CADETSHIPS 2012 Discussion Thread (3 Viewers)

[tambam]

hey tambam, just quickly wanted to ask - did you specify assurance-financial services on your application? - like online, when it said preference, did you put assurance or assurance fs?

cheers

I think there were 2 preferences. I put assurance various industries as my first choice, and assurance fs as my second choice which is what they interviewed me for.

 

[seremify007]

Congratulations ctkid!

I think ser-emm-iff-i is at pwc but I could be wrong..

Haha the only way to find out is to ask me in person and mention BoredofStudies. The trick is to pose your question in such a way that just in case you haven't picked the right person, they don't think you're weird for asking if they are involved in the government department which develops your school curriculum

 

[nixon3]

Haha the only way to find out is to ask me in person and mention BoredofStudies. The trick is to pose your question in such a way that just in case you haven't picked the right person, they don't think you're weird for asking if they are involved in the government department which develops your school curriculum

hahahaa

 

[nixon3]

Question for Seremify,

On the EY celebratory thing, it says dress code - smart

does that mean suit or like business shirt and dress pants?

sorry for the stupid question, but i have noone else to ask

 

[seremify007]

Question for Seremify,

On the EY celebratory thing, it says dress code - smart

does that mean suit or like business shirt and dress pants?

sorry for the stupid question, but i have noone else to ask

Yes. Wear pretty much what you wore to your interview and you'll be safe- remember dress up not down. "Smart" but not Business attire means you can probably sans the jacket or tie, but your choice as you'll still want to look good.

 

[jq.08]

Haha yep, that's me Give me a clue as to who you are (where were you sitting in relation to me)
And congrats on the offer, i'll see you at the celebratory drinks next week!

Also at whoever else got an ey offer + received the contract, can you tell me what the 'gift' is meant to be used for? I seriously have no clue...

I'm the girl who sat right opposite you!
We must've done well as a group to have 2 offers (and maybe even more!) then! haha

I can't make the congratulatory drinks because I'm in Brisbane darn! I was so looking forward to meeting everyone! Have fun!

Oh and the "gift" is quite a puzzle to me as well....

 

[graduate11]

Hey ctkid,

I was 1 of a couple of girls who went 2 the KPMG assessment centre on July 8th (Friday) and was wondering when u rckn they'll get back to us if successful?

 

[ctkid]

Hey ctkid,

I was 1 of a couple of girls who went 2 the KPMG assessment centre on July 8th (Friday) and was wondering when u rckn they'll get back to us if successful?

my assesment centre was on the 7th and they got back to me at 4 on friday
however one of the other guys from my day just recieved his offer today (12th) so thats 5 days after.
so dw, ull prob get it by friday. and if not it cud also be a good sign as they may have put u in the 'reserve' list as they give notification of unsuccesful early too
they look at the resrve at the end of all interviews and if they have more places theyll offer u a position, this relates to the photos they took, remember?
goodluck.

 

[oyuck]

Hi ser-emm-iff-i or any other cadet here on this forum

Can you briefly describe what you do in a typical day work-wise in assurance? Is it mostly the same across the big4?

Thanks

 

[seremify007]

Hi ser-emm-iff-i or any other cadet here on this forum

Can you briefly describe what you do in a typical day work-wise in assurance? Is it mostly the same across the big4?

Thanks

Are you interested in at trainee level, or at my level? Keep in mind that in general though I see working in assurance similar to school whereby each year you progress and take on a slightly different role. For example, a new trainee or graduate would be very involved in performing the fieldwork and this could involve obtaining support for something such as a legal contract or an invoice, and vouching it to an amount recorded in a system. Within a short time frame (I'd say in a few months) you become a lot more independent and instead of being told to do something, you are able to identify how to select the sample of things requiring testing/vouching, or maybe even selecting the accounts or areas of risk within a business. With more experience you'll understand there are other ways of auditing which do not require reading the contracts/invoices such as analytics, and you'll have a better understanding of audit methodology + understanding of business giving you the ability to better assess the level of risk in each section of the business. There's obviously a lot more to it than this, but you are likely to be coaching new staff/team members in a short time after whilst you also focus on understanding processes and controls within an organisation, and eventually seeing the bigger picture.

I could go on and on... but that's my attempt to explain the whole 'progression' aspect of assurance in terms of development.

 

[oyuck]

Thank you!

 

[nixon3]

hey oyuck,
were you at the EY lunch? i might of seen you there, which table were you on?

+ have you accepted/sent your contract in?

 

[tambam]

Hey, i'm trying to decide on which of the big3 accounting firms to do a cadetship at,
SO if anyone has heard things about which one is the best in terms of experience and support for uni studies, or any bad stories of friends quitting and why, it would be very much appreciated

 

[oyuck]

hey oyuck,
were you at the EY lunch? i might of seen you there, which table were you on?

+ have you accepted/sent your contract in?

Hi!

unfortunately i couldn't make it. And yes - I have accepted.

What day did u have your assessment? 4 July?

Decisions, decisions. Well at least u got three offers = more choice

 

[seremify007]

Hey, i'm trying to decide on which of the big3 accounting firms to do a cadetship at,
SO if anyone has heard things about which one is the best in terms of experience and support for uni studies, or any bad stories of friends quitting and why, it would be very much appreciated

I'd say a lot depends on which divisions you were made offers in, and what your interests/career goals are.

Each firm will have their share of people who "slip through the cracks" and don't enjoy themselves for whatever reason, and each firm will have instances of those who do really well and make the most of it. Regardless though, it definitely is worth clarifying with the respective firms as to what their policy is on study leave since that will be important whilst you're on the program, and what flexibility they offer in terms of where you work in the future and when, will also be worth considering.

 

[Deathless]

Is it easy to transfer between the Big 4? I found out PWC has consulting and I want to do that instead of accounting

 

[¬_¬]

Congrats to everyone who got offers!

 

[seremify007]

Is it easy to transfer between the Big 4? I found out PWC has consulting and I want to do that instead of accounting

It's possible, and as far as I know, it's encouraged, but it's not "easy" per se. You will still need to be doing reasonably well in your current role and be able to offer something to the division you want to move to. Advisory is a popular target and some of my friends have transferred over the years, but depending on the role, you may still need to do interviews and possibly even testing because not all roles are open to all levels (e.g. infrastructure consulting may require a senior grade or higher).

Note that all the Big 4 have some form of advisory or consultancy practice, and each of them is very diversified in what they offer... some offer the basic and common performance improvement, liquidation/insolvency, restructuring, m&a/transaction services, valuations, economics consultancy, etc... whilst others might be more specific and exotic such as health consulting, environmental consulting, IT project implementation, etc... there's a lot of variation. The challenge is proving to the guys in the respective team that you have something which can be useful to them whether it's experience, skills, client relationships, or just a strong reputation for getting things done well.

Also worth mentioning that at trainee level, most firms won't accept anyone without at least a university degree into advisory/consultancy although every now and then there is an exception or two. Usually people move into these areas once they are CA qualified.

 

[tom-spin]

What's the work atmosphere like at the big 4's? How are the facilities??
Describe please.

 

[jq.08]

Which firm did everyone end up going with?