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Got an interview with PWC Corporate Assurance - Please help?

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Ape Gone Insane said:
There's some absolutely terrible advice in this thread (with some exceptions).

OP, see this page for the First Interview Competencies: http://www.pwc.co.uk/careers/student/applying/interview_competencies.jhtml

You'll be asked ethical questions (times you've seen employees or individuals do unethical things or you have been asked to do something unethical), team based questions, questions about multiple workloads and deadlines and your ability to adjust to working styles. Be prepared for follow-up questions like things you could have done differently or how things panned out or obstacles you faced etc.

You'll also be asked the basic 'Why PWC?', 'Why Assurance?', 'What do you know about your service line?', 'Why ACA/CA?' so have solid reasons.

Also be prepared to discuss business and economy news - a business doing well or badly, what problems they are facing and how PwC or anyone can help them. Or the trends in the economic climate in the UK.

The advantage of a telephone interview is having prompts in front of you. Don't sound too rehearsed but it's good to have a list of examples of situations from your life that would be applicable to different competencies and questions.
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Thanks a lot.
 
They open in July and tend to fill up pretty fast. I remember most Ernst and Young locations being closed by the end of August.

London for any service line or firm fills up extremely fast too, unsurprisingly.
 
velociraptor said:
If they ever ask 'do you have any questions for us', what exactly should I ask them?
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This is the best part of the interview, I love it. You can salvage a poor interview or cement your position as the best candidate.

If things have gone poorly a good opener along the lines of "Do you have any doubts about choosing me for this position? If so, what are they?". Now clearly, quickly and concisely explain with examples why those doubts can be dismissed.

Another good question to show that you're aware of your own limitations and those of others: "Is there anything you believe we should discuss that neither of us has touched upon yet?".

A good closing question that they may be reluctant to answer is: "Last year what was the biggest problem/ issue that negatively impacted the performance/ results of the department that I would be joining? How was this corrected?".

These are all dynamite use them wisely.

The third question is particularly effective if you can give concrete examples of solving issues that they are currently having trouble with. Here they will often go on the defensive. So you can really press things to your advantage and drop a few nuggets of wisdom to whet their appetite.
 
I'm a recruiter and here is what we tell all of our candidates:

Research the company beyond just their website and wikipedia. Get an understanding about where they are in the market and ask intelligent questions around that.

Brush up on your behavioral interview skills. Read this: http://www.drexel.edu/scdc/resources/STAR Method.pdf

Ask the hiring manager questions about the company culture, why they joined the firm, what they enjoy about the firm, and where you would fit.

Do not ask too much about promotions, raises, benefits, but rather focus on why you are good for the job you are under consideration for. Sure, you want to be CEO someday but make sure they understand why you are good for the job today.

Get their email addresses and send a thank you email within 12 after the interview. Be sure to follow up with your recruiter/hr contact as well.

Do not keep on calling after the interview. If you are going to get a face to face interview, they will be in touch with you.
 
SpinningBirdKick said:
This is the best part of the interview, I love it. You can salvage a poor interview or cement your position as the best candidate.

If things have gone poorly a good opener along the lines of "Do you have any doubts about choosing me for this position? If so, what are they?". Now clearly, quickly and concisely explain with examples why those doubts can be dismissed.

Another good question to show that you're aware of your own limitations and those of others: "Is there anything you believe we should discuss that neither of us has touched upon yet?".

A good closing question that they may be reluctant to answer is: "Last year what was the biggest problem/ issue that negatively impacted the performance/ results of the department that I would be joining? How was this corrected?".

These are all dynamite use them wisely.

The third question is particularly effective if you can give concrete examples of solving issues that they are currently having trouble with. Here they will often go on the defensive. So you can really press things to your advantage and drop a few nuggets of wisdom to whet their appetite.
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This is all GREAT advice! Very few candidates ever really sell themselves and these are all opportunities to do so.
 
SpinningBirdKick said:
This is the best part of the interview, I love it. You can salvage a poor interview or cement your position as the best candidate.

If things have gone poorly a good opener along the lines of "Do you have any doubts about choosing me for this position? If so, what are they?". Now clearly, quickly and concisely explain with examples why those doubts can be dismissed.

Another good question to show that you're aware of your own limitations and those of others: "Is there anything you believe we should discuss that neither of us has touched upon yet?".

A good closing question that they may be reluctant to answer is: "Last year what was the biggest problem/ issue that negatively impacted the performance/ results of the department that I would be joining? How was this corrected?".

These are all dynamite use them wisely.

The third question is particularly effective if you can give concrete examples of solving issues that they are currently having trouble with. Here they will often go on the defensive. So you can really press things to your advantage and drop a few nuggets of wisdom to whet their appetite.
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I agree with the first and the third (see my prior post essentially the same as your third question).

But I don't get the second one "Is there anything you believe we should discuss that neither of us has touched upon yet?" I get this from candidates all the time and I'm always like "If there was we would've already discussed it." What exactly is the point?
 
SpinningBirdKick said:
This is the best part of the interview, I love it. You can salvage a poor interview or cement your position as the best candidate.

If things have gone poorly a good opener along the lines of "Do you have any doubts about choosing me for this position? If so, what are they?". Now clearly, quickly and concisely explain with examples why those doubts can be dismissed.

Another good question to show that you're aware of your own limitations and those of others: "Is there anything you believe we should discuss that neither of us has touched upon yet?".

A good closing question that they may be reluctant to answer is: "Last year what was the biggest problem/ issue that negatively impacted the performance/ results of the department that I would be joining? How was this corrected?".

These are all dynamite use them wisely.

