Mazars Assessment Day

(hi, i replied to your other post but thought i'd paste it here for other people, with some additions!)

I attended the assessment day at Mazars and have just received an offer from them to start in September this year. My experience with them have been nothing but good so far! I know that some people have said that they were slow but with me they were very prompt. I heard back from my online test very quickly and received a response from my first interview within a day.

My first interview with them is probably a little different from everyone else, because I am living abroad they gave me a telephone interview. The assessment day started at 8.45am in their office in London. My group was quite small with only 7 people. It started off with coffees and chatter, meeting some current managers who were our couriers for the day. Then off to the partner interview. My partner was very nice and asked me lots of questions about my experiences. He also had some competency questions on a check list that he felt he had to ask but seemed a lot more interested in my travels and hobbies. My interview went on for a little longer than it was supposed to be because I was asking lots of questions about the firm and what his experience has been of working there. He told me that he had only ever worked for Mazars throughout his entire career since leaving school. There must be something good about the firm to make him stay! In my opinion it is good to ask lots of questions because it shows you're genuinely interested in the firm and what they have to offer.

The group exercise is relatively straightforward. We had a scenario that we had to make a group decision on. We had about 15mins to read and think about it and then 30mins to talk about and come to a decision. I don't think it is vital what we decided, just that everyone participated. I think the most important thing is to make sure that you express your views but at the same time listen to what everyone else is saying. You need to be able to persuade others to your point of view but also notice when others have a good point. You don't need to know anything specific about accountancy or business for this. It is a totally random exercise. Don't feel worried about saying stupid things, it is better to say something than to keep quiet.

After that came the intray exercise. Some other companies will do this electronically but with Mazars it was all hand written on paper. There were 3 exercises to do, basic emails, what you have to do, prioritise them, making programs and answering a memo. The task itself was not hard but the time limit was very difficult to keep to. For those who are nervous about this, I thought I did absolutely awful on this task. For the first one I hardly wrote anything yet I got an offer somehow. So I think it's not absolutely vital you do perfectly on this. If i could do it again I would just make sure to write down everything as quickly as you can. They can't mark what's in your head and not on the paper.

After this was a buffet lunch and more talk with partners and managers. The formal assessment of the day was over and the rest of the afternoon was spent finding out more about the firm, the training scheme and working culture etc. This was very useful and Mazars seem like a very good place to work in. I went to an assessment day at a Big4 firm and they didn't bother giving any information whatsoever. It was almost like they knew they were so big and successful that they didn't need to tell you anything, you're just expected to know. Mazars answered any individual questions we had, they invited a tutor from the training college to give a talk on the exams and we could even write down any questions we felt uncomfortable to vocalise. I received an offer from them in the post within 2weeks and they gave me approximately 2 weeks to give them a reply.

Good luck with your recruitment day and feel free to send me a message with any questions.

Zaza

zaza

thank you for your replies (to both threads).

I would certainly not hestitate to msg you should I have any further Q's!

Much appreciated.

Zaza,

Is it possible for you to give me an idea about the telephone interview?

Thanks

Or anyone for tha matter who has had atelephone interview with Mazars?

Any ideas of the starting salary for audit at Mazars?

it depends what region you're are applying to. It really varies, quite a bit between each one. They're competitive though.

Competitive with the trolley collectors in Asda if you ask me...

your comment is rather inappropriate if you don't mind me saying.

I work as an audit trainee with mazars. They pay good salaries for a mid-tier firm. Whatever the case you shouldn't pick a graduate scheme on salary, thats my advice. You should go for the experience that you are going to get from that company and the experience you are after.

hi guys, I completed my my online test for mazars about three weeks ago and have yet to hear anything. Is this normal?

yeah from what i remember they took a while gettin back to me. Especially for my second interview.

hi guys, I still havent hear anything after completing the online testing phase of the application. I'm worried they may have lost my application, it has been over a month now since I completed the tests! Anyone with prior experience with Mazars, is this normal? Should I call them?
Thanks!

