Working at The Siegfried Group — Reviews by Employees

I just recently left this company and I'm so glad to get out.

As of today, 1/14/10...this was posted on-line..." Recently selected #24 on IPA’s Top 100 CPA Firms, The Siegfried Group, LLP" when IN FACT in 2009 they were ranked #39...just more proof of how the company continues to LIE to prospective hires!!!

TSG is still a TERRIBLE company and any future prospects need to be aware of how crooked this firm is. ALL of the negative comments posted here are true and MANY more blatant disrespectful/unethical additional ones could be added. The bottom line is, anyone considering TSG - either as a client or prospective employee should RUN not walk away.

This company is aggresively recruiting me. Yet, when I read these reviews, I have huge reservations on whether I should waste my time even talking to these people. Are there any positives related to this company? I know that this is a "vent" website but the comments speak volumes on the type of company Siegfried is. Any thoughts???????

I worked for Siegfried from the beginning of the big expansion in 2004 until 2006. I cannot believe how similar each post is to my own experience. I really can't believe this firm is still in business.

I too was lured in by the pay and the promise of a 45 hour work week - many people were. Two people from my orientation group in particular come to mind - one who's father had cancer and wanted to be with him as much as possible and the other was a soon to be first time dad. Both of these people left great careers with Big 4 firms and were promised the 45 hour work week and a local assignment. Both ended up traveling 100% of the time and working 70+ hours each week. Both left. By the first firm event, all the buzz was about the 45 hour work week that did not appear to exist - we all worked over 70 hours each week. It was such a big deal that management had no choice but to address it. We were told the 45 hour work week was actually an "average" that would work itself out due to bench time [after busy season] being so few hours. Well, yes your bench time hours will be few because - like everyone on here has pointed out - you'll be let go within a few weeks of rolling off a deployment/assignment onto the bench.

People posted on here that in many markets the most talented people were the ones let go first. Now that doesn't make much sense for a company that wants to sell talent - that is what Siegfried does [or tries to do]. Well the most talented people cost them the most money and it's the quickest way to cut costs once they thought they were already established in a market. They were poised to pull a bait and switch but the problem came when the ML in most markets couldn't sell the services at all. So end result was those offices closing.

If there is one thing I'm proud of it's that I did not recruit any of my friends into that mess. I would have a hard time living with that at this point. So many people are now left with either no job or forced into road warrior status which is the very thing they were trying to escape - in many instances - when they joined Siegfried. As for me, I went from supposedly the "superstar" of my market to the whole not being in line with the firm values crap [oh, and that also strangely coincided with being on the bench for 4 weeks with the rest of my office group and not a single prospect/assignment in sight - most of the office was let go]. My not being in line was the failure to brown-nose, drink and participate in the lewd behavior at the parties/retreats. Now I am not a prude - if others want to engage in this behavior I am really not offended...I just don't want to participate and will simply try to find other conversations...but that is not acceptable at Siegfried. Try as they might, they do not have the atmosphere [i.e. class] that the Big 4 retreats and mingles have. It has more of the overtone of a used car salesman convention.

One other disturbing thing I noted recently was professional networking sites with a couple of the market leaders from my old market , they had their Siegfried start date in the 1990's - like '95 and '99. I find this really interesting given that these two came on board long after I did in 2004. The one that had 1999 came from industry in 2005. What is the value in lying about being with the firm as much as an extra DECADE??? I can only summise that they are trying to inject some sort of image of longevity in an effort to try and legitimize the firm. But I really don't know - it's just uncomfortable having these sort of things so blatantly misstated.

The main thing I want people to know is that all of these activities - such as the massive layoffs, office closings and changes in benefits - are not due to the recent economic downturn [as some of the Siegfried defenders have posted]. These activities have gone on since the beginning. Many offices were down to a person or two in 2006.

I appreciate all the honesty on this website - I wish I had known all of this upfront and I could've avoided a big career detour. I too regret falling for their pitch and then not bailing when I realized that it was a farse. Please head these warnings and save yourself the regret.

