Deloitte Assessment Day HELP!!

I had my assessment day today for audit at Deloitte.

The e-tray and written exercise part of the day is relatively straightforward to be honest.

As for the partner interview, for the first 10 minutes I was asked to discuss the choice I made in my written exercise (I had to choose between 3 alternative companies that Trafford Lea (the client) could acquire to help them access new markets). The partner pushed me to justify my answer in every possible way, which I think was to make sure I could stand up to pressure.

Next, I was asked about 3 competency questions which threw me a bit because I was also expecting to be asked more commercial awareness sort of questions. The questions he asked were 'Tell me about a time when you set about to achieve something and failed', 'Tell me about a time you had to learn something completely new', and 'Tell me about a time when you were put under a large amount of pressure'.

After that nightmare, I was then asked a little about recent news stories and mostly about why I wanted to go into accounting, why Deloitte specifically, why audit, what does the ACA involve and what I thought I'd be doing. I was also asked if I had applied elsewhere and what stage I was at, and then he asked if he gave me an offer would I accept it.

• Keep calm and if it seems like they're really pressuring you and asking tough questions, it's just to see how you cope under pressure which you'll probably find in the job.
• Ensure you have enough general examples to get you through any random competency question that could come up. To be honest I think there's too many to actually prepare for each one specifically.
• Make sure you come across as actually wanting the job and jump at any opportunity to prove it.
• Find out exactly what you'll have to do as part of the job and what any professional qualification you do involves. (As for this point, you will go out to lunch with a recent starter before the interview and that's the best time to ask about the job and exams)

I hope that helps some and I wish you luck.

did you get the job? also do you do fam at notts i recognise your name!

Lol yes I got the job today, and yes I do do FAM at Notts. How do you recognise me?

Congratulations on the job! Thanks a lot for the help mate , it was really useful. I was also wondering whether you were the only one at the assessment day? Ive heard of assessment days where there is only one person

Yep, that suprised me too as I'd been to KPMG and PwC assessment centres and they always had a group of people.

For Deloitte, I was the only one there, I sat by myself in a small room with a laptop to complete the e-tray and written exercises. The administrator just left me to it and went back to work until I'd finished.

It was kind of nice being on my own for the lunch with a second year because it felt more personal and I got to ask all the questions I needed to in order to do well in the partner interview.

I'm not sure if the group size depends where you have your AC.

Good luck,
Brad

Just to comment on the parts of the AC other than the partner interview:

The first task is the e-tray which is carried out on a laptop for 1 hour. You will be given background information on the company that you are working for and the client that you are currently working on. When you start you will have a number of emails already in your inbox. Many of the emails will ask for your advice on something and a lot of these are not clear cut. In fact, sometimes it's not possible to deduce the answer from information given and you just have to make up your own mind (e.g. when asked if you should put something off because its not a priority or whether you should tackle it straight away). For each email there are 3 potential responses which you have to choose between. Note that some emails have attachments that have information you need to read and manipulate in order to answer questions. You are also given a folder with other information that you will often have to look at in order to answer questions.
You are told that you will be sent about 20 emails, although I went through the task pretty quickly and finished in 45 minutes and I was sent a total of 28 emails, although some of these were just responses that didn't require a reply.

After this, you will be given a short break before moving on to the written exercise. This task is 50 minutes long and requires you to compose an email on which you will be assessed for the content, language, grammar and construct (i.e. formality).
The task is about 3 potential companies which your client has to choose between to acquire in order to help them access new markets. You are given a range of information and asked to choose which company the client should choose, justify your choice and explain why you didn't pick the others. I went about the task by talking about the relative advantages and disadvantages of each company and then concluding by choosing what I thought was the best one and giving a quick summary of why I had picked that over the others. In the 50 minutes you also need to make notes on your choices as you will be asked by the partner to summarise the company you chose and to justify your choice. In the end, the company I picked appeared to have the most advantages (e.g. best customer service, good profitability, cheapest to acquire etc.) which I used to back up my choice. The partner may try and push you and try and make you change your mind or he may list some of the disadvantages (e.g. my choice of company was quite old fashioned and may see declining sales in the future) and get you to explain how you could still justify advising that choice to the company. Don't get flustered over it and just keep reaffirming the reasons for your choice.

After this, you go out for an all expenses paid lunch with a trainee and get to ask all the questions you want that may come up in the partner interview. Main focus on questions should be the qualification, the sort of work you'll be doing, the reasons why they enjoy their job and potentially Deloitte's clients that could be mentioned (although it never really came up for me).

