kpmg, pwc从application 到accepting offer

我经历了both pwc and kpmg的 application stage,今天收到offer了。如果有神吗疑问的话可以问问我。o, 对了,这两个的ac是不同的。我也是第一次找工作并经历这些ac,以前在学校时没有参与过训练而且我是11年一月毕业的,今年1月开始申请这两个工作的。所以估计我的经历对一些毕业时间久的同学会更有帮助。

现在讲讲细节吧。我全部用英文好了,因为到时候这个过程也都是用英文来描述的。

thanks for ppl who have contributed to this website, i have definetly learnt a lot from their experience. in addition, i recommend ppl to read threads on wikijobs, student room, theBig4, accountancyage…Also, keep up with the current news is the key.

So a bit brief description about me. I graduated in 2010 from a numeracy degree, had a gap year at home because of visa problem. I applied to a lot of banks starting in nov 2011 which i all failed after phone interviews mainly because the late submission date( so bear in mind if you wanna apply for banks apply early.) Also, i think not having an internship at all is a bit of problem for ppl who are applyin to banks. After a xmas break, I started looking into the actuarial fields ( i left the application to later stage as these posts normally have a rolling recruitment dates). I decided to apply for the big 4 as they cover a wider variety of work. But which ones out of 4? I think it would be best to apply either the biggest one ie, pwc or the one that is growing fastest, ie, kpmg. Then my long, taxing application started on 6/01/2012.

The selection stages are pretty much the same, the competency or behavioural focus are similar too.

Application form
For the application form, mine was pretty straightforward, filling past result record, explain the gap year and etc, no generic questions like why xxx? But the conversion of my high school accords were a pain as i did mine in China.

Tests

Then I recieved invitations to online tests. I have to say, KPMG’s ones are by far the most difficult one even compared to Deustch Bank. But i bought test packages from assessmentday and practiced a lot on shl. ( After a week or two daily practice, on average, i could finish all questions within the time frame on these two sites and scoring above 85%. ) With the KPMG one, i did 18 out 23 if my memory is not playing a trick.

Tel interview

fortunately, i passed both tests. about a week later i was invited to the phone interview. The interview with PWC was conducted by HR. So it is quite structured. Your interviewer will practically cover the five competency areas illustrated on their web for the first stage interview. In the beginning, she/he will tell you about how the call is arranged. then she will read out competence one first then ask a set of questions , then competence two followed up by a set of questions. I was asked about why PWC, current news which i use auto-pension enrollment, and it’s impact on the businesses + pwc ( i guess auit ppl prefer to use the breakup of big4), a time worked in team, managing budgets, working different style, changing my approach and overcoming my obstacle. Really know your example well, she’ll prob. I stuttered on the integrity question where i had to give an example of i refused to do the wrong thing. But i was calm so after repeating the question once ( i think better than saying errrr) i quickly collected myself and gave an answer, which i think she was happy with. With KPMG one, similar competence questions, but more techinical. The guy called me is from the service line i applied for. so he really tried to catch me out on business awareness questions like uk operation expanding overseas.

I had a week to prepare for 2 interviews. (i had both of them in a week with one day gap inbetween). my suggestions are : First compile a list of question under each competence ( some will overlap) , think your examples from different aspects( to cope with the followup questions). Prepare your business questions (i am no finance graduate but i managed to prepare 4 detailed business cases reflecting doing good, doing bad, expanding and have the potential to expand.) I also prepared general news like basel iii, levy on debts, euro crisis, auto-pension and CARE schemes.

So within a week i received invitations to both ac.

Assessment day

OK, this is the part I dread the most because of the written exercise. I always struggled to write a report within a short time frame (1hr, or 30mins). PWC’s written excercise is 30mins long with reading p10 info pack on water conservation strategies and delivering a report containing an analysis of each strategy (pros+cons) and your recommendation( i dunt think you have to justify your rec. in details). KPMG’s one is more challenging in terms of the contents. It lasts 1hr long, you need to read a p16 info pack combining with your background info on the virtual companies first, and write a report on analysis of the company performance, its problems and challenges, and your recommendation on solving them. I think it is more challenging because the infomation provided are far more intense and less clear. You really have to collect bits and bobs to produce a satisfying one. Trick is to pick out the info that matters for your point.

The e-tray excercise( PWC doesnt have one) is also time pressuring. But it is interesting. I left out a task due to time constraint. my suggestion to the e-tray is to do your clients first, then boss, the colleagues. Try to figure out how to use the system quickly ( i spent bloody 10 mins tried to find out how everything worked and how i could use the info pack, which is paper copy of your inbox contents). I would suggest you to read the info pack thru first to arrange your priority (only for 5mins max). Do the email first as they have deadlines. The tests at PWC consist of numerical and diagrammatical. Numerical was time pressuring ( i was really nervous ). Try to achieve accuracy. Diagrammatical ones was pretty easy, 40 questions out of 20mins. I managed to finish everything in 15mins. So dont worry about the diagrammatic one.

