[Anonymous]

Hi all!

I got lucky and have been invited for an office interview with a Big 4 and I would like any advice you guys may have for me. It is for PwC’s assurance associate position.

Does anyone know what type of questions they may ask? What to wear for the pre night event (lol)? I am really nervous and will really appreciate any advice that you may have (or stories of your experience).

Thank you in advance!

[nosleep135]

iAmGoingToPass – Congratulations! That was quick! I have an interview in 3 weeks also..do you mind if I ask you some questions?

Do you remember any specific questions that they asked?

Things happening globally – did they ask for any specific event or just generally about news?

Good luck CPA..one day!

[Charell__]

CPA and nosleep… Thank you! It was actually easier than I thought. I realized that I over-complicated things in my head. They weren't trying to trick me with crazy questions, they really just wanted to get to know me. See my responses below. These are all true by the way, not just some googled answers. I would stay away from those because it's going to make you sound like every other person. FYI they have a workbook on their website to help you see your strengths and weaknesses if you're interested in it. I completed it and can honestly say it helped me feel more confident in the interview.

Specific questions:

— how do you keep up with things going on globally? I am subscribed to numerous online accounting journals, including theirs, and an active member of the NY and VA society of CPA's. (They asked me which ones! Accounting Today, which I believe is UK based, thiswaytocpa, the wall street journal app, and the NY times app) I also mentioned that I attend a lot of networking events that focus on accounting changes. If you are a student or don't do those things, I would suggest you view their free on demand videos and choose one to focus on if they ask about it. Or you can go on accounting today if you want your answer to be unique.

— anything happening globally that sparked your interest? I mentioned the new revenue recognition rule and I loved how proactive PwC is, as they are already preparing their clients with advice, helping them understand what implications it may have in the future and what they can do now to prepare for a smooth transition.

–why public accounting? I was brutally honest! I get bored so quickly and in the private sector it's hard to fulfill my need to constantly learn new things. Being a quick learner has it's drawbacks. I learn my job so quickly and then I'm ready for more and more and more, but in most private jobs, there's a cap on how much you can take on. As an auditor, as soon as I learn a clients Info systems and processes, we will be ready to move on to the next engagement! You can't find that anywhere else but public accounting. It's the perfect place to take a passion that's frowned upon and embrace it in a place with people who share your same vision and need for constant change. I wouldn't suggest you use this answer though. I think the location I am going to work made this answer acceptable, but you don't want to give off the impression that you get bored quickly. My answer was longer than this but too much to type here. I made sure I didn't leave them with that impression.

–how I helped my coworker/classmate make a decision? I am active in my state society of CPA's and I volunteer at the student outreach meetings to discuss why I decided to become a CPA and how I chose accounting. etc. Since I recently passed two parts of the CPA exam I offer a fresh perspective about how I studied, what materials I used, how hard it was..etc and usually students use my advice to decide on their goals, specifically: private or public? exam now or after work experience? etc I help them make those types of decisions.

–how I presented info that I had no prior knowledge on? My answer was specific to a job I held prior, so my answer wont help you but I did use the tax code from the IRS to prepare my first corporate sales tax return and had their local CPA review it for accuracy, revisions, etc. I'm sure neither of you have had to do this so I would give them an example when you had to use your research skills!

–how do you use your network to solve a problem? Mention how you use your mentors, peers, coworkers, or whomever to solve a problem that's specific to you. I actually did call my mentors from two separate big4 firms when preparing that sales tax return!

I gave you some of my answers to help you get an idea of how you can answer them. I hope this helps you both! I know just reading questions they may ask isn't always helpful. There's so many possible answers you can give them! Use the content in mine to make yours more specific to your circumstances and experiences. Make sure you have questions for the interviewers! I strayed away from the typical “a day in the life, what you enjoy most, blah blah” .. I asked personal questions that I really wanted to know. I'm such a planner, so I genuinely wanted to know the main thing first year associates struggle with so that I could prepare now.

If I can be of anymore help let me know! Oh and as long as you know what time you have to be there, don't stress the details. We didn't get our schedules until the day of when we walked in. You may also have a buddy they set you up with that's going to show you around. My HR reps were awesome! They broke the ice with a little game and it helped with the nervousness. Trust me, relax, give genuine answers, make sure it flows, and you will do fine!