I think enough has been said about the partner interview so I'll leave it there.
Good luck to anyone who's applying, and let us know how you get on.

Brad

Hey, I'm a t Nottingham too!

Got my assessment day next week!

Thanks for the advice.

If you get Alistair as a partner, he's a nice guy and apparently the youngest of the three partners but he'll push you. Make sure you know exactly which company is the best in your opinion during the written exercise and ensure that you can justify it because you'll have to justify it to death in the partner interview with him. Just stay calm and even if it seems like he thinks you're a right idiot, he's probably just testing you and you still have a good chance of getting it if you don't get flustered and answer all the questions.

Good Luck

Hi, I just had my assessment centre for Deloitte at the Birmingham offices. I see the questions in the partner interview that bradlever put, but mine were completely different to that so I think it really does depend on the partner. I got asked "name a time you've had to give a presentation" which was the same in the competency interview and I got asked "what is the biggest challenge you've faced?". I also got asked "name a time when you have had to work under pressure in a stressed environment" or something like that. I think the best piece of advice I got before I went in came from the person I had lunch with during the assessment centre. He said to be honest in what you think you'll be doing in your first few weeks at Deloitte. I said that I thought it'd be mostly observations (when not studying) and would maybe be a bit of a box ticking exercise and my partner said it was very refreshing to hear that as most grads go in saying they think they'll be advising clients and obv they won't! Also, I'm guessing the structure of the day depends on what time it starts at - my assessment centre started at midday so the first thing I did was go for lunch. Also, all assessment centres only have 1 person in them and there is no group exercise. I think the most important thing is just to be really enthusiastic about the area you're going into. I applied for audit and had a massive conversation with the partner about the Enron scandal, which I think worked to my advantage. I found out an hour after leaving the offices that I got the job. You'll be fine, I've been to other assessment centres and this was by far the best - also they love the fact they're working with the Olympics 2012 so I'd mention that as something that puts them above PWC etc. Good luck!

Thanks for the post and I hope you get the job, by the sound of it you did really well. I'm currently working on a super big post that will contain all the information that anyone could need when applying for Deloitte, so if you have any other comments you'd like to make on any part of Deloitte's assessment from the application to the AC, that would be useful.

Hey, yeah I did get the job, looking forward to starting! I found the Deloitte process the best out of any others I'd applied to - and I really think the most important thing is enthusiasm and knowledge - in the partner interview I know I didn't answer the competency questions well because they really threw me as I wasn't expecting any either! I found at each stage of the application they seemed to ask about the environment Deloitte currently works in - I found a good article about audit.. which I now can't find but here's a similar one http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/12465140?f=home_featured

I add any thoughts when you post your massive post!

Also, this is useful http://www.wikijob.co.uk/wiki/deloitte-andersen-transaction

The partner who interviewed me was an ex-Andersen employee that Deloitte took on and it helped me loads knowing about it enough to hold a conversation!

Who was the partner who interviewed you? I had an ex-Andersen employee interviewing me too!

Hi,

I have my final assessment centre coming up in London on Thurs 21st and am feeling sick with nerves...especially as I applied for audit just over a year ago and failed at this stage..!

From what I remember, the three options were Zambezi for the online retailers and Avalan or something for B2B target...just wondering if this is still the same or has it changed?

Also, if you know of any recent articles detailing factors currently affecting the auditing profession, they would be much appreciated - dont seem to be having much luck!!

P.s. just wondering if they expect you to do calculations, and if so, do they provide a calculator...i cant remember from last year..

Thank you

Hi there,

Ok firstly, in the etray there are some simple calculations (mainly just adding and simple arithmetic) but they don't give you a calculator. I happen to have a calculator on my watch, but there is also a pad of paper for you to do the sums if you struggle to do them all mentally.

For the written exercise you are advising Trafford Lea on which company they should acquire to give them access to new markets. The first choice is Zambezi Online who trade solely online and have very high profits, but also have a very high purchase price. The main benefit is that it is online which is definitely an upcoming market and provides Trafford Lea with an already established online presence. The second choice is Avalon Book Club whose trade is based on catalogue based mail order. The problem with that is obviously that it's a retail method that could be seen as on its way out with the increasing use of online retail, however it also has very high profits and the lowest purchase price, along with a number of other benefits. The third choice is Tarrini Books (or something like that) which has a number of physical stores but also an online presence. It is very middle of the road in every category so I mainly ignored it really.

