I see the post with an optimistic grad looking forward to their new job. I have just finished my first year in a consulting arm of Big 4 (prof services) grad scheme and I am bored to the rafters. I really think that it is actually bad for me. I feel that the mind numbing work in the middle of some industrial estate somewhere I-don't-even-know-where is detrimental to my skill set. I feel like all the tough intellectual things I learnt at uni are wasting away because I am not challenged in the slightest (apart from the ennui obviously) and I am working for managers who are clearly still at Big 4/ my department because all the talented people who joined as grads or otherwise were able to get better jobs elsewhere. The only reason I am not applying for jobs is that there is a slim chance I can transfer to a better team (incidentally one that grads are normally recruited to) and I have to finish my ACA.My experience - typical of Big 4? Would love to hear your thoughts...

Had a good time and learnt a huge amount.

Yes, typical of Big 4

My experience at a big firm was also 'had a good time and learnt a huge amount'Anyone know why the big firms dont use their current advantages to compete for talent more effectively these days? Managers able to get better jobs elsewhere?Only a slim chance of transferring to a better team?Come on now is a chance to put these matters back on track.

Don't worry, work for a Big 4 for a couple of years and you too will give up on life, drop your standards, and convince yourself that you're "having a great time" and "learning loads". It's a natural self-defence mechanism - stops you killing yourself in despair.

Well, for me it wasn't a case of convincing myself - I actually did have a good time and did learn loads.Many apologies for not reaching your standard level of cynicism Big1 - I've heard its very trendy these days. Its also very short-termist.

Really, what did you expect? You would leave the halls of residence to be sent straight to the board room of a FTSE 100.What a c0ck. Welcome to the real world, bell jar. You are 1 year out of Uni where you learned nothing except to read and repeat from a text book. Now you have to go a learn something of value.I bet you were a big noise in the Uni football team, hey. A hit with the ladies. Yes, that's it. Perhaps Mummy's Little Soldier is not number 1 anymore and does not know how to handle it...?You are lucky you still have job. To be honest, do yourself, clients and colleagues a favour and quit.

One internship at deloitte was enough to turn me off the whole "consulting" gig at the big 4. I always chuckle when people form the big 4 (especially auditors and tax accountants) tell me how challenging their work is and the environment provides so many opportunities for learning.I now work for an R&D firm as an engineer and am infinitely happier with my job that I ever was at the big 4. I will never earn as much as a partner - but then again how do you put a price on sanity?

The big challenge is that the work at the Big 4 gets more and more interesting as you get further up the food chain. As a manager, senior manager, or director, you are much more likely to get involved in projects that genuinely stretch and challenge you.Because the Big 4 all work on a pyramid model, they wll always have armies of the junior guys billing high rates to do pretty uninteresting work. But I agree with the posters above. Keep at it and you will learn loads, and when you eventually move up the chain, you will find that the work really is rewarding, both financially and intellectually.I have spent a good part of my career in Big 4 consultancies, and I don't regret a minute of it.

Well thanks for all the encouraging (positive)responses. I think that I do need to stick it a bit more and push for more exciting work and keep in mind that what I or my managers are doing now is not what I am going to do long-term. And yes I need to start this now before I do die of boredom. (You_Are_MAd, please, the lady doth protests too much. I'm sorry to hear that)

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/07/10-reasons-you-should-never-get-a-job/<br>It is not just working at the Big four. Any job in the city is pretty much mind numbing and dull.