Think back to your time as a young graduate. Did you know what being a partner really meant? Heather Townsend, author of how to make partner and still have a life , considers the cold, hard truth about the highs and lows of being a partner.

Pretty much every young professional I meet wants the status, glory and rewards of making partner. Isnt the pinnacle of professional achievement making partner in a Big 4 firm ?

But how many of these young professionals only see the trappings and status which comes with being a partner, rather than what it actually means to be a partner? Being a partner in a Big 4 firm does mean large financial rewards. For example, when you see the partners in your firm entertaining clients at the big sports match, or jetting off to an exotic location for a partners meeting, it does all seem rather desirable. I havent even yet mentioned the cars the partners normally drive or the amazing houses they live in

This is the bit that the recruiters dont tell you. They also often get:

• marital problems, many of them are married and divorced multiple times after all, working the long hours and being permanently on call does take its toil on people relationships
• stress related illnesses, particularly high blood pressure running the firm and balancing client and staff demands is not always an easy task
• paid less as a junior partner than the firms directors in the years when profits are low (you did realise this did you?)
• the chore of being out networking many evenings a week, with people they would prefer not to spend time with

Its not just putting Partner on the business card

When you make partner, you, in effect, become a business owner. You own a piece of your firm thats what the equity means in the equity partners title. This means you have another responsibility which you didnt have when you were a director. Now, as well as, needing to keep your team and clients happy, complete your client assignments under budget, win new business you also have the responsibility of running the firm. Oh, and you need to buy your stake in the firm when you are asked to join the partnership. Your big 4 firm will directly handle the bank loan. It will almost definitely take the capital and interest payments out of your profit share or drawings. Although this investment is often seen to be a very safe investment, that is what the Arthur Andersen partners thought

When you make partner  at a big 4 firm (or any partnership) you become self-employed, and get given drawings based on your share of the profits that the firm makes. I.e. in a year when the firm struggles to make a profit, you, as a partner, may not actually make any money. Of course, in the big firms, such as the Big 4, this is very rare. However, if you are a very junior partner, in these lean years when your partnership loan repayments are taken into effect, you may earn less than you did as a director.

At the end of the day, making partner is still the holy grail of professional services. Whenever I ask people why they wanted to make partner, they tend to answer with one of these answers:

• isnt that what everyone wants who enters the professions?
• the chance to run your own business and be entrepreneurial
• the respect and status which comes with having partner on your business card
• the autonomy and control over your working life when you become a partner
• better and more interesting work and the opportunity to refuse to do the work
• the financial rewards which comes with being a partner particularly if you are at a big 4 firm
• the security of owning a part of the firm
• they want to be the person at the top of the pile taking the decisions

Many people who do go on and make partner in their firm, do have a very fulfilled and mentally satisfying career.

At the end of the day, making partner is a choice and one you shouldnt take lightly.

If you want to make partner, then download now our free career action plan  to help you plan how you will make partner.

Author Credit

Heather Townsend helps professionals become the Go-To-Expert. She is the author of the  award winning and best-selling book on business networking, the ‘FT Guide To Business Networking ’ and the co-author of ‘How to make partner and still have a life ’. Over the last decade she has worked with over 300 partners; coached, trained and mentored over 1000 professionals at every level of the UKs most ambitious professional practices.

Heather blogs regularly at How to make partner and still have a life and works with future and current Big 4 partners and professionals from mid-tier firms all over the world