• Since 2005 all listed companies in the EU are mandated to use IFRS.
• Several other major countries are bringing their national GAAP in line with IFRS within the next few years if they haven't already done so.
• The US is now looking to converge its GAAP with IFRS although it may take until about 2014-16 until companies are permitted or required to use IFRS.
• The US used to require that any foreign companies listed in the US had to provide reconciliations of their accounts with US GAAP, however that is no longer required for companies reporting using IFRS as issued by the IASB.
• Essentially Deloitte need to keep up to date with new IFRS and be able to inform their clients about it. In future, many of the smaller unlisted companies and SMEs may wish to start using IFRS even though it currently isn't required as there are advantages in having reports which are comparable with other companies.

I hope that helps, and if you need to know anything else, let us know. Good luck

Re. calculations, as bradlever said they are pretty basic, but I would suggest that you should bring your own calculator just to be safe.

As for issues affecting the auditing profession, very good post above regarding International Accounting Standards. I was also prepared to talk about fraud and the implication for auditors, especially regarding liability: investors and shareholders may look to auditors for compensation to recover the losses from fraud: could talk about Jay Wexler, an investor with Bernie Madoff's companies filing a lawsuit which implicates KPMG in the UK and the USA: http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/news/2251667/madoff-lawsuit-attacks-kpmg-uk. Report out last Monday by BDO which reported fraud at record levels: http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/news/2255882/reported-fraud-amounts-2bn-2009.

Good luck!

Hi,
I have an assessment centre coming up this week and am getting worried about commercial awareness questions that may come up in the partner interview. I have been keeping an eye on the news, checking FT and accountancy age etc, but I am coming from a non-relevant background so am unsure on my choice of news stories etc and how much I need to know.

I have been thinking of talking about the following companies should I get asked questions on them:
interesting story - Kraft/Cadbury hostile takeover,
company doing well - either John Lewis or Tesco,
company not doing so well - BA

Do these sound ok? Also, do you think I need to know loads of facts and figures or are discussions more general and based on your opinion? Any guidance would be appreciated. The above posts have been really helpful.

Thanks!!

Thanks, got my assessment centre tomorrow

I've looked over the E-Tray, I know some stuff about Deloitte, I've prepared answers to career questions and I've got some Audit issues and business stories to talk about.

Can anyone recommend any other preparation, I'm fretting a bit about being underprepared, or any more questions that they were asked in the partner interview, this seems to be the only bit you can really prepare for.

Thanks.

Star Cat:
I wouldn't worry too much about the Commercial Awareness questions, you seem to have been keeping well informed about current business issues through your reading. Like you I'm from a non-relevant background and so I did prepare a company that's doing well (Morrisons) badly (BA) and interesting news story (Kraft/Cadbury). Your companies sound fine...they are basically the same as mine! I knew a few facts about each one: e.g. evidence of a company doing well, such as sales figures/profit figures over the Christmas period. Although I got asked next to no commercial questions at Deloitte, from my experience at other firms it is more about giving your opinion: e.g. when asked about Morrison's, I was asked what they could do to expand further and the risks involved with those expansion plans. I'm sure you will be fine!

Edpayasugo:

You can't really do that much to prepare: look over the Civil Service e-tray to get used to the software; the advice on this thread is very useful; look over the competencies that you prepared for your first interview.

Good luck!

Agreed on the point of commercial awareness. I don't think I got asked one question which was to give an example of one piece of news that affected the business world. I just talked about the fact that the recession was so bad that it had caused the credit rating of entire countries like Greece to fall, and could even affect others like Iceland and potentially even the UK if they don't sort out their budget deficit. The main focus I think is on what you'll be doing, what the qualification will involve and what issues might Deloitte have to deal with. I was asked one question about what I thought he and the other 2 partners would be talking about a lot (so issues to do with IFRS and stuff I guess).

I was really unprepared to be honest as the questions they ask you just come completely out of the blue. Just do your best to look like even if you have no idea of any personal examples that match the question, you adapt one to fit. They're just trying to pressure you to see how you cope. Also, even if it feels like you're doing rubbish, just keep it up because you're more than likely doing better than a lot of other people.

Don't worry about the e-tray and written exercise as you can't really prepare for it, the etray is mainly an exercise in common sense and making sure you can handle time pressure. The written exercise is just to make sure you can actually write something without sounding like you're still in primary school.

Good luck

Thank you for all your help and advice, has been extremely useful...

