INTHEBLACK December - January 2022 - Magazine - Page 18
STRATEGIC CAREER MOVES
Finding the perfect fit
AT A GLANCE
18
DEC 2022
JAN 2023
INTHEBLACK CAREER, ELEVATED SPECIAL EDITION
In accounting and finance,
the size of the firm you work
for can have a significant
impact on your employment
experience.
“Big Four” and larger firms
may appeal because they offer
international opportunities and
a vast pool of resources for
training.
Smaller firms can give you
more freedom to make an
impact while nurturing the
development of specialist
knowledge.
STORY JOHANNA LEGGATT
FIT FOR
PURPOSE
When planning a career move, or starting out, weighing the
opportunities presented by different businesses can be daunting.
Having a clear idea of long-term goals can ease the process.
Each year, scores of young accounting
and finance graduates submit their CVs at
big-name companies, hopeful of getting
their start at a reputable top-tier firm.
When Singapore-based Lindy Heng CPA
graduated with her bachelor of business
in accountancy degree, she knew there
would be plenty of other grads angling
for top jobs.
“I decided to go for a mid-tier company
because it is so competitive here in
Singapore,” she says.
“I studied at RMIT, and some of
the students and my peers already had
internships or relationships with the ‘Big
Four’ accounting firms, so I decided to go
for mid-tier and then try for something
bigger as I proceeded.”
The decision paid off.
Heng began working in tax at the RSM
group in Singapore, before making the
transition to tax planning with KPMG
two years later, which provided her with an
international context.
“We were working with clients in Europe,
the UK, Asia and even India,” she says.
THE APPEAL OF LARGER FIRMS
Heng has since moved into the corporate
sector as a group tax executive for Singapore
maritime company BW Group, before
being promoted to assistant manager group
tax. She says her Big Four experience has
undoubtedly given a huge boost to her CV.
“I have noticed that a lot of job
advertisements actually request Big Four
experience,” she says. “It definitely works
to my advantage.”
Dhash AJ CPA is also aware of the
benefits of working for larger companies.
He started his career with a small, threepartner firm in Melbourne and, while
he enjoyed the work, there were fewer
resources for training.
“You get thrown in the deep end at a
small practice,” he says.
When the opportunity arose, AJ took a
job with a mid-tier, 14-partner firm, which
later merged with another company.
“Straight away I noticed there were
more systems and processes, and
the learning environment was more
structured,” he says.
