Many guests on The Fun CPA have left their jobs, some of them at the ‘Big 4’ to begin their own business, or move to something tax and accounting adjacent.

This week’s guest is a little different! Blake Carroll works for a ‘Big 4’ firm, PwC, and has done so for the past 8 years.

As a Deployment Consultant for PwC, Blake is responsible for facilitating the development of high-performing teams by supporting workload balancing, enhancing team effectiveness, and fostering career growth opportunities for employees.

Blake joins Yuri to share his view on climbing the career ladder in one of the biggest and most competitive firms in the country – as well as what new CPAs can do to advance further and get paid more.

He also shares a sneak peek into how PwC is approaching the pipeline issue, his experience with scheduling, drawing boundaries, saying “no” at work, and much more!

For those of you looking to stay with a big firm for the start, or even majority of your career – this episode will give you a valuable look into what you can expect on an entry-level, all the way to senior roles.

Episode Highlights:

0:00 - Introduction

0:35 - Episode open

1:13 - Meet Blake

3:08 - Blake’s early career

6:49 - The process of being promoted (when you’re starting out)

11:34 - Scheduling, saying “no”

17:20 - Promotion and pay raises

20:14 - Are bigger firms concerned about pipeline?

23:01 - AI and Credentialling

25:45 - Coaching for the CPA exam

29:41 - Social media and comparisons

32:05 - “The sooner you can start the better”

35:01 - What has changed now (trackers and studying)

38:35 - Wrap up: Where you can find Blake

ABOUT HOST YURI KAPILOVICH

Yuri, aka #thefuncpa, has been in the accounting profession for over 15 years and has seen, first hand, the challenges the profession brings. After seeing that no firm was fitting the bill, Yuri set out to do things his own way with his firm K&A and the journey began with LinkedIn posting at the front end.

Yuri is proud to bring you #thefuncpa podcast highlighting the fun and all the amazing opportunities our profession can bring us all.

CONNECT WITH YURI KAPILOVICH

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykapilovich/

Website: https://www.thefuncpa.co/

CONNECT WITH BLAKE CARROLL

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-carroll-cpa-03690b98/

Website: https://www.blakecarrollcoaching.com/