I think your examples are fine but you should learn a bit about the industry as a whole. For example british airways is great but you should learn about perhaps JAL and their bankrupcy and look up perhaps ryan air and whats caused their success. Also think about things like the impact of the recesion which has really affected the aviation industry because of people holidaying in local places that they can drive to to save money.

If you just get a broad understanding of a few industries then you can have an answer to any question you are asked. I just picked a few I'm interested in, for example I like video games so if i was asked about a company that was doing well i could say Nintendo because they have broadened their market rather than fighting for a limited share of the niche market Microsoft and Sony target

Also as i found out to my dismay it is essential to have an understanding of anything going on with the banks and anything going on with audit. The accountancy age website is great for that. For general commercial awareness be sure to read the business pages. Something that works for me is watching a programme called World Business Report on the bbc iplayer. Gives a good overview of the current business news and they sometimes have slightly more in depth interviews.

I realise thats a lot of stuff for the few days you have but just go with whatever sounds best for you and remember to go with the stuff thats interesting

Bradlever, my partner was called Jane at the Birmingham office. She was really nice!

Also, if you're not from a business/accounting background did you have to prepare a business that's doing good/bad etc? I didn't have to but I wondered if because I have a relevant degree they didn't ask.

Going on what bradlever said about the etray choices, I chose the Tarrini Books one, which has stores and and a website and I thought Avalon Books was obsolete, and as bradlever was completely the opposite to me it shows that it's more about how well you support your decision rather than what you pick! They asked me potential problems that could arise from the takeover, so for my choice I said how it was a family business and so employees may be against a takeover and also how I thought the problem could be solved.

I think it totally depends on the partner about what you get asked. I'm from a non-relevant degree and had prepared some companies/industries to talk about but I wasn't asked any commercial awareness questions at all. Come to think of it, I wasn't even asked any competency based question questions either. We did the e-tray role play for about 20-30 minutes (which I think is longer than most people have experienced) and then just had a general chat about myself with him. It was very much a two way conversation. I wasn't sure what to make of it on the day: I reckoned it was either a very good sign or a very bad sign: so happy it was the former!

okay guys, I know this topic has been discussed to death but I have been invited to an assessment centre for an audit position in london! I fear it may be my last chance to secure a position so any help would be great. I'm worried about the e-tray; it seems as if either you pass or fail, any tips from successful candidates would be great. What kind of questions should i expect in the partner interview?

Thanks guys!

For the etray you're acting as an adviser to Trafford Lea who sell books and stationary or something like that. You have an email inbox, some information folders (which you will need to use to answer several of the questions), a calendar and a note pad.

You'll get a number of emails which give you three responses. Some of them have only one correct response, while others are a bit more subjective and may have one good answer, one ok answer and one wrong answer to choose from. An example of the sort of question you will have to answer is 'Which two advisers can work on a certain project given the time frame for the project and the particular skills required', (obviously it is phrased properly and with an actual time frame and skills specified). So in order to answer you would have to look in your information folder and find out when each adviser is available (to ensure that you don't double book them) and which advisers have the skills that were required. To be honest, they're not the most challenging questions, most of them just require you to look for information, and sometimes do some simple data manipulation or calculations (e.g. to work out where the actual cost went over the budget cost). Some questions however will be a bit less clear cut, for example 'We've been asked to carry out another project but keep within our agreed time frame, should we carry out the project within the time frame, ask for more time, or postpone the project till a later date?' They don't really tell you the answer to these questions and it's more up to your judgement really.

The partner interview is tricky because several people have said that their partner interview was just a general chat about themselves (see wadw's post before yours), while others, me included, have said that the interview included a number of competency questions. Just go back through this thread and you'll get an idea for what will happen. A lot of people on here have been having their ACs recently and so it's a pretty developed thread now. Definitely better information than what I had when I went to do mine.

Let us know if you have any more questions about anything

cheers for the help bradlever!
Did you approach the etray with any particular method? ie did you make notes at the start? did you answer the emails in order? I have looked at the example etray on the fast stream website and it seems there is alot of info. in the folders!
With regards to the written part, how much did you write? Did you just list advantages and disadvantages of each option and then give your opinion?

thanks again :)

Re. e-tray:

Before you start the e-tray expand the windows task bar; I then read through all the info in the folders, keeping all the attachments open, but minimised, so they were ready when I needed them to be; I also made a very brief note (one or two words) to remind me what each one was about. I just answered the emails in order: there is no need to prioritise as along as you get through them all within the time limit. Just work through them methodically and you should be fine. I finished with about 15 minutes to spare. I received 28 e-mails in total, 21 of which needed a reply.