Remember Waco, TX?
Only one word describes this company and its incompetent and ignorant management...."CULT"!!!

This is a workplace where the Managing Director freely jokes about "boobies" with the Regional Resource Leader in front of women. The same Regional Resource Leader repeatedly smacked the female Director's butt one evening while at the Vegas retreat. If a leader has no qualms about doing this in a professional public setting, you can only assume the workplace environment is tolerant to this type of shop behavior. In another instance, the CEO wondered out loud if "Jesus was a guy who ran around with 3 or 4 women at a time".

Per one of our local market leaders to a potential client...

"We’re working with about 25% of the Fortune 500 nationally helping them save money and meet deadlines."

But, according to the most recent internal deployment log, TSG has only 72 total clients nationwide...

(a) we know they aren't ALL Fortune 500 clients, and
(b) for you math majors, 72 is NOT EVEN CLOSE to 25% of 500.

LIAR!!!

Pay - I rated it low due to the fact that total number of hours does not justify the market rate. One is expected to work 45+ hours, in addition to the non-billable, daily administration which takes approximately 3-5 hours/weekly. Example - conference calls, surveys, emails, (and add additional time for team events and outings).

Respect - During deployment, you're expected to work 45+ hours. If you fall below that - expect phone calls, emails, etc. Doesn't matter if there is no work to justify the hours! all they care is that you make up the hours. Additionally, the expectatioin of working 45+ hours were not clearly communicated during the initial interview.

job security - as long as your deployed your ok. But once you roll-off the project - highly recommend you start looking after being on the bench for 2+ weeks. Bench assigment includes, picking up laundry for market associates, completing their expenses, and sometimes picking up their shopping list. I only did 1 of 3 items listed, the others were performed by my other TSG collegues. They are no longe there.

Career Potential/ Growth - I really like the resources. They are very talented people and had the pleasure of working with them on few projects. However, the managment are another story. I recall one client referring to our managment as "used car salesmen". No commment.

Pay: Salary is based on a 45 hour week, so it's important to factor that in. I don't believe this is openly communicated during the interview process. The bonuses are plentiful, but there are too many loop holes that benefit the firm: 1: deferred payments of up to a year after you've earned the bonus 2: travel incentives that diminish quickly if you were to miss days due to vacation, sickness, appointments.

Respect: Easily the worst rating in my opinion. I wish I can rate this 4 times, so I can give a -20. National and upper regional management (with a rare couple exceptions) only care about making the sale. The firm's line is that the resource is put first, but as with many businesses, the almighty dollar is king. Chances are if a resource interviews for a client, the only sincere inquiry by management will be how it went, as opposed to how the resource feels about the position. Once deployed, management will only check in if they feel there is an opportunity for a sale (within that project or in other areas of the client), without any concern for the resource's well-being. In addition, management (other than the TL) will not make any attempt to contact you (phone, email, etc) while you are deployed, again, unless there is a sales opportunity. I have seen several resources roll off of difficult and demanding projects and back onto the bench, only to be laid off shortly thereafter, without any regard or loyalty to the service that the resource provided during a difficult time. If one makes the argument that some the firm is just doing away with the non-A team players, my response to that is, why wait until these so-called non-team players roll back to the bench. If the argument is really true, then the firm should take the resource off the project and fire them immediately, as opposed to having the contract with the client expire. Again, the dollar rules that transaction.

As for the other areas in general, the environment reflects a very low morale, especially on the bench, as the resources know that the firm will only lay off those on the bench, even before the economic woes. Therefore, a heightened sense of uneasiness. The conference calls and national meetings are nothing but a tribute to the CEO, staged by his loyal goons as a productive call or an energizing retreat (which is billed as the CEO's sacrifice to the firm and resources. Could have fooled me with all the pro-CEO propaganda that is floated around in those few days at the retreat).

I don't think that is part of the big 4 culture, unless I missed all the praises to Samuel Price & Edwin Waterhouse (PwC), William Deloitte & George Touche (D&T), and so on.

It is saddening how management and those aspiring to move up quickly in the firm will go to show their love, without any decency or self-respect.