Hi top_cat87, I am in the same boat and was just about to phone them but I can't find a number to call! I did the tests a while a go and they still haven't got back to me! I'm not sure the concern is that they've lost your application seeing as you've already completed the tests, but I think that, as with many of the other firms at the moment, they are waiting until January/Feb to get back to people. This has been the case with about 5 of the firms that I have phoned today.

Hi, James

I hope you are right, but reading through these forums it seems that people have been invited to the first round interview. I did my online test over a month ago, so i'm slightly worried..There is a number on their graduate recruitment website, i may call them at the turn of the year!
Thanks anyway!

hi guys, has anyone heard anything from mazars? It has been over 2 months since i completed my online tests.

I know, they take ages. I recently heard back from them after a month or so since my online tests. In the end I got an offer from PwC while I was waiting, but Mazars do seem to take their time.

I just heard from them inviting me to a first interview

oh, i think i got a miss call from them today.. When is your interview james?

Feb 12th I think

Hi James23,

would you like to share your experience with the mazars interview? What kind of questions were asked? any commercial awareness questions?

I'll have my interview on tuesday so I would really really appreciate any input!!!

Hi VaneelaLFAJ,

How was your interview on tuesday? I have mine coming up soon so just wondering what kind of questions were asked and how the article at the beginning was?

Thanks

Hi,

I have my assessment day coming up soon for Mazars and was hoping anyone who had attended one recently could share their experience?

I wanted to know more about the partner interview - what sort of q's are there? compentency based?

Thank you in advance

Hi grad2009,

I have an assessment day coming up aswell this week. I wonder if anyone had any information on the Partner Interview.

Hi,

I have my assessment day coming up soon for Mazars on 15 July and for junior accountant position they told me that I will have 5 hours test on accountancy and english (i'm romanian).
Could anyone help me with some advice?

Thank you in advance,

Alexandra

zalexa

hie can you share you experiance on you assessment day??? any help will be much appreciated?
what questions does the partner ask
and how is the in-intray exercise?

Hi modho and everyone else :-)

Seems like quite a few people had Mazars assessment centers recently, is there any chance you could share your experiences.
There's not enough info here on Mazars :-( so any input would really help a great deal.

thanx

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows what to expect with in-tray exercises and where you can practice these (for free). Also, what is meant by making programs in these exercises? I have no idea what to expect... all I know is that these things are supposed to be impossible to complete

very hard to practice, if not impossible in all honesty. I've just received a job offer from mazars and i've been very impressed so far. I thought i had failed the in-tray exercise by miles, but the rest of the assessment went really well.

The in-tray is different from other companies as it is on paper and you have you list loads of items and explain whether they are important or not before explaining your decision. Then, you have to organise an event by co-ordinating between several speakers at a conference and calculate the bill for the event to ensure it's within the budget. The numbers can get confusing when you are working really fast but keep cool under pressure. The third part is dead simple. It's just a test to see whether you can write in paragraphs and be creative. No need to use posh english i don't think!

Beware - the mazars in-tray is reknowned for being one of the most difficult! Even harder than those given by the Big 4 according to many.

theaccountant2, I have just recieved an offer from Mazars as well and am also very impressed. Were you at the assessment day last week? and are you going to accept the offer?

I think Mazars is a fantastic company and the people were great too - very down-to-earth and honest. Good luck with your future!

Probably yes but i do have other offers on the table. Which office are you going to work at if you accept?

Thanks. Good luck with your future as well!

It would be the London Office. Ok mate, may see you in september then!

I work for Mazars. Such a good company, they look after you well. I have just finished all my professional stage exams.

Congrats on the job offer! Maybe see you around next year!

thanks!

well done for passing those exams as well.