With regards to the info in the folders, although there are about 15 separate pieces of information at the start (you will also get information as attachments in emails), there is a lot less writing to take in than the Civil Service e-tray. It is mainly tables, matrices, diagrams etc.

For the written part, it's hard to say exactly how much I wrote but I would say it was about 500-800 words. I used a very basic structure, outlining the strengths and weaknesses of each company in turn before coming to a conclusion. You must make sure you leave some time to make notes for the role-play section of the partner interview; Deloitte themselves recommend 10 minutes at least, I would probably leave a bit more time than that.

Hope this helps and good luck!

omg!! jus had my AC today...after partner interview i popped to the loo and stood around chatting with some of the other candidates...when i got in the lift to leave the partner that interviewed me told me i had the job!!! yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy!!!

thanks for everyones help!! x

Wow that's incredible. Well done.

guys,

got deloitte final assessment day coming up.

just wandering about the e-tray - are both sections about trafford-lea..?

Yep

because on wikijob, it doesnt say that - it says the first bit is about something else!

Computer Exercise
[Edit]
Background
[Edit]
The E-tray exercise is a 60 minute computer simulation of an email inbox. Over the course of the exercise, you will be presented with a sequence of emails, from which you will have to select a response from a multiple choice.

You are a Financial trainee working for Advantage Business Service (ABS). ABS provides Financial & Business Services, Marketing Services, and HR Advisory services. You joined the company 8 months ago. You were working in Nottingham office but now you are transferring to Birmingham office to replace a colleague who is ill. You will have to deal with 24 emails from various people requesting info from you. The exercise starts with about 6 emails already in the inbox.

In your company's folder (ABS), you will see the following:

Calendar
Employee's Availability
Organisation Chart

You will also get folders for all 5 clients (only three of them will request info in the emails), and some simple formulae about how to judge the performance of the client's business.

Typical request from emails
[Edit]
Client from Nottingham office wants you to do a job, what would you do?
One of your colleagues is struggling with contacting someone, how would you react to help him?
According to the info in Folders, do some calculations. They are not necessarily straight forward.
Tips
[Edit]
Not all the e-mails will require you to go back to info folders. Some of them just require you to give your opinion.

There are three companies to advise on, so make sure you've identified which company you are being asked about prior to answering. The multiple choices will be created in such a way that may cause you to be easily misled, consequently, take your time and be careful.

Spend the first 5-10 minutes reading the information you are given before diving in. This will save you time later. Work at a sensible pace without rushing. It is quite easy to finish approximately 24 emails with time to spare.

Lastly, be careful and take your time to select the best response. It is easily possible to finish this exercise within the time limit.

Written Exercise
[Edit]
After the E-tray exercise, you will then be asked to write a business email based upon the scenario developed over the previous hour. You will be required to analyse three potential takeover targets, and make your recommendation and case to the client's board of directors. The takeover targets are an internet firm, a catalogue firm or another store based firm.

There is no right or wrong answers here; any of the three companies will be adequate. They are testing your reasoning, so you must be able to substantiate your decision. For example, interviewees are often asked "how would you convince the board your decision is correct?"

The written exercise is done on the computer, but the software does not have a spellchecker, so make sure your answer is spelt correctly. Candidates are pushed for time much more in this exercise; it is advisable think about how you are going to word and structure your composition before you begin to write it.

abc1- when is your assessment centre? when did you pass your interview?

I've gotta say that doesn't sound right at all.

It completely contradicts what Deloitte's website says:
http://careers.deloitte.com/united-kingdom/students/csc_general.aspx?CountryContentID=12543

You work for GDT Group advising Trafford Lea.

The e-tray and the written exercise is based around the Trafford Lea scenario, although the written exercise is more focused on choosing one of three companies for Trafford Lea to acquire.

'Which two advisers can work on a certain project given the time frame for the project and the particular skills required', (obviously it is phrased properly and with an actual time frame and skills specified). So in order to answer you would have to look in your information folder and find out when each adviser is available (to ensure that you don't double book them) and which advisers have the skills that were required

Hey guys,

1) was just wandering in relation to the above - are you supposed to make use of the calendar on the laptop here to ensure that you don't double book staff? I'm guessing the other way you can do this is just by writing down when you have booked staff on the piece of paper provided...!

2) Also, in the written e-mail part of the e-tray assessing the takeovers etc...how should you structure your e-mail?

