stazi said:
that's why you guys aren't progressing through to later rounds. they are looking at your ability to think on your feet. growth solutions = solutions for helping businesses grow, i assume, i.e. a business advisory role. then you bullshit about how you like the responsibility of working with a business and having a direct bearing on the outcomes.
personally I disagree that these people cant think on their feet. The processes and test's they are applying to undergraduate students are not appropriate.
Asking a question to a 2nd year accounting major like why do you want to work for a firm or in a particular area is not going to get an honest response. I think for most people they would sum it up as follows: you have done 2 -3 years of an accounting major, what else are you going to do finish your degree and become a garbage man, obviously you want the job because you need a job in the area you have studied. As for why you picked that area, most people will pick an area they think they have the best chance of getting into. I think it's that simple.
All these bullshit answers like the one you just said about responsibility and helping them grow, having a direct outcome are just total buzz words and all they show is that you have no real substance or an idea of what it is like to work in an accounting role. That being said, that is exactly what they are looking for in your answer, they want you to be naieve and think that when you get in your going to be doing all this great work. Truth be told you will be looking at spreadsheets and editiing documents, in between photocopying; otherwise you will probably be on your desk having a look at facebook, or smh. (for an internship)
All they are doing is rewarding people in the recruitment process with the biggest amount of bull and no substance. That being said, I can see why these firms want to attract people with these qualities. Basically the way I see it, they back themselves to take these people with all this bullshiting ability and then give them some skills through their training (which I must say is excellent) and thus they figure it doesn't really matter what your skill set is, as long as your semi good, as they will do the rest i.e. teach you the work skills you need. What is important to them is how you relate to people.
I hesitate to make this last comment, but I will. The final thing they are looking for, at least in accounting, is someone who they don't think has options. They want someone who wont jump ship once they get their CA. So you have to look at that as well. To clarify this point, if you are on the top end of the marks at uni end, then they will still want you because they need people that are 'the best' and so they are willing to accept that leaving risk. If you are on the bottom end markswise then again they will want you because the way they see it, you wont be going anywhere soon - you are fodder. It's the middle people who are going to have the hardest time in my opinion: the firms sees you as someone who can progress quickly which may be a bad thing, they also see that you would be willing to move on - another bad thing - so they dont see you as a good investment overall if you come across as too sharp, I would try to dumb yourself down a bit if you are in this section.
So next time you are getting interviewed I guess you have two choices:
1) you can be yourself
2) you can try and play the bullshit game
I personally have been trying the bullshit game and it hasn't paid off for me, I think you need a lot of prep and coaching and advice to pull that off. I would really try to be honest about what you want from a firm and why you are interested.
But overall if your getting knocked back from a place I would see that as a positive because they obviously aren't the right fit for you culturally and if you had gotten through if you really felt that the recruitment process was stupid, you wont like a lot of things about the firm. If you don't like going to interviews and bullshitting, obviously these aren't the firms for you, in my opinion.