Regarding the group excercise at PWC, i had to say it was very interesting and not very challenging at all… All you have to do is to calculate the projected profit and argue for your case’s advantages. Plus, it is a group excercise, it is not designed for you to outshine anyone but to see how good you are working in a team. As long as you are not very aggressive and not losing your focus ( try to bear in mind you are there to figure out a solution that answers to the question, which is proposed in the beginning in your info pack) , i think you will be fine. In addition, it really helped me as my group was very united because we built quite good rapport when we were waiting. So everyone had a say. In terms of the KPMG one, i think it is more on you. KPMG assess your collaboration, innovation and time management through simulated meetings. You will be given an info pack again which listed out issues you need to address in your first meeting, a client meeting. You are given 15mins to prepare. The main point is that you have to lead the meeting, controlling the time as well as getting the info out. As the actors are also scripted so they can be much more difficult to deal with than group discussion with your teammates. They will either distract you or be not responsive at all. So you need to learn to deal with it dipomatically. You need to also persue further working opportunities. (i think because either i was capable of that or i was just lucky, i was the only who managed to get info out of all requested question as well as getting a glimpse of further opportunity. So dont worry if you didnt manage to persue further opportunity). The client meeting is centred on rebuilding communications to pitch for the client. Finding out your problems and listing out a set of strategies prior to the meeting you should be fine. The manager meeting was more relaxed but man it was pushing. After my debriefing, i was asked to propose ideas on their problem and on improving our service. I gave some ideas but i was pushed to give more details. For example, i said improve friendliness amongst staff , she asked how to … The manager is actually some assistant manager at KPMG so she knew the stuff you are talking about.

For KPMG, they conducted self-reviewing session after each excercise. So really big it up!!! talk specifically where you had done right and wrong, and where you hope to improve! They like you to be able to make professional judgement.

I had a week again for the KPMG’s ac’s preparation and 5 days for PWC’s one (which i couldnt do much as i had a partner interview to prepare for during the same period.) I mainly practiced my tests everyday in paper form. I also downloaded annual report of all 6 energy companies as well as BP, and JLS, and Tesco to practice my report writing skills. When i was practicing the writing i also timed myself. In addition, i bought IN-TRAY test package from assessmentday as well as practiced the e-tray excercise at civil fast stream. Again, prepare for your business awareness everyday. In addition, I spend 3 nights reading 5 ‘AC your case -wetfoot’ books which gave me an idea of case analysis. But it turned out not necessary. (But i think they are very interesting books to read anyway. )

Partner interview

I think this stage very much depends on your partner. Some ppl said they talked about foreign holidays or football all along, some said they were grilled to extremity. So there’s a bit of variety. However, there are several things you could prepare for ( hope for the best, plan for the worst). Questions about you, your career motivation, your knowledge of your firm and your service line are bound to be there. Obviously, commercial awareness is another big probability. You can also prepare for a couple of competence questions but at this stage it more about whether they like you not how capable you are as you have already demonstrated in the previous stages. (be aware tho, some partner like to aks the same questions to every candidate so he can have a comparison) . On the day, all you have to do is to be yourself(the confident one) , smile and be professional. The first 10 sec and last 10 sec is crucial. The partner interview will be quite relaxing but bear in mind it is still a formal occasion so avoid mentioning your personal life too much unless you are lucky enough that your partner is family type or football fan.

To prepare, I spent two days writing a really long essay on euro debt crisis, its cause, the problem so far, its impact on society and business (a few business example here), its correlation with regulation tightening and the impact of regulation tightening on business, and possible solutions and my personal recommendations on solving the problem. True, that my essay may be too shallow in the eyes of economists but it helps me to understand the matter holistically as well as revising my other business cases. I also had two mock interviews with my friends to revise my competence questions.

Ok , i guess this is pretty all i have say. I forgot to mention the SJT type of questions. you can practice on shl or assessmentday, but when you answer them in interviews try to think what you really want to do in that particular scenario as they will ask follow-up questions to test your consistency. In terms of dressing code. Despite they said it’ll be smart casual, i really dunno what they mean by smart!!!(i normally sport casual.) So i guess suit will be the safest choice even tho i saw girls wore shirt+ cardigan, or shirt alone. I also think a better brand suit will give you more confidence( not that the material will be much better). Having said that, a budget of £400-500 on your interview clothing would be quite enough.

差不多就是这些了,手好酸啊。请原谅语法错误,懒人懒的都不想proof reading了。

话说是不是香港的4大不需要ac啊,怎么我在应届生上面看到的都米有ac呢?

回复里面有更进一步的内容。

目前要回家一个月,恕我在此期间无法回复pm和提醒。

恭喜mm,并进来沾喜气。
mm真强,最后拿了那家的offer?
我也经历过两家big 4的面试,只可惜其中一家最后关挂了,另一家电话面试结束在等消息,已经快1个星期了,估计又是没戏了。

恭喜,恭喜,进来沾喜气 :slight_smile:

谢谢!我拿kpmg的,我做的这个line, kpmg的增长速度最快了。mm,你申请那两家啊?