Should it be...

             RE: Evaluation of take-over options

1st para - background

CONTENT - outlining pro's/cons...

ending paragraph

Kind Regards,
abc1

also, can someone please calarify this:

after finishing the first-part of the e-tray...should I take notes on information provided in the information e-mails?
will this help me in the next part of the e-tray - i.e. assessing potential take-over options....? I intend to take notes at the beginning of the exercise so I can easily refer to it when answering the multiple choice questions, but if I finish early - should I take FURTHER notes?

i will definately take notes to summarise the e-mail I send the manager in the second part of the e-tray.

Really appreciate your help guys...

abc1

Are you allowed to bring a calculator into the e-tray for calculations?

thanks

Some questions however will be a bit less clear cut, for example 'We've been asked to carry out another project but keep within our agreed time frame, should we carry out the project within the time frame, ask for more time, or postpone the project till a later date?' They don't really tell you the answer to these questions and it's more up to your judgement really.

How do you deal with that question guys..?

guys please reply soon if you can..would really appreciate it...i know i've posted quite a bit..but would be really grateful for some1 to answer as much as poss...thanks a lot in advance guys!!..

OMG - just tried doing the Civil Service Fast Stream E-tray exercises - it's like so hard!!!!!!! Is deloitte anything like this anyone?!!?!

Hi Guys,

Had my assessment centre on Friday and got offered a position today :). Just wanted to thank you for your advice!!

abc1: I wouldn't worry about the Fast Stream E-tray too much. It is useful in terms of layout but I'd say the Deloitte one is easier in that there isn't as much written information in the attachments. I also found the Civil service one hard. Like the others have said I think it's mostly common sense answers. Don't worry about trying to figure out the answer to the example above as you can't really answer it without more info - which they will give you in the e-tray.
Good luck!

hey star-cat, which office did u apply to?

Hi abc, just seen how many unanswered questions you have, so I'll try and get through them all here:

1) As has been said above, don't fret about the e-tray or written exercise. They're not overly complicated. I finished mine with 15 minutes to go. Just pick what you think is the right answer given the information you have and don't over-think it. With the questions that are less clear cut, you just need to go with what you think is the right answer.

2) I think you are allowed to bring a calculator, but to be honest, you could probably do most of the calculations in your head.

3) As for taking notes, don't worry too much about the stuff in the etray, it's not particularly related to the written exercise. You need to concentrate on making notes about the 3 companies that you are presented with in the written exercise for the partner interview.

4) The structure of the email is up to you. I did:

• Hi (Manager's name - it is given to you in the etray),
• Introduction about looking through the three companies and how I was going to assess them (i.e. look through the advantages and disadvantages and base my decision on that)
• Advantages and disadvantages of each company
• Conclusion on which company I picked and a brief recap on why I picked that one, and why I didn't pick the others.
• Regards, Brad

I think that's answered all your questions. Let me know if I missed any.

Brad

'Which two advisers can work on a certain project given the time frame for the project and the particular skills required', (obviously it is phrased properly and with an actual time frame and skills specified). So in order to answer you would have to look in your information folder and find out when each adviser is available (to ensure that you don't double book them) and which advisers have the skills that were required

Hey guys,

1) was just wandering in relation to the above - are you supposed to make use of the calendar on the laptop here to ensure that you don't double book staff? I'm guessing the other way you can do this is just by writing down when you have booked staff on the piece of paper provided...!

2) Also, in the written e-mail part of the e-tray assessing the takeovers etc...how should you structure your e-mail?

Should it be...

             RE: Evaluation of take-over options

1st para - background

CONTENT - outlining pro's/cons...

ending paragraph

Kind Regards, abc1

Brad & Top Cat - thank you guys for your help - really appreciate it - and congrats to both of you on getting the job!!

brad - instead of

Hi "Manager"

should I not write

Dear "Manager"

and

Kind Regards,
abc1

Hey,

As far as I can see, you've posed 2 more questions to be answered, so:

1) You will be given a timetable to tell you when each adviser is booked and available, you will also be given a list of each advisers skills. Your job is to find 2 advisers who have certain skills and who are available at the time required. The calendar you are given doesn't actually have any information in it, it is just useful so you can work out what the date will be in a couple of weeks time or whatever.

2) It's up to you really. I would have thought that when you're working together, there's not such a massive need to be overly formal as you probably know each other relatively well.

Hope that's answered everything. Let me know if you've got any more lined up. :-)

Brad

Brad - you're a legend mate, thanks for this