[Xsnob1234]

Hi All:

I was referred by a partner at one of the Big4 forms and was contacted immediately by a recruiter to set up a phone interview for next week. For people who have gone through similar process, could you provide me with some suggestions/experience? Also, what are usually the best and most appropriate questions to ask toward the end of the interview process when the recruiter typically asks “Do you have any questions for me?”

Thank You

~My CPA Journey~
FAR- 2/24/15- 81
REG- 4/27/15- Pending
AUD- TBD
BEC- TBD

[Joetse]

LOL.if you don't even know how to answer a phone interview..I'm not sure you deserve the job…I have a lot of experience – just answer what they want to hear. It's that simple. If you want to get the job that is. So basically, anything you say, has to add value as to why they should hire you, so only say anything that would benefit their firm. It's a 2-way interview so you kinda wanna be feeling out the feedback or their feelings about you BEFORE you leave the phone interview. If you sense hesitance in their voice, that's not a good sign. You wanna do your best to ask them what are the next steps and verify there's a live face to face interview lined up before you hang up, without sounding pushy or assumptive that you got a face-to-face interview. Basically, show your enthusiasm, why you want the job, and why you're an excellent fit, and that you'd like to come in for an interview right away because you're a taylor fit for the job. Feel out the phone call, and if you can't determine that they wanna go forward, then ask “Do you have any reservations about me being a good fit for the job and setting up an interview in the office? What are your impressions so far about me?” It would be weird for a partner to be so happy to phone interview you and then turn you down there. If they said they wanna bring you in already on the phone, not much you have to say to answer them of any other questions, aside from actual questions you have, like “how many ppl will be interviewing me, and from which areas, because i'm really interested in [tell them the group you wanna work for, like transaction services advisory, M&A auditing, etc], basically drive the interview so it's in your seat, don't let them tell you what area you're gonna work in, tell them what YOU want, but ask over the phone if there are openings in that area first. For example, if you wanna work on investment and equity audit, and a specific city, like NYC, so that your'e not stuck on inventory or something, and in Kansas half the year.

[hana]

In my experience, phone interviews are mainly a resume review, where the recruiter will ask about your past experience to see if your skills are relevant to the job. Be very familiar with the contents of your resume and how they provided you with skills that you will be able to utilize at and contribute to the firm. The behavioral type questions are mostly reserved for in person/video interviews.

[Anonymous]

In my experience hana21 is right. I wouldn't roll in too cocky telling them everything you want, or put them on the spot by asking what they think of you. The recruiter usually doesn't work with the people you're applying to work with, and usually doesn't know the details of the job. So you'll need to think of more general things they would know that you can't find the answers to on the internet, like asking what the office culture is like.

Phone interviews are great because you can have your resume, and all your notes written in front of you to help you. I try to think of examples of when I took initiative to make changes for the better, how I handled disagreements, etc. Write it down in very concise language so that it doesn't sound like you're reading a big script.

[Author]

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