谢谢!{:5_137:}

恭喜啊不如lz大概写一下经历,大家可以参考啊先谢啦

pwc, deloitte

木有申请德勤,试试kpmg吧,真的发展的很迅速。

是的,其实我看好kpmg多过德勒的。

但是我没有信心去竞争Graduate scheme,想到ac,我腿就发抖,我申请的那两家都是通过experienced 路径进行的。没有看到kpmg有比较适合的职位。

原来mm已经有工作了啊!!!好羡慕~~kpmg的ac根本就不是和pwc ac一个level的我觉得. pwc都是tests 偏主要的, group discussion的话如果你是有经验的肯定会觉得很简单, 因为每个team member手中的信息是不一样的,所以只要重新paraphrase就好了。然后我最怕的writing其实也还好,最好买个电子手表这样就可以随时监控时间了。kpmg的ac对于没有工作经验的人相比之下就难多了我觉得,因为基本上来说他们把你push further into the career stage。同时kpmg 的ac时间也要长很多,但是我觉得比pwc的也要好玩很多。但是如果mm你有工作经验的话,kpmg的ac会反而对你更有利些哦。最主要的,kpmg更多是看你个人的能力, 包括collaboration也是个人能力而不是你是不是比别人好所以你在ac的时候会遇到很多好人,相比我觉得pwc 的ac时候的人都有点‘too competitive’ 。 所以不要怕啊!!!

恭喜恭喜 先沾沾喜气阿~

现在没在工作,去年辞掉了,因为跟accounting和finance不太相关。我之前是一边工作一边学习的,有大概将近4年的英国工作经验,但是不是直接相关的。那些拿到面试的职位也都是这两家里比较基础的,但是是通过experienced路径招的。我最后一个学位是2011年拿到的,所以毕业生计划应该是可以申请的,但是我木有信心。
mm应该是非常优秀的,我一直坚信那么过关斩将拿到那些top tier 公司的同学都必须是百里挑一的,我自觉自己不行,所以也不敢申请毕业生计划。再就是我试过填写毕业生计划的申请,一道填写A level成绩就卡壳,因为没有在英国读过,看很多多来人说填写国内高考成绩就行,问题是我高考成绩分科的成绩不记得了,只记得总分555,又不敢乱填,加之各种懒惰的借口和心理惧怕,所以至今没有申请过。

再次祝贺mm,顺利拿到offer:P

我木有高考,,,高考前就考了ielts出来了,所以我填列了所有初一到高2的成绩还有会考成绩。这个找学校就好了。我也是2010 10月结束课程,2011 1月毕业的。然后就出了psw的问题只有回去重新弄。。。你要有信心啊!!!我在pwc的ac里面见到的一个女的也是和我差不多时候毕业,现在在mars chocolate里面上班也是报的graduate scheme,然后她表现很明显就比大部分人出色,因为有很professional attitude。 所以mm加油加油!!!谢谢你拉~

写了哦。。。不过用的英语因为大家到时候经历的都会是英语的环境。{:5_137:}

谢谢楼主的经验分享
请问你申请的是KPMG哪个部门?
还有你的大学毕业成绩多少?
因为很多公司不看专业只看2.1以上的成绩,
我是2.2 所以一到大学成绩这边就卡壳,四大本身竞争很大,所以没什么信心。

Pwc有让你说最近的news吗?是一定要说跟pwc有关的吗?需要推荐client吗?明天就要Telephoneinterview了,lz麻烦给点建议:cn08:

顶一个!!!

有!!!recent piece of news. 不一定要和pwc有关(说实话,你可以随便绕道和pwc有关。比如euro debt, affecting general business, causing tighter regulations, therefore companies become less profitable, which requires pwc to become more competitive, to improve its pricing system, reducing credti risks and retaining talents… blah blah blah. ) 你申请那个service line?audit最好之类最好提breakup of big 4,如果你是accounting, finance之类的背景可以提到bond covenent , feasibility of joint auditing 之类的,如果不是那么就说 比较general的impact, 比如reducing quality of audit service, damaging pwc’s profitability as audit generates biggest stream of steady income, making eu market less attractive…

如果你也申请我这个service,那么就说pension enrolment + it helps pwc to gain new market opportunity.

我没有被问道perfect client的问题,但是我准备了两个,一个是tesco, 一个是netflix。 你首先说说他们的状况,指出problem 和他们的优势 (famous brand, low credit risk and reputational risk for pwc and etc… 然后说pwc has this, this ,this service which have deep experience in helping them (restructuring, improving management efficiency, etc) 就行了. 电面的通话时间一定不要太长了,不然她会无聊的。

本科1. 研究生2。1…我申请的是tax下面的pension actuarial team。 这个service line只找numerate degree的。不过要是没有2.1也不要怕,我大本一同学,印度人,大三fail 了,主义是fail。retake了一年后拿到本科成绩, 然后照样进4大!!!!!你要试试,一定要试试!!!

呵呵,谢谢!