Poopatron, what is the salary progression like within Mazars? I've been told a lot of places nearly double graduates salaries within 3 years

Poopatron - a great name btw. lol

I worked for Mazars for nearly a year on the grad scheme. There was basically no training at all. Just sent out to audit with no training or explanations of what's going on, mess you around with exams, very very low salary. I can't believe I even applied to Mazars in the first place, waste of time. Almost everyone in the two offices I worked in were trying to leave the firm. Says it all really. Go for big four if you've got the grades, don't waste your time. I understand that getting a job in this climate is pretty good, but if you got it here, keep your options open...

You will find that in everyone ACA training firm there are people that want to leave post qualification.

I assume that you are not working for Mazars now as you have failed your exams.

I think they are more than supportive with exams. As for your work experience and lack of training. They provide you internal training which are week long courses and your office will do some internal training as well. Guess it depends what office you work in.

As for the lack of training whilst on the job, I disagree and that is down to you. Your aca experience is down to you, what you put into it is what you get our of it. Whatever company you work for you can't expect to be spoonfed. If you ask for assistance people will help you. You are never expected to work independently until the company thinks you are ready. The whole point of working for a smaller company is that you get more responsibility early on.

As for the salary comments, you can't expect to get a big 4 salary, but it's all relative. They pay well for a mid tier I think you will find. And salary progession is good if you perform well. Perform average and u will get an average increase.

Everythin is relative. You obviously had a bad experience, myself a good experience.

I'm undecided whether to accept Mazars or not now, but thanks for both of your inputs.

I don't expect to be earning a salary as high as a big 4 firm but obviously if the salary doesn't double or nearly double after 3 years then the gap between Mazars and the big 4 widens.

Corndog, which office/s did you have this bad experience in?

Good assumption... I have passed every exam first time. I'm not working for Mazars because it's a really poor graduate scheme and most people were jumping ship.

The more responsibility at smaller firms isn't really true at all - you actually get a lot more responsibility at big four firms. I've found that more is expected of you at a big four firm and therefore you get more responsibility earlier on. The training you get from a big four firm is so much better than at Mazars - that's why they are top graduate employers.

I know a lot of people who have had bad experiences there. When I qualify I'd expect to be on more than £30k at least, whereas I know people who worked there who weren't.

End of the day it's your choice and it's a job. If you didn't have any other offers I'd take it still but I'd keep looking around.

Thanks.

Yh i do have other offers but none from any big 4 firms.

How can you be so critical of Mazars if you aren't working there as well? You seemed to insinuate you worked there and now you aren't.

Come on guys give us some real comments about Mazars cos I am about to apply in that firm, asking you a question do they send you for ACA Tuition centre or not?

Regards

I recently had my final interview interview with Mazars. How long did you have to wait for them to get back to you on the outcome?

I've waited over a week, still not heard anything. And I've called twice.

What office is that for beel786? I have my assessment day next week and if successful I'd start at the beginning of september so I'm hoping they will let me know the outcome quickly

Birmingham office. It was a school leavers position in audit involving an AAT and then ACA. But I didn't get it. But the HR person said he would investigate whether he could offer me a position at different office and would be able to tell me next week.

long long wait

Long long wait indeed. I thought it was going to be much faster as they told us that someone would contact us within the next couple of days after the assessment centre... Anyone got a job offer recently to start in Septemeber? How long did they take to get back to you after the assessment centre?

They were not that slow!

Went through the process relatively quickly. What I will say is that the Big 4 will be quicker. But not that much longer.

Recently had my assessment day, which was actually good fun!

Tara x

well, i had waited for nearly 3 weeks after my 1st interview. they only told me i was rejected when i sent an email to ask. I dont live in the UK and I couldnt go back home because i had to wait for the result. In terms of feed back they were very very bad. I had asked for many times over a period of around 3 weeks but i never get a respond. I do understand that the HR might be busy but i think it is a bit harsh to ignore someone who had asked politely for about 5 times.

Hiii

I started at Mazars last year; I have been at assesment centres chatting to people about the graduate scheme. If you guys need any advice or want to ask questions feel free to ask.

Hopefully see some of you sometime in the future.

Rachel :)