[sheskierk]

Hello all,

I have been working at a small CPA firm for a little over a year now. I would like to get an audit position at one of the Big 4. Luckily, I have a family friend who is a partner and was able to get my resume to a recruiter. So now I have my first prerecorded interview, which I have to complete by next Saturday. If I pass the first round the next 2 rounds of interviews will be a webcam with 2 hiring managers. I was told it will mostly be behavioral style interview. Can anyone please give me advice on how to best prepare for these interviews and give me some clarification to the questions I may get asked. I am really stressed out because I would ultimately like to obtain this position. Any advice or insight will be greatly appreciated.

FAR-76
AUD-77
REG-85
BEC-87

[Warrior]

Please find on youtube Deniz Sasal videos. They really helped me a lot. I had an interview with kpmg though but they may have something in common. All depend on type of the position you applied. If you are applying to entry level, they just want to see if you are a person to work comfortable with for 12 hours

[sheskierk]

Thank you very much for the feedback. Its an entry-level FSO Assurance position.

[ahugemistake]

I had one and they used the HireVue software for the interview. You can google that and learn more about it. I found the whole experience to be extremely awkward and a little stressful. I think the key is just being efficient with your time and recording the answers that first come to your head. Be as natural as you can. Unfortunately for me I didn't make the cut, but seeing that a partner referred you this should just be a formality. Goodluck!

FAR - 78*
AUD - 66, 79
REG - 73, 76
BEC - 79

[DaKine256]

I did a prerecorded interview on HireVue for EY last fall. Didn't feel great about it, but I did get invited to an office visit afterward. I'd suggest familiarizing yourself with EY's website, including their values and what they look for in new hires. It's also helpful to have 3-5 stories ready to use for the behavioral interview questions. Don't memorize them, but be comfortable sharing them in a concise way. Situations where you used leadership skills, showed teamwork, resolved a problem, etc. Most stories could be used to answer multiple questions (although you don't want to use them multiple times in the same interview). Once you read the question, pause to gather your thoughts. Then smile, tell a story to answer the question, and explain how you can apply those same skills in your role at EY (if you can include buzz words from the website, even better). Being composed and energetic goes a long way!

[vbmer]

DaKine256 gives great advice – play it cool, have a few behavioral interview responses in your pocket (showing initiative, dealing with failure, etc.), and throw in some culture buzzwords. (it sounds dumb, but one thing that I've found is that without too many points of differentiation, all of the Big 4 firms really pride themselves on their “unique” culture) Each firm has their own – EY loves collaboration in particular. Most importantly, just be yourself and don't be too stressed out. Good luck!

[sheskierk]

Thank you all very much for the feedback. I took off of work tomorrow and Friday to prep for this interview. I have to complete it by Saturday. I guess my problem is I just don't really know how to prepare since they could throw a curve ball question at me. But you are right, I need to practice 3-5 stories and hopefully they can relate to the question. Thanks again for the tips.

FAR-76
AUD-77
REG-85
BEC-87

[Puppykoala]

Mostly going to be behavior questions. Things like “strength & weakness”, “fail experience and how you overcome it”, “how to communicate with team when it's tough to do so”, “why EY versus other big 4s”. The purposes of those type of interview are 1. evaluate your composure 2. evaluate your speaking style, talk too fast or normal. No right or wrong answers and you will have I believe 2 chances of recording for each question. Just be calm, be confident, be polite and smile. You should be fine. Good luck!

[sheskierk]

Appreciate that!!!

FAR-76
AUD-77
REG-85
BEC-87

[sheskierk]

Hello All,

I just have one more question. I know when you do a face to face interview and they ask for your strengths your suppose to back them up with examples. However, since this is a prerecorded interview, if they just ask me for my strengths, should I just list them and move onto the next question? Or should I give examples of the strengths? The reason being, is that if I give a examples of my strengths in the same question, then lets say the next question is a behavioral question, I cant use the same example then? Sorry for the confusion, I have to complete this interview by tomorrow, so just prepping myself up for it. Any more advice would be greatly appreciated.

FAR-76
AUD-77
REG-85
BEC-87

[Author]

Replies