Preparing for Interviews at the Big Four Firms: Types, Advice, and Questions, Essays (university) of Finance

Download Preparing for Interviews at the Big Four Firms: Types, Advice, and Questions and more Essays (university) Finance in PDF only on Docsity! The Big Four (Interviews) Page 1 Interviews At interviews you are meeting prospective employers in person. Therefore everything about you will count, from your appearance, to your manners, to your ability to address issues in a socially appropriate way. It is advised that you are adequately prepared for these precious occasions Types of Interviews First Interviews Nowadays, the first round of interviews often takes place in companies. It will be considered as a basis of further selection. If you do well, it will pave your way for other interviews. At this stage, interviewers are usually managers with 5+ years of work experience. Format  1-1 one interviewer, one interviewee  2-1 two interviewers, one interviewee  20-30 minutes of duration Partner Interviews In a partner interview, you are interviewed by one of the partners of the company. You should be outstanding in different aspects if you can get to this stage because not many applicants make it there. You may assume that you have the right competencies for the job. But the partners still want to know if you are a person who will fit to work with them. So the interview will be more about your genuine personal characteristics, abilities, and charms. Format  One-to-one  May last for an hour  Interviewers are partners  Usually informal – can be a casual chat or critical exchange of ideas More about partner interviews are discussed in Chapter 8 “Partner Interviews” The Big 4 PwC • Deloitte • KPMG • Ernst & Young - Recruitment Process 7 - The Big Four (Interviews) Page 2 Advice for interviews  NEVER LIE!  Prepare yourself -- good self understanding — learn to articulate about yourself  Know your employer/career field  Research about the company before you go for an interview  Understand clearly the job requirements and selection criteria  Always match strengths/competencies with job requirements (Your Key Unique Selling Points)  KSPQI approach (Knowledge, Skills, Personal Qualities, Interests)  PAR/STAR approach (Project—Situation--Task, Action, Result)  Good general knowledge (current affairs)  Good professional knowledge (e.g. GPA)  DO NOT rehearse your answers! Interviews DO’s Appearance and manners DO’s  Be confident & natural – Be yourself!  Be punctual  Be clean, tidy and presentable  Maintain eye contact with the interviewers  Smile and nod appropriately  Show enthusiasm and interest in the job Answering Questions DO’s  LISTEN to the questions carefully.  Give DIRECT, CONCISE answers.  Stay FOCUSED.  Always MATCH your strengths/professional knowledge/skills/work experience with the job requirements.  Give SPECIFIC examples to illustrate your point: o Describe an actual experience in which you demonstrate your leadership. o Use PAR/STAR approach.  Answer questions HONESTLY. o DO NOT give model answers.  Show INDEPENDENT and LOGICAL thinking o DO NOT REPEAT others’ views without having thought deeply about them.  Answer the HIDDEN questions.  BE PREPARED to be asked awkward questions. Examples: o Your GPA is low, why? o Well, you did not do well in public examinations. o You have sat for HK Advanced Level Exam. three times already.