hkbazzi
Hi everyone reading this,
I am currently stuck between two options. Stay in Lebanon and work for Deloitte (800 dollars basic salary and great experience, yearly raise is 66 dollars which is a joke) or go to Saudi (2000 dollars including everything a month, not so great experience but willing to give the residency)
I am a fresh graduate from LAU and I don't know what to pick. The position is auditing in Deloitte and in Saudi it would be Marketing specialist.
I am so lost, I don't know what to do, suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thabks
xazbrat
Would stay with Deloitte---will open more doors later on and when you advance through the ranks, Auditing, is the beginning of an accounting career and when you look back at the biggest pain in the (fill in the blank) but you learn the most with this process (been there, done that). If you can stay 3-4 years at Deloitte, you will have much bigger opportunities down the road in both accounting and public firms. Marketing specialists starting out are a dime a dozen and IMO, your opportunities in the future would probably be limited unless you are or become an exceptional one.
nefe_lpmk
Stay in Lebanon and work for Deloitte , opportunities will start popping in 1-2 years.
Learn and absorb experience as much as you can.
Good luck!
MrClass
Fresh grad? Start working at a reputable company for the experience. Money is not your primary concern now.
crazy
Hello,
I joined Deloitte France fresh out of university then Deloitte Montreal 1.5 years later (total 5 years) : Some auditing, then consulting
Pros of Deloitte:
- You work with young dynamic people,
- You learn a lot (you're basically sold to the client as an expert and it's up to you to pull your shit together - with a little help of your direct supervisor),
- You can work on different kind of projects, at different level of a company structure, so you're potentially exposed to all the departments of a company
- You may have the opportunity to travel a lot (visit places, earn miles for free airline tickets and hotels...),
- You have Deloitte on you CV (it does help a bit, depending on the country, but still it is backed by facts - your achievements on the projects you worked on)
(if I think of more later, I'll edit the post)
Cons:
- You work for really long hours (like any big consulting firm out there)
- Lots of pressure (and I guess stress, but since I'm a stress free person I didn't really mind it)
- Very little work-life balance : I was on a 80h week quite often
- No overtime (at least in France and Canada)
- Very low pay (they use the fact that you're working for a big named company to pay you very little)
- Recognition is often limited to a self-pat in the back, and sometime a "thank you for your work" from your boss (but often it doesn't translate into a bonus or good raise)
- Auditing... For me it's a con. I did it for a year and then couldn't anymore. It's interesting to do it once to see how it works and how auditors think, but then it becomes repetitive and boring, that's why I moved into consulting within Deloitte. So if you join Deloitte, do auditing for a while and then jump to something else, unless you're comfortable in your cocoon (some people don't like change..)
- You don't always work on the projects you're interested in, you work on what they (your bosses) put you on - and that can get frustrating
(if I think of more later, I'll edit the post)
Now I don't want to scare you or push you to join Deloitte, I don't regret it at all. I learned a lot during my Deloitte years, professionally and personally, I met incredibly intelligent people, made great friends all over the world, and gained an amazing network of professionals. People tend to stay 4-5 years in consulting companies, and then move on either to the industry, freelance, or other consulting companies. Those that stay are the ones that keep going up to manager, senior managers and partners. I didn't have a life as a senior consultant, and looking at my managers and up, I couldn't imagine my life like this, so I decided I needed a change and left.
Looking back on it, I sacrificed a lot on the personal level, but I had a gf (now wife) that was so supportive and that helped a lot.
Sorry for the long post.. I don't post much, but when I do, I tend to blab ;)
If you have questions don't hesitate.
P.S: Sorry if you find some typos, I just got my kid to sleep and don't feel like QAing myself (QA so important at Deloitte... we had like 3-4 levels of QA for our delivrable.. it was crazy)
Crazy
hkbazzi
Thank you all guys, that is really great insight from your comments. Deloitte is the way to go.
Thanks again guys!
rolf
Did you receive two offers?
How much do you need the money?
Good luck.
tech-guru
hkbazzi wroteHi everyone reading this,
I am currently stuck between two options. Stay in Lebanon and work for Deloitte (800 dollars basic salary and great experience, yearly raise is 66 dollars which is a joke) or go to Saudi (2000 dollars including everything a month, not so great experience but willing to give the residency)
I am a fresh graduate from LAU and I don't know what to pick. The position is auditing in Deloitte and in Saudi it would be Marketing specialist.
I am so lost, I don't know what to do, suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thabks
For Big Four - You will need a CPA to advance at later Stages in your career , I Lived in KSA for couple of years - they used to pay me 4000 USD all inclusive , it is very cheap there. The advantage in GCC (local or multinational) is having a Gulf experience on your CV and a transferable Iqama in KSA , you can shift for another high paying job after couple of years only ganing some local KSA experience eliminating the incremental incresase and shifting to a sudden pay scale - no standard rules.
Toufic
I have to agree with "Fresh grad? Start working at a reputable company for the experience. Money is not your primary concern now."
Unless you need to support your family/spouse/children and it's that critical to gain that amount for them and yourself to survive, experience is what counts most.
I have no idea what field you are or what the company you mentioned does, but i can assure you that doesn't matter how much you studies or the number of college degrees you have: Experience is the first thing they'll be looking at 5 years from now, not how much you earned
(on a side note though, given how this country is heading, would make more sense to migrate somewhere with "minimum standard of human living condition" and given you're young, it'll be easier for you to establish yourself somewhere and if it doesn't work out for what ever reason, you can always come back)
Good luck dude !
Salloum
Work at Deloitte for 2-3 years max then go to Saudi or Emirates for $5000+