Yesterday, I happened to meet one of the most senior partner in our firm in the cafeteria. Over a cup of hot cappuccino, the discussion moved from current issues relating to sarbanes oxley to some personal experiences of this senior partner. He explained that working in any Big 4 accounting firm in any area can be compared to the lifecycle of a professional. He described this lifecycle in four phases.

Phase 1 - The first phase is learning your profession from others and through self study.

Phase 2 - The second phase is applying what you have learned.

Phase 3 - In this phase one becomes proficient in applying what one has learned.

Phase 4 - The fourth and final stage is the stage in which one gives something back to the profession.

The whole conversation made a lot of sense to me. You can immediately see which stage one is in his profession. The senior partner of course having spent 20 years of his life with the firm was in Phase 4. I guess many of you would be able to identify yourself in one of the stages of your professional lifecycle.