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。
