Best/Good position in Accounting/Finance?

raving? I'm just talking, and i thought we were having a debate. Now that you pointed out that you're just a **** stirrer i'll know in the future that you are a complete waste of time.

you really are a class act.

You guys are making me consider reconsidering my major from economics (business) to accounting.........

Warren Buffett has an economics degree if i'm not mistaken.

But the irony is that you'd be hard pressed to find a well paying job in it.

Originally Posted by SkinnyGoomba

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Warren Buffett has an economics degree if i'm not mistaken.

But the irony is that you'd be hard pressed to find a well paying job in it.

Yes, Greenspan was quite underpaid.

In 2005, 180k for a damn quasi-governmental job with assets of about $4.2 million. Pfft.

Originally Posted by SkinnyGoomba

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Warren Buffett has an economics degree if i'm not mistaken.

But the irony is that you'd be hard pressed to find a well paying job in it.

You are joking, right?

I am an accounting major myself but I have friends that graduated with economics degrees. Have you heard of Investment Banking?

If you think you're going to get a starting salary of 65k right out of your undergrad at a big 4, you're dreaming. I have a friend that went to EY with his masters/cpa and wasn't making that right out of school. He's been there for several years and is right around 65k right now-and he's advanced much faster than the firm average (he's 26). There's a lot of money down the road to be made, but you aren't going to get a starting salary of 65k unless you're undergrad is from a top school and you're in 1 of maybe 5 cities in the country. I'd expect something around 45-50k depending on where you went to school.

As far as investment banking, it's a phenomenal field to be in-but almost impossible to get into directly out of school with the current state of the economy unless you're Ivy league or Stanford. Investment banking is the most pretentious field there is when it comes to where you went to school-and it's downsizing quite a bit at the moment. Everybody that graduates from Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Princeton and Columbia with an accounting/finance/economics degree wants to be an investment banker. It's 12-14 hour days, you better absolutely love what you're doing or it will be a misery.

Originally Posted by suited

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If you think you're going to get a starting salary of 65k right out of your undergrad at a big 4, you're dreaming. I have a friend that went to EY with his masters/cpa and wasn't making that right out of school. He's been there for several years and is right around 65k right now-and he's advanced much faster than the firm average (he's 26). There's a lot of money down the road to be made, but you aren't going to get a starting salary of 65k unless you're undergrad is from a top school and you're in 1 of maybe 5 cities in the country. I'd expect something around 45-50k depending on where you went to school. As far as investment banking, it's a phenomenal field to be in-but almost impossible to get into directly out of school with the current state of the economy unless you're Ivy league or Stanford. Investment banking is the most pretentious field there is when it comes to where you went to school-and it's downsizing quite a bit at the moment. Everybody that graduates from Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Princeton and Columbia with an accounting/finance/economics degree wants to be an investment banker. It's 12-14 hour days, you better absolutely love what you're doing or it will be a misery.
Ha 12-14 hour days. Good one.

Originally Posted by suited

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As far as investment banking, it's a phenomenal field to be in-but almost impossible to get into directly out of school with the current state of the economy unless you're Ivy league or Stanford. Investment banking is the most pretentious field there is when it comes to where you went to school-and it's downsizing quite a bit at the moment. Everybody that graduates from Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Princeton and Columbia with an accounting/finance/economics degree wants to be an investment banker. It's 12-14 hour days, you better absolutely love what you're doing or it will be a misery.

I'm just highlighting this for the smarty pantses above

How many positions are there open for the chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Board....Ahh, just 1, and i think its filled right now.

180k/4.2 mil.....******* lightweight

Originally Posted by lifersfc

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Ha 12-14 hour days. Good one.

Ok, I'll rephrase it. You could get away with a 12 or 14 hour day if you're lucky. I didn't want to sound pessimistic, but the average joe doesn't get a starting salary of 65k with an undergrad from an average school in accounting.

Originally Posted by Viktri

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You are joking, right?

I am an accounting major myself but I have friends that graduated with economics degrees. Have you heard of Investment Banking?

Investment banking isn't economics. I have never found any job (in DC anyway) paying real money for people only with bachelors in economics. Obviously, if you end up in finance or consulting with an economics degree you can definately make over $45k but simply performing entry level economic analysis or whatever with that degree won't get you much.

Originally Posted by suited

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If you think you're going to get a starting salary of 65k right out of your undergrad at a big 4, you're dreaming.

Tend to agree, given that Bain, BCG, and McKinsey started last year's classes at 65k + sign-on + bonus. Accounting has to pay less--the economics just wouldn't work otherwise.

Originally Posted by Jodum5

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Investment banking isn't economics. I have never found any job (in DC anyway) paying real money for people only with bachelors in economics. Obviously, if you end up in finance or consulting with an economics degree you can definately make over $45k but simply performing entry level economic analysis or whatever with that degree won't get you much.
maybe in DC I have a few friends in investment banking in Tokyo and HK with economics degrees and no family connections. None went to Harvard/Yale/Standford/etc but they went to the good local schools.

I actually know someone who got a job with KPMG out of college making $60,000. He was a finance major so I don't know how he got hired. From what I have been told is that he is responsible for arranging meetings around the country and travels sometimes and will eventually move on to accounting.

I was actually surprised to hear he got a job with KPMG. He isn't very sharp and every time I have seen him he has been more or less wasted and carries on like a frat boy.

There are $65k salaries out there, but only in high cost of living areas such as NYC and probably LA. Still, because it is possible I think it bears mention in the range of possibilities. Just don't expect any sort of yearly bonus until you are higher up the feed trough.

Also, to the poster that mentioned moving up the ranks relatively quicker than ones's colleagues in the Big 4, that basically isn't possible. The promotions are very strictly based upon years spent with the firm until one reaches the partner level. I'm sure it's possible to be held back if you're a real idiot and fall behind, but there's only one way to get ahead of the curve promotion-wise: Bring in business as soon as you can!

That being said, raises are somewhat variable but you will still never advance much past or fall far behind your peers of the same "year".

I never understood why the investment banks dont just hire a few more analysts...have a 2nd shift--it's not like they don't turn down plenty of top-quality candidates who would do it even if there was a bit less money...

Work that requires any kind of serious thought suffers from a very sharp decline in quality and productivity with those kinds of hours (of course if all you are doing is playing excel-monkey and formatting pitch books, maybe it doesnt require so much thought).