PwC Assessment Centre

Well done! Great post!

Out of curiosity, did you have to sit a diagrammatic reasoning test?

the logic test that I talk about it the diagramatic reasoning test.

I have an assessment centre for the undergraduate assurance sector next tuesday, but regarding the partner interview, I'm a bit concerned on what current issues to discuss. First of all does it have to be related to PwC (if the one I choose isnt and they ask me to pick again, I could be struggling!) so any ideas on good issues to discuss would be welcomed.

I can't help but think of those horrible interviews in the penultimate episode of The Apprentice where they bascally were told they were all useless and had to defend themselves.lol

also any more general tips on what they are looking for in the partner interview and what style I should adopt in the interview?

Make sure you read Partner interviews and PwC interview questions (PricewaterhouseCoopers).

Also for current issues read Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Credit crunch effect on audit.

The partner interview is not so competency based. You might get a couple of competency based questions but the purpose really is to understand you personally. It is in many ways the only 'real' interview you get- the rest is just 'assessment'. The partner will be looking to see if you are a decent person, will fit in with the firm, and presentable, responsible and honest enough to be put in front of clients.

It's all about chemistry but in my opinion a partner interview is easier than a competency based interview. Just relax and be your professional self. Be inquisitive and ask the partner questions about PwC, about their career and their role, that kind of thing. It is more of a chat than an assessment. The partner will have read through your application just before you came in so you will probably have to talk about what you wrote. In my interview, the partner picked up that I was a keen guitarist, and it so turned out he was too, and we talked about that for half the interview!

And don't fret, it'll be fine!

Hope this helps! Chris.

It just occurred to me I didn't quite answer your question. The current issues- they are current issues that are affecting the industry as a whole, but relate them to PwC. So for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, you want to say that it increases the amount of work PwC has to do for it's clients, but equally it means PwC can charge them more!

They won't expect you to understand technical stuff about issues affecting PwC specifically- after all, you odn't work for them yet. Make sure you search the recent news for things about PwC. Note also that PwC where the auditors of Northern Rock, and were caught in the fire after it collapsed.

Good luck!

lol, yeh i read about that, might have to tread on eggshells when mentioning northern rock, i'd imagine its quite a sensitive subject at PwC right now.

ok im gonna talk about sarbox and the credit crunch (even tho i had a lengthy discussion about this in my first interview! I'l have to really kno my stuff to get away with using it again)

Thanks a lot for all your help, your posts on here have got me to the stage I am, so hopefully they can drag me one stage further, then its happy days!!

Yeah I think you should be OK. Don't worry too much about repeating yourself from first interview and second - that's fine. Sarbox (or SOX for short) is really important for audit- though it's not as recent as some things it is still worth mentioning.

Good luck!

WAIT!

try not to talk too much about the damn CREDIT CRUNCH! having spoken to my recuritment contacts they told me that one reason I got through was my knowledge about other news articles. Apparently loads of grads have been talking about the credit crunch with no real understanding. I was able to talk about something I really knew abuot which got me through.

Only talk about the credit crunch if you are really sure what it is about and how it has affected PWc/accounting in general. Also if you talk about something different and that you know about it will A) impress the partner, B) show you're different & C) show you have a wider knowledge than just babbling about the same old Credit crunch stuff 500 other grads have talked about.

BF

Good to know. What was the issue/topic you talked about? Just out of curiousity. well done to you BF!

rio tinto/bhp takeover bid. i've got an engineering background, so I could relate to it easily.

good luck.

hmmm, ive read about this case, might be good to mention it.

should i relate it to PwC, and any possible involvement they might have, if any?

well i wouldn't suggest talking about this unless you know about it. I was able to as I understood it.

The main point is to ensure that you talk about a news story you know about and if possible relate whats happening in it to the current financial climate and how Pwc could help.

For my example this related to due diligence, tax incentives, world wide reach PwC could offer. Also I talked about how emerging markets (BRIC) are consuming massive amounts of metals and how such a big merger would be looked upon by these countries. I did also mention that due to the credit crunch a lot of M&A has slowed due to lack of capital and this might be another reason for this deal stalling.

just research a story you know about/interested in and relate it to the wider world and the services PwC offer and to the service line you're applying for and i don't think you can go wrong.

What service line are you aplpying for?

undergraduate assurance in bristol

I'd agree that you should try and bring something unique to the table. Talking about the credit crunch is good and definately worth mentioning- but it is the obvious topic and every partner and interviewer will have heard it all before, several times that day. It is a big issue, and you SHOULD understand it and it's effect on audit (see the article linked above), but it would help if you can talk about something else, something that other graduates probably won't have said.

Exactly what that is though I can't tell you!

Big thanks to everyone who posted on here, as it helped me get offered a job in assurance. anyone who works in the bristol office, i'l see you in September!!

Well done :)

another graduate will soon become a professional. good job/luck. :)

Good work! That's the name of the game :-) Congratulations team!

Thank you for all your advice. Thanks to this I got a job at the Leeds office to start in September. I'll be doing the split audit/RAS scheme. I am a mature graduate and initially applied for tax so will be putting up my own post about my experience.

