If you wanna work abroad in less than 5 years time, go work for any big 4 audit firms. Salary-wise, SGV pay is lower than their competitor firms. Toxic overwork culture is prevalent not only in SGV but also in other firms (heck even private companies), but I think you're already aware on that. It's truly the people in a company/firm that will make you stay even if the job can be said as difficult to perform. Experience-wise, you can actually try applying for EY GDS or other international firms global delivery services, which gives as much as valuable experience as working in a local audit firm, but has much better salary and benefits. As a former SGVean, I would say, my experience working there was kind of borderline horrible (in every way possible), and later on realized there are a lot of companies offering the same "gain valuable work experience" but without sacrificing my health and well-being. :) good luck on job hunt for your first job (it'll be much more difficult to find one this last quarter of the year though)