yourself at the front of your firm’s “Most Expendable” list.

Explore your options

Getting anything through HR is a pain in the ass, let alone setting the wheels in motion for a cross-practice transfer. Pain in the ass. Pain in the ass. Pain in the ass. So what the hell should you do?

Take a rotation — Occasionally the TS groups (along with other advisory lines) will look for high ranking auditors to take on a rotation. These rotations usually happen when audit slows down, because audit partners wouldn’t dare lose their talented worker bees during busy season. A rotation into TS is like an internship — you can network, try the work on for size, and get a feel for the career track — all without fully committing to the job switch.

Understand what the job entails — This might seem like common sense, but too many of you want to make the move to TS without knowing what the group actually does. Do your homework. READ. Talk to people. When it comes time to explain why you’re interested in a move to TS, “because they make more money than me” is not a valid answer. — This might seem like common sense, but too many of you want to make the move to TS without knowing what the group actually does. Do your homework. READ. Talk to people. When it comes time to explain why you’re interested in a move to TS, “because they make more money than me” is not a valid answer. Network your ass off — This is straightforward and goes along with the previous point. Work your magic with your performance manager and mentor(s), the HR professionals responsible for experience hiring for TS, and anyone in TS that you can come to interact with. This is where attending office functions like campus recruiting events can pay off. Don’t be aggressive with expressing your interest, but don’t be shy about it either. The most important thing to be is patient. This stuff takes time. Look outside your firm — Pain attention – this should not be overlooked. The easiest way to avoid office politics is to look outside your firm and test the waters at a rival. Every Big 4 firm posts their TS jobs to their websites. Here: EY, PwC, KPMG, Deloitte