Big 4 Accounting Firms Internships 2008 (3 Viewers)

[BeeCom]

i just got an offer from pwc yay

Good work, I hear they ride vacationers around the office like horses there. ^_^ jks

 

[sunjet]

yeh had conquest today.. PwC definitely left the best impression on me. didn't like kpmg at all.. i guess everyone has differing views.

 

[billbro]

yeh had conquest today.. PwC definitely left the best impression on me. didn't like kpmg at all.. i guess everyone has differing views.

Did you get to talk to many partners/managers? That's probably the part I disliked the most about it, basically all of the recruiters were new yesterday - didn't manage to offer much insight. However, I didn't like the lack of an office tour at KPMG.

Yeah, in the end everyone does have different preferences. I just didn't get the impression that they cared all that much.

 

[Tabris]

Just had the conquest today...thats very quick.....


Thus far, i didnt get any phone calls or email confirming anything

Did they provide a timeframe on their reply?

 

[billbro]

Just had the conquest today...thats very quick.....


Thus far, i didnt get any phone calls or email confirming anything

Did they provide a timeframe on their reply?

Within the week, though if you make a favourable impression like Sunjet they obviously call you up in a jiffy xD

 

[Huy]

Yeah no tour at KPMG was crap but then again, you saw a bit here and there I guess like swapping elevators all the time.

I also had a mini tour with the partner/managers just before the interview since I was going into the partner's office so I saw my line of service/division and the people working there etc (which is where I'll be working too).

 

[sdfjsdkl55]

Does anyone know about how you are assessed during the partner interview???

For mine it was informal and 70% of the time the partner was talking, with most of the discussion being about life in general.

Any other thoughts??

 

[billbro]

Does anyone know about how you are assessed during the partner interview???

For mine it was informal and 70% of the time the partner was talking, with most of the discussion being about life in general.

Any other thoughts??

No idea, I know I didn't fill up the 3 boxes for every question at PwC and that obviously didn't look good.

At KPMG, I spoke a lot but it was generally more conversational. Basically, I found out a lot about the partner and the firm because the partner would comment and often share his own experience after we completed each section.

At PwC, my partner pretty much had an onslaught of questions and rather than stepping them she wanted me to answer all three aspects (hence the 3 boxes) all in one go. Basically, I spoke for the whole time apart from the Q&A at the end and a brief chat at the start. However, it does seem to vary at PwC because the people on my table with different partners/managers had different experiences. I only had questions from the partner and I was told at the start the manager would scribe, while for other candidates it was a two on one approach with questions. Also, my partner didn't ask any of the candidates (talked to two others) whether we were seeking positions elsewhere, but another partner asked both his applicants the question.

No idea about the others, my friend said EY and Deloitte were fairly conversational - although he didn't go that well with Deloitte.

*I think it really just depends on the partner, but they are behavioural based and their intention isn't to freak you out. After all they really are just trying to get to know you and they tend to emphasis that fact.

 

[Huy]

I think they are just trying to know more about you rather than the 'you on paper'. So they are finding out whether you would be a good fit for the company.

Just a chat. Nothing to stress about.

 

[Smeed]

I've got the KPMG assessment and interview day booked for next week - anyone who's gone through this process mind sharing some advice/tips? I really don't want to mess this up lol!

I've also got the information session tomorrow but I'm wondering whether to go or not... I've got some pretty important university classes but I told the HR person on the phone I should be right to attend, now I'm trying to decide whether it's worth missing those classes or not... any advice guys?

 

[Huy]

I was faced with the same choice. Information session or university.

I told them straight up that my focus is on university and that I cannot skip my important (and compulsory) classes. The HR people understood and said that I wouldn't be missing out on anything important. Really, I think you can find out a lot of information online and of course by speaking to people. You'll have plenty of opportunity to do this not only at the assessment centre and informal lunch, but also at other events such as on campus presentations, during the interview, later communications/phonecalls, etc.

If you can make it, great, if not, it's no big loss.

My 2c.
p.s. I am a successful KPMG applicant so the information session did not hinder my progress.

 

[billbro]

KPMG called me on the day of the info session, so I didn't get a chance to attend. Again, similar to Huy I got an offer so I don't believe it makes a difference.

Depending on your rotation, you may get to speak with the partners/managers before your actual interview. I didn't get a chance to speak to them beforehand, but you are given a profile of them anyway. Basically, just have a look at the profile and you are basically set. In the end it probably depends on which partner you get as well, I just clicked with mine - though if I had someone else it could have ended up quite differently.

 

[hoppi10]

does anyone know how they deal with people who have not qualified
i.e. by phone or mail?

I'm feeling pretty nervous at the moment because I went for pwc on wednesday but have not yet heard anything and I wanted that job so so badly

 

[Huy]

Join the club hoppi10.

I applied to PwC and have not heard one thing from them. No email. No phonecall. No online tests, assessment centres, nothing. I'm also sure that I applied.

 

[billbro]

Join the club hoppi10.

I applied to PwC and have not heard one thing from them. No email. No phonecall. No online tests, assessment centres, nothing. I'm also sure that I applied.

No online tests means you didn't make it past the online application stage. Online tests basically go hand in hand with the Conquest Assessment.

 

[Huy]

Yep, that is what I can assume because I know people who did the online test and Conquest on Wednesday.

But what is surprising is that they have not informed me of anything.

 

[billbro]

Yep, that is what I can assume because I know people who did the online test and Conquest on Wednesday.

But what is surprising is that they have not informed me of anything.

Just means you still have a chance of being contacted, since Conquest isn't over yet. They started running them ages ago and are still running them next week =p

 

[hoppi10]

haha at least you've got offer/s huy
i've done the conquest i was just wondering how and when they get back to you either way...

 

[sdfjsdkl55]

Find out from KPMG today. Fingers crossed

 

[lion1]

Hey guys, just stumbled upon this forum and it looks like a huge source of info. I actually got an offer for the Melbourne offices of KPMG's MMA service line which I will accept. However, I was really looking for an offer from Deloitte as they really made a huge impression on me with how friendly they were (not to mention their offices!). I think I got screwed over one question that I really struggled to answer in the interview.

The partners and grad recruitment people at KPMG have been really good to talk to as well, but I keep hearing from people that they are no good. I had an office tour and the people did seem quite depressed, not one smile on their face! Compare this to the Deloitte office tour, where I got lots of fuzzy feelings about the place Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to have a good chat with any of their graduates. I'd love if I could get your opinions and insight on the people and culture there, hopefully to calm my fears a bit!

Thanks