The third question is particularly effective if you can give concrete examples of solving issues that they are currently having trouble with. Here they will often go on the defensive. So you can really press things to your advantage and drop a few nuggets of wisdom to whet their appetite.
Click to expand...
Let me start out by saying I could be wrong and I make no claims to be an expert on interviewing. But I don't like these questions for this position, especially the last one.

Your job as a staff accountant is not to rock the boat. Not even a little bit. So little in fact, that you shouldn't even ask a lot of questions on the job. To be a top performing staff, the keys are incredible speed and accuracy. Not technical competence. The secret of accounting is do it the same as last year. If it wasn't done last year, find a similar client and do it the same as that one.

Let's say you see five things you don't understand. Maybe look up one online, ask your senior about one. The other three just do it and don't bother understanding. There is no time. The people who got laid off from the Big 4 during the recession and the staff that get counseled out now were all the slowest. If you added numbers and rolled over prior year spreadsheets like crazy and didn't understand a thing you were safe.

I think you get the idea. I would not give any signal you are going to come in and overthink, challenge, or analyze anything other than what that workpaper on your desk specifically tells you to do. It's not a pretty reality, but just calling it like I experienced it.
 
velociraptor said:
guys I need some help..

What is a major (UK) current (financial) issue that I could potentially talk about?
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Losing the AAA credit rating, the impact of proposed audit reforms or the recent rise in bankruptcies/administrations of major high street entertainment retailers (HMV, Game and Blockbuster). Make sure your research into these issues is not just skimming the news. They don't want you to recite the latest headline. Form an understanding and an opinion on the matter.

Also make sure you know of companies doing well and bad and perform a SWOT analysis on them.
 
Hey guys, I'm attending a networking lunch with PwC soon and I'll be going for a office visit as well, any tips for networking? Getting a little nervous :x
 
Samyy said:
Hey guys, I'm attending a networking lunch with PwC soon and I'll be going for a office visit as well, any tips for networking? Getting a little nervous :x
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No reason to be nervous, just make sure you engage in discussions and have thought of some questions you would like answered.
 
oh shit my interview is in one hour. im panicking. haven't really had much time to prepare except read the basics about pwc, assurance, and current financial info. have been extremely busy with work. gaskgjaslgkjasljkaf
 
velociraptor said:
oh shit my interview is in one hour. im panicking. haven't really had much time to prepare except read the basics about pwc, assurance, and current financial info. have been extremely busy with work. gaskgjaslgkjasljkaf
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Don't worry. In the end we all die.
 
ElNino said:
My wife is currently a Senior Manager (Assurance) at one of the Big 4 and she is very much on the 'partner track'. Depending on if we decide to have more children, she could make partner in the next five years (give or take). Her salary is pretty good, and she has had some very good client experiences (along with some terrible ones). The 80+ hour work weeks during busy season are difficult sometimes, especially once we had children, but we have learned to deal with them.
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Damn, my wife basically in the same situation at PwC (8 yrs, senior manager) and there'd be no way we could do that if we had kids. Props to you guys for making it work.
 
Smixam said:
I currently work at PwC in the US, been here for 7.5 years (management position as of 2011). Started in the Advisory (consulting - information security) practice, then moved to Risk Assurance - I do data analysis/audit and general IT risk assessments.

I've been interviewing a lot of people over the last year or so, and the best advice I can give you is be confident and personable. It sounds like you're looking for a financial audit position, so just by getting to the interview stage it's likely that you know your accounting - be ready to prove it, but don't get hung up on the technical stuff.

Be honest with your answers, and be ready to cite specific examples from your academic and/or professional experience (if you have any) to add some color to your interview. Be memorable and be someone that your interviewers would want to work for. I've seen so many 4.0 GPAs, 5 page resumes with impeccable references, and the person behind them turns out to be timid, boring, impersonal, or just generally not very interesting.

Good luck! If you have any other questions, definitely let me know, I'm happy to help.
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Couldn't agree more with this. I interview people for EY projects, and if you've got the personality of treestump you can expect to be analyzing papers in a back fileroom some where if you get hired at all. While it's good to have confidence, don't be cocky AND NEVER BULLSHIT!!. Interviewers will know.

And always send a thank you letter. I do read them and take them into consideration when hiring.
 
Bit of an old bump but just wanted to say thanks for some of the tips in this thread. Got an email today from PwC saying I'd made it to the next selection stage after the online tests which I presume will be the telephone interview. I applied for the management consultancy graduate scheme.

If you're still around OP how did it go for you?
 
Suppose it can't hurt to be nice, although it's not something I'm aware of happening much in the UK those thank you notes.

I've a cousin who worked for PwC (or KPMG, one of the big four) so I'll ask him what they'd expect in that regard.

And now I've seen the other thread.
 
He's referencing some other dumb thread. You are right don't bother with that polite shit in the UK.

Good luck with your telephone interview. What service line are you applying for?
 
Yeah from a quick Google it apparently just makes you sound like a brown nosing arsehole ha.

I applied for the management consulting stream.
 
Salvadora said:
No, not all all.

It was just a bit older. The new offices are a lot more modern.

Bear in mind that you might be in a different office than I am (although on the same floor). It's a nice place with nice people.
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That's good to hear. I'll not get too ahead of myself yet, must try and chat to some people I know who have worked for the one in Belfast and the one in Derry/Londonderry.
 
I have an interview at EY this week (Thursday), its not even for a job just a summer leadership program but this thread has been super helpful in helping me get the interview in the first place. Just wanted to pop in and say thanks to everyone for the help! I've heard people who get into the summer program are almost shoe-ins for internships so heres hoping!

Im still stuck on some questions to ask them at the end. Since this interviews for the summer program im not sure if I should be asking questions related to working there or just strictly the leadership event :/
 
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