1. I'm a recent grad in ITS in a non NYC making 70K. It's probably comparable to the 75-100K mentioned here for NYC in terms of living costs/taxes. It's certainly not biglaw $$$, it pays the bills and leaves some $.
2. Work is actually surprisingly interesting. It's not considered a "legal job" per se, but you're always dealing with the tax code and international treaties (at least in ITS)(side note: I'm actually surprised on how accounting firms are able to get their tax consulting services considered non-legal services when they're actually quite...legal) We're constantly on the call with international member firms trying to figure out the foreign/US tax consequences of a series of transactions spanning multiple countries. Work hours have been great so far. I rarely had to stay past 7pm but there has been some late nights and weekends, some calls with overseas offices in early mornings or late evenings, but not so much. I hear NY offices require a bit more hours though. Also, the more senior you are, the more hours you seem to work...
3. Some accounting classes will help show some interest/initiative. I took some accounting classes in undergrad and in law school. I hadn't taken ANY tax courses when I applied for the summer position but they still offered the internship since I had some business background. My post-grad offer was contingent on taking some tax courses during 3L year, which I took for my own benefit so I can understand the work better.
4. Mixed bag of lawyers/accountants. People from law firms lateral in, people from IRS or other federal agencies, people from other Big4/etc. And yes, people who struck out of OCI like me.
5. My offer/benefits letter mentioned a 10% pay increase every year. Considering promotions as well (think every 1-2 years-ish), the pay gap between Big4 and Biglaw lessens significantly over the yeas. The hours are still somewhat more manageable than Biglaw and at least in my office/team, people take their vacations, PTO, maternity leaves, flexible work days, remote workdays, etc. without fearing repercussions, so I think it's a decent tradeoff of worklife balance and income.
Anon mentioned good exit opportunities for International Tax. Any examples?
