Erik Asgeirsson

DON'T DO IT: 'the Office' TV show on steroids The NY office has an atmosphere that can only be described as morgue-like - and everyone there agreed with me on that. Grey, drab, silent, behind the times: welcome to the past. Cubicle partitions, no eye-contact from management, certainly no innovation, an older workforce. Highly corporate, nonsensical internal processes are rampant, and ensure that any progress is as slow and painful as possible. Co-workers are generally uninterested, unmotivated and extremely slow to respond to any internal requests. The upper management is totally removed from all other layers, and they seem to "work from home" at least 3 days a week. Except for Mike Murray, the CFO - who is liked an respected by practically everyone. Expect endless, mind-numbing corporate jargon, and hours of pointless meetings on a daily basis, where jargon is thrown around and almost nothing gets decided or done. 'When in doubt - use meaningless jargon' seems to be the name of the game here. The company could not be further from the new, more open, tech-style management style favored by Google and others. There is a good reason for this, in case you're wondering (I certainly was scratching my head at first), which is that cpa.com is a for-profit branch of the AICPA (a not for profit). The AICPA decides what certifications/credits etc. are required by CPAs in the US. Then along comes CPA.com, with full access to the AICPA member database, offering the products the AICPA forces them to buy - it's a captive audience, so no innovation required. This job was the most unfulfilling one I have had, where I felt the most badly-treated and mentally and emotionally taken advantage of. I would not wish this company on my worst enemy, I genuinely mean that. The management style in the Alliance Marketing Team is one of intimidation and fear. Marketing Managers are pressurized to churn out complex projects on a weekly basis, while the Alliance Team director struts around the office like a peacock and takes full credit (without helping, contributing or offering advice when asked). He arrives last and leaves first every day - or at least 95% of the time, I think that says it all. Salaries are very low. I was offered 20k more in my subsequent job. KEY TAKEAWAY: If happiness or a fair salary are of any importance to you, avoid CPA.com like the plague. Trust me.