[Charell__]

gosh that was long =/

[leglock]

Good response. Thanks for that

[Anonymous]

iAmGoingToPass – Thank you for taking out time from your busy day to give a thorough response, I greatly appreciate it! You responded very well to the questions that they asked! I will add these questions to my list to have a general answer prepared…I agree with you, answers that are googled are something that everyone will say and make the conversation boring! Hearing your experience has definitely made me a little less nervous 🙂

Did you apply for the winter 2015 position or S/F?

I just know that my interview is on Wednesday, they did not tell me what time yet! I think they will do that during the prenight event on Tuesday

I will also make sure to come back and tell you about my interviewing experience! But probably not til the next day..taking FAR on Thursday o.o

[Charell__]

No problem! I applied for the Summer/Fall 2015. During the presentation, it mentioned that the start date could be in Aug/Sept/Oct. I'll find out in my official offer letter. The partner said they usually send the written offer by email a few days after the verbal one. Good luck on the interview and FAR!! If you're not sure how to answer a question let me know so I can help. I don't mind at all.

[Anonymous]

Thanks IAmGoingToPass! I am so freaking nervous! I was practicing with a friend and I messed up on all the questions really badly o.o I don't think I was this nervous for an interview before lol (maybe because I never wanted the job this badly before?) Thanks for offering to help, you are such a sweetheart 🙂 PwC made the right choice!

[nosleep135]

iAmGoingToPass – Thank you for that! greatly appreciated

CPA..one day – Relax, just think they are humans too! They basically just want to see that you are able to converse with them and are not a robot (from what I heard) Don't over practice either, maybe you have already over practiced and that is what is causing you to mess up…have a few “go to” experiences that you can relate most questions to!

@ everyone, I never know how to answer the interview question on weaknesses, can you give me some examples? Thank you

[kathyy1]

You should definitely not show you are nervous. Research the company, make sure to ask intelligent questions, act and dress professional, and treat the interview as a conversation. They want to hire people who can work well with others and show initiative.

[Anonymous]

nosleep & kathy – Thank you! I am going to look over information about the company again tonight (I realized that the brochure I had is outdated and they have never statistics online!!)

I feel a bit more relaxed today then I did yesterday 🙂 I think I am just overwhelmed with FAR and taking it out on the interview lol

[Anonymous]

@iAmGoingToPass – I just wanted to let you know that I got an offer to at PwC! A Partner called me about 2 hours after I left their office to give a verbal offer and said that details will be provided via email in a few days 😀 Thank you for your help! And FAR was FAR, unsure of how it went but don't feel too great about it

@nosleep – I promise I will tell you the questions they asked and my response in a few days (going to hibernate lol) but they were along the same line as iAmGoingToPass' questions…Follow their PwC Professional core attributes (whole leadership, technical capabilities, business acumen, global acumen and relationships) their questions are based on them

[nosleep135]

Congrats! Thank you 🙂 I'm sure you did well on FAR too!

[Anonymous]

@nosleep – Sorry I took this long…

Only the HR asked specific questions:

1. Tell me about a time when you had to work with a difficult client?

I talked about hurricane Sandy and how our office was flooded (literally) with clients that were all upset due to losing their house..I narrowed it down to one client that was particularly aggressive because he had a newborn baby in his house and was afraid of mold and how I help calm him down and listened to him and got our company to work on his house 1st

2. Tell me about a time when you faced major change?

Again I talked about hurricane sandy and how I had to live without electricity during midterms week

3. How do you keep up with things happening globally? (THANK YOU iAmGoingToPass)

I told her I have the WSJ app and New York Times app on my phone…I went on to talk about how great I think it is that we can find out what is happening globally opposed to having to wait for the news broadcast or actual newspapers to get printed…this became a convo on how it is good and bad at the same time

4. Anything that sparked your interest in the news lately? (THANK YOU AGAIN iAmGoingToPass)

I asked her if she if she wanted a business related topic or general..she said general so I talked about Ebola…again, this became a two way conversation. She talked about how she had several plans to go traveling in the upcoming months but now she is afraid to catch the virus, etc.

Those are the only specific questions I was asked. The interviews with the others were purely conversational. The partner talked about himself and I asked questions in-between.

Just relax and try to make it a conversation opposed to them taking notes and looking at their paper the whole time! Ask about why they choose the firm and division…how they got to that position. And most importantly, relax 🙂

Good luck! If you need anything, just ask

[Anonymous]

just curious, for the people that got hired to big 4, what were your specs? as in gpa, level of degree, whether or not you had your CPA, etc

[Anonymous]

@cprv – I have an overall GPA of 3.95 and major of 4.0..graduated in spring 2014 and took FAR about 2 weeks ago..

[Author]

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