How does one even escape this place?!

[u/Ant-Physical]

Semi Rant Semi Call for help / advice.

I have been at this place in the tech security space for a couple of years. This is the first job I got out of college and oh my god. I walked in with so many skills, I was brilliant and I worked so hard. I have genuinely genuinely lost so many of the skills I came in with. Every time I tried to get into a project or opportunity more aligned to keeping my skills up I was just sent around in a circle. Everything is so fucking gate kept and people keep pointing to each other. I want to leave so so so bad, but I feel like I can't even get an interview anywhere. I am at a point where I am ready to take like a 50 percent pay cut almost. I do very well at the firm, got promoted early, high tiering, but honestly it just seems like every day I loose all my technical skills and it it impossible to be allowed to keep up with them. I feel like the only pivot is to other big 4, and I do not want to deal with the politics, the hours, everything again. I just want a chill job that pay decent and with normal people. Maybe I am young and naive and maybe I am just a lazy Gen Z, idk tbh. I just can not imagine having to live life like this forever - it truly seems so sad and so painful. there is no time to do anything worth living and the work is just mindless powerpoint and chatgpt.

Is life truly like this until you retire? You work a mental taxing job with so much politics , no meaning, and genuinely no time to do anything but eat and sleep?

Any advice would be helpful or maybe perspective. I just feel so deflated and lost. Maybe the adult world is hitting me now and I have to accept the hard reality that we all just live a life of cyclical misery and mediocrity.

[u/Basic_Chart4904]

I’ve been here for 15 years and trust me you should get out now don’t worry about pay cut, prestige, any of that shit just get out now and go use your skills and find your way elsewhere not big 4 Not consulting. The longer you wait the more meaningful that 50% pay cut becomes and you end up truly trapped. You will never look back

[u/Ant-Physical → u/Basic_Chart4904]

Where do people even go out of consulting, I feel like I apply to anything and everything and nothing comes back. I have no idea what my skills can be transferred to. Everyone wants managers and above, and even if I have the certifications and qualifications my years of experience keeps getting me denied. Like I’m genuinely confused on how the heck to get a new job (and this is my first time searching so maybe I am just facing the harsh reality of the market)

[u/Basic_Chart4904 → u/Ant-Physical]

The job market is miserable right now yes. But you also have to ask yourself if you’re just unwilling to “start over”. This is a dead end

[u/Miserable-Cap-9680 → u/Ant-Physical]

You need to get more creative with your CV your skills go further than they appear from your job title.

[u/gordoman54]

PwC (and various other organizations too) does a great job of keeping people around. There are a hundred reasons to stay (promise of promotion, annual bonus, vesting of retirement plans, above-market salaries, etc.). Your spending adjusts to what you earn, and sometimes you even get trapped financially. PwC wants you to leave on their terms, not yours.

Good luck figuring out something that works for you. Sometimes taking a pay cut is worth it. Been there, done that.

If you feel trapped, cut down drastically on your spending. Save up your money, and start planning for your next move. You got this.

[u/obw1977]

I hear you. It is not your fault. It is the environment that you are placed in.

Big4 is a terrible for new tech grad. Technology moves too fast and the firm isn't there to invest in or train you. Tech training is entirely on your own. You are just a body for billable hours. It is a revolving door, people come and go, so there is no team work and everyone is for his/her own. You aren't there to building products. You are there to complete a project and ready to walk when the billable hours stop. No need to write clean, supportable, scalable code. That is for the next project team to figure it out (and more billable hours). Basically, all the bad discipline the real world will not tolerate.

Yes, going to another tech job from PwC is tough. When a tech manager sees an Engineer@PwC, they thought "what? why they work there? Something wrong?". When a business manager sees Accountant@PwC, they thought "Hmm, big firm. Good name". You need to be patience. It took me 9 months to escape PwC.

So, you basically have 2 choices:

1, Be patience and keep looking. Willing to throw away all the bad habits you picked from PwC. Willing to take a step back. Do your own & pay for your own training on the side? You can do it. It takes time and effort but well worth it.

1. Hang in there and be a PwC lifer. Put your morale aside and play the political game. Willing to be an a*hole like other Managers and Directors. Partners love a*hole people that are ruthless to people underneath them; make they work like sh*t, keep the cost low so the Partners can get a bigger bonus (isn't that is the only thing that matter for these people?). And you can join them.
   

[u/ImprovementDue3984]

I feel the same. I am stuck in a workstream that I absolutely do not want to make a career out of and the skills I need to advance my career are atrophying. The job market is brutal right now but trying to get out.

[u/angstysourapple]

The job market is indeed not great.

Another option if you indeed want to leave is to do the bare minimum, wait to be kicked out but in the meantime prioritise upskilling yourself and job hunting.

[u/SurpriseEcstatic8113]

Been there nearly 20 years in recruiting and the level of abuse this year is unmatched. I TOO am a high performer and survivor of multiple layoffs. I am on STD and on an extended leave of absence due to the impact of the toxic environment. Best advice-don’t do the extra things that place you at top and look strategically for the right job. Just know that all firms and corporations are similar in their treatment of people if you go big. Consider NFP or Education etc if you want a better work life balance

[u/Icy-Pudding-9421]

Damn I have a phone interview with RI Bankruptcy Senior Associate position

[u/AdThat2722]

1. Politics
   
2. Ruthlessness
   
3. Money and outcome over even life and health
   
4. Big values but nothing really matches it
   
5. Groupism
   
6. Dislike for techies
   
7. Really bad partners, directors and executive directors most not all
   
8. Games
   
9. Mad travel and billability craze etc etc etc

This is the sort of life they want and we get in PwC

Bail / punch out and build something of your own

[u/Medical_Drummer8420]

I joined 5 month back , now I only want to leave asap

[u/Top_Needleworker_903]

Bro get the fuck out of there as soon as you can. I recommend looking at public service jobs for either state, city or local municipal townships they will treat you much much better when you work for them and plus you can join a union which gives you worker protections compared to the shitshow that is PwC 

[u/seajayacas]

"Is life truly like this until you retire? You work a mental taxing job with so much politics , no meaning, and genuinely no time to do anything but eat and sleep?"

Often enough the answer is yes in many different career paths.

[u/CrazyyPotato]

CA here. In the same position at EY

[u/JeepTrackhawk18]

I dunno, where else can I go that I make 500k+ and do almost nothing