Schellman reviews

In comparison to a Big 4 or other large public accounting firm since that is who Schellman tends to hire: - Schellman's hiring model is basically to poach Big 4 and other large accounting firm talent. Until recently, Schellman never hired at the 'associate' level. They always grabbed experience talent at a premium. Not a bad business strategy but it results in subpar training to cover any gaps in your knowledge. Instead of on-the-field learning experience or a properly developed coaching/buddy system that the Big 4 is usually known for, you will get penalized in your review and your seniors will be too busy to spend time to develop you. There's not much room for error in Schellman's methodology. You join with the expectation you already know how to perform IT audits. - You will lose access to a global community of talent as Schellman only operates in the United States. There is no opportunity for global mobility if that interests you. - Promotion isn't as streamlined as the Big 4 either. There's a certification barrier for promotion (CISA, CIA/CPA, and CISSP) but on top of that, there's certain individuals that are favored by the senior managers and principals. As flat as this organization likes to pretend, don't be fooled. There's a clear line of hierarchy here and senior managers are not to be fought against. - Some of the senior managers / directors / principals have been extremely rude in their behavior to levels below in the past. Better hope you're paired with one of the more decent managers/senior managers/principals. - Guaranteed that clients will rollover and you will be double or tripled booked. At times, the workload will look very similar to any other public accounting firms. The type of clients you will deal with are very small and unknown compared to the ones I've worked in the Big 4 and you will juggle many small clients. - Regardless of what they promise you down the line, you will mostly be relegated to doing SOC 1 and SOC 2 reports unless you have prior experience in ISO, PCI, HITRUST, or Vuln assessments / Pentesting. If you perform well for a year or two, you may be picked up on ISO or PCI clients but the transition can be just as difficult as moving from IT Audit to something more lucrative in the Big 4. - Some of the travel is great but some of the travel is to rural/suburban places middle of nowhere. It's a mixed bag more than a con. - Lack of office environment means fleeting relationships with another senior associate or manager if you happen to get booked on the same engagement. Often times, you might be delivering the work alone. You will often be doing the work of an onshore associate and senior associate. Get used to solitude. - The work can become really mundane and repetitive. You will need the self-direction and self-motivation to persevere. There is no GDS to help you document evidences. - There's more diversity than when I had joined but there's a sense of tokenism. It feels like Schellman is trying to tick some boxes which is disappointing and disingenuous. Diversity has definitely gotten better at the lower levels but most of the executive leadership team and principals is not what you would consider diverse. You will not get a diverse cast as you would in a Big 4 environment. - Most importantly, Schellman can be a very cut throat and unforgiving workplace. During my tenure, I have seen people fired within the day with no advance warning or chance to rectify their performance or mistakes. PIPs are not a thing here. If you have read previous reviews about this, know that it is true and has happened several times in the past. - There's no doubt that some reviews here are genuine and people thrive but don't be fooled - Schellman used to deploy some shady tactics on encouraging its new hires a good review during orientation after feeding you everything positive about this organization. I found that very misleading and dishonest. One of the older reviews said Schellman is the 'McKinsey of attestation/compliance' or something to that effect. That's just hilarious...

However, things are rapidly going downhill. I'm sure this negative review will be removed like all the other negative ones about Schellman. I've spoken to others who have left negative Schellman reviews on Glassdoor that were removed. Their rating here is false. Schellman is trying hard to hide the many negatives coming out about them from current and former employees. But it's still important to let people know the issues they'll encounter if they want to work here. If Glassdoor has any integrity, they will leave this up. The CEO, who has been an awesome leader, now has one foot out the door. The others taking over are making things great for themselves at the expense of employees. Many employees took their jobs seeing the profit-sharing bonus as the part of their salary that made Schellman competitive, but it has taken a nosedive. Meanwhile principles' have given themselves generous bonuses. There is very little opportunity for promotion at the company, except for those who like to play constant politics. Promotion is not based on merit, it’s just given to those who are most liked by the principles. Even then, it's years too long to get anywhere. A reshuffle of leadership over the practices a couple years ago has introduced unnecessary micro-management, and other poor management practices. And there is little check on managers doing their job, because at Schellman, the poo rolls downhill very quickly. I’ve heard from others their experiences of being mistreated by principles and senior managers, with no recourse available to them. Schellman has even removed the regular upward feedback that used to be part of ongoing employee performance assessments, so now they do whatever they want. As I mentioned, Schellman is trying to hide all of these negatives, and they have taken unethical and deceptive actions to try and convince everyone that they have the happiest employees. These are examples and do not cover all the negative changes at Schellman. I could move on, and I probably will soon, but for now “the devil you know” is still preferable to stories I’ve heard about other potential companies. But if you are in the job market, you should at least know what you are getting into if you are considering this company. I feel like I received a bait and switch. I was promised a ton of opportunity and a fantastic culture, and all of that just fizzled away with the CEO’s plan to leave, and I’m left with an average company with poor leadership. I’m sure their plan is to drive out the people who remember when the company was better, so that remaining employees only have the lower quality experience.