Life in a Professional Firm vs. Life in a Commercial Firm – Episode I

Companies in the business of providing professional advice, typically known as “consultants”; they are the so called “professional firms” (“PF”). Common within this category are legal and accounting (audit, tax, etc.) firms. They are often considered as companies that will squeeze every drop of life from you. I was from one of them.

Other companies not in the business of providing professional services are known as “commercial firms” (“CF”). They can be doing any type of business but due to governance requirement, they most probably have legal and finance functions within the operation. I am currently in one them.

A lot of my ex-colleagues who are still working in the professional world used to ask me how life is like in the commercial world. There are indeed plenty of differences. Let’s start with the 2 very light differences…

Composition of colleagues

Ask anyone who is currently slaving in PF why he/she still going through the shite and most probably they will tell that they like their colleagues. As I’ve said, most slaves in PF are first job slaves. And since most are fresh meat from universities, they are of the same age group.

This means that you can share the same conversational topic during lunch time. You can hang out together and do stuff that your age group does during their free time, if they have free time. You can share problems amongst your colleagues and you understand each other because your problems are most probably generic.

The hottest babes or hunks around are also within your age group. And you can always look forward to new babes and hunks because recruitment is done in big batches. And they are mostly available. At most, they are attached to their colleague sweetheart but people breaking up with college sweet heart only to go steady with colleagues is a norm in PF.

In CF though………

You truly get people from all walks of life. If you leave PF after 5 – 7 years to join CF, you will be wondering how to join a lunch conversation that revolves around people talking about their babies; the type that they give birth to, not those who spend the weekend with you doing bedroom exercise.

The hottest babes or hunks around are… wait, what hottest babes? If you are lucky, there may be 1 or 2 babes or hunks around. Chances are, they are married. And don’t bet against having children already.

What I am trying to say is that the colleague composition between PF and CF is very different. It may take a while for you to adapt. Some just fail to adapt and leave. I am blessed though. My colleagues are still within my age group, plus minus 5 years.

Promotion vs. progression

In PF, juniors are “promoted” every year, or should I say; made to think that they are “promoted” every year. Juniors as young as 7 months are “promoted” from say, associate-2 to associate-1 (numbering varies depending on PF).

As most juniors are fresh meat from universities, being “promoted” is an orgasmic experience. Telling parents or friends about their promotion and getting remarks such as “Wow! So fast, you must be good!” is akin to getting multiple orgasms. The feelings beat getting straight distinctions in exams anytime. They feel so good, till they are willing to slave even more for the PF. It’s a very good strategy.

These so called “promotions” usually come with a standard increment and interestingly, absolutely no change in job scope. There is a change in title though, from associate-2 to associate-1 or senior-2 to senior-1. Worse, I once heard a partner (the real big boss) of a PF said that a “director” is just another “senior manager”.

And ya’ know what? For the juniors, every Tom, Dick, Harry, Mary, Jean and Jane got promoted too! Yay!!! Promotions list comes up to pages long! It’s easier to ask who didn’t rather than who did got “promoted”. Sounds familiar, isn’t it?

In my personal zewtpinion, the initial phase in PF is more of a progression rather than a promotion. Certainly, there are people who will not “progress”. But as long as you do what is required of you and don’t screw up, you will progress. To me, the real promotion in PF is when you are promoted a managerial position, when you are required to sign-off documents.

In CF though, getting a promotion is like finding a virgin nowadays (guys or girls)… it’s very tough and rare. During promotion season, there may only be 1 or 2 chosen souls, not a list of names. Sometimes, none. It’s a big thing. In most cases, a promotion in CF will result in a significant change in job scope and responsibilities.

Working in a PF, you would expect to “progress” on a regular basis. But when you are in a CF, don’t expect the same kind of treatment. It is a whole new battleground as far as promotion is concerned.


These are 2 minor differences. We shall explore more hardcore differences in coming episodes.


1 year ago… The pouring that’s been keeping us alive