Thanks again!!!

Congrats to you!

I'm looking forward to your post already! I'm getting on a bit too, so some info from a mature graduate perspective would be very welcome :) ...well done!

This is the link to my post (I think...) Good Luck. Hope it helps!

http://www.wikijob.co.uk/forum/accounting-professional-services/pwc-what-expect-if-change-service-line-andor-a-mature-candida

Hey guys, thanks for all your advice. These and other posts have been a big help in getting me a job in assurance in London for september start. Thanks you very much. Shall post my experience soon

Hey!! Great to hear Riddles! Well done! :)

..look forward to hearing your experiences.

Ed

Hey,

I have an interview for assurance, public services with pwc next week...any tips? I was really vague in my first interview when it came to business awareness, so I know I need to top up my knowledge, has anyone been through this recently and got any tips on news storys?

Check the article on commercial awareness and the current industry issues section:

• Sarbanes-Oxley Act
• Credit crunch effect on audit
• 10p Tax Rate

..also check the news section on the front page (very bottom).

Was similar was your 1st stage interview to our wiki profile?

I had a recent assurance interview but they didn't ask me any business q's. I had prepared my thoughts on rising oil prices though, just in case.

I would have discussed the rising price of oil and how this affects businesses and their overheads du to rising gas/electric bills with for big companies such as Woolworths will make a massive difference as they have so many sites. Also rising fuel costs which means transporting goods is more expensive. Companies need to strike a fine balance between passing these costs onto the consumer whilst not out pricing themselves so customers avoid purchasing certain goods as individuals are being hit hard too. This, coupled with the credit crunch thus increased costs of borrowing and loss of consumer confidence is making the current climate difficult for businesses. I would have Woolworths as an example because because they are currently in financial trouble and have made many redundancies. I would suggest this was because they no longer had a specific market. Since supermarkets are increasing what they sell, they are now real competitors and can often outprice Woolworths. They are also a very asset rich company as they own practically all of their properties. I would relate this to M&S who had similar problems years ago and resolved it by selling their properties and leasing them back to give them a massive cash injection. These are the sorts of ideas good auditing and risk analysis by PwC could generate to try and help them out of trouble.

You may not need this much detail but these are just a few thoughts. See the link above to my article for general AC tips but there's plenty to talk about at the moment! Good Luck!

Hey guys,

This has been my experience from first interview to job offer - PwC Assurance.

First Interview The guy just went bsaically through my application form and discussed it in more detail, focusing more on my competencies and did not get asked anything about commercial awareness. I found a good things to do is to emphasise your team working/building/communication skills. So it is a good idea to keep a few examples about where you have been worked in teams, both successful and unsuccessful. Make sure you know your application form inside out as all of his questions were based on what i had written in their. I also got asked the basic questions such as why assurance, why did you pick your uni, why are you suited to working in assurance... Make sure you know a little information about the qualifications and PwC's business. I was told i was successful in the first interview in about 2 working days time.

Assessment day I found the day to be very interesting.

The day started of with an informal talk with the person looking after you on the day, in my case it was the recruitment manager in Assurance, this was quite helpful as i was able to get some more informaton about the firm, the partner who will be interviewing you... She also gave me the intenary for the day so i could prepare myself mentally a little bit before hand. One thing i have to say, is that i had applied a little late so there was only one other person doing the assessment day with me, so had to do the individual exercise and not the group one. but fear not all will be explained.

We began with carrying out the psychometric test. Numerical test: The test was very similar to the one carried out online, maybe a little more difficult. On major difference is that you will have a different diagram to understand for each question. There are 20 questions to answer in 20 minutes. As they say work quickly and accurately as u can and you will be able to answer at least 15 out of the 20 questions. Logical reasonsing: I found this test quite straightforward, very very similar to the online version. You have 40 questions to answer in 20 minutes. It may seem like a lot of questions but some of them are relatively easy. From the feedback i got, i was in the 99th percentile for the numerical test and 98th percentile for the logical one. I dont have the actual marks yet, but will post them as soon as i receive them.

Next was the individual exercise. it starts of with a small presentation, a few mins long, talking about corporate responsibility and sustainability from PwC's point of view. Then the guy will explain what has to be done. You will start of with 35 mins to read the information they give to you, it is more than enough time, so make sure you can take in the most important facts only. Make notes if you have to and keep a track of the time. After reading you will have a 15 mins debrief and you must must answer what has been asked of you. During the debrief he will give you some information that will change your opinion or view so make sure you are able to adjust and react to the information quickly. It is also a good idea to know other services PwC can offer other businesses as this will help.

Now to the partner interview. i was quite nervous about this mainly due to the commercial awareness bit. Despite this he was more interested in my experiences that i had written about on my application form, similar to the first interview. However the commercial questions that he did ask was based less on current issues than on knowing business and how you would improve/advice businesses. The answer to the question on your application form reating to which business do you think PwC could offer it services too is very important so make sure you know what you wrote. The partner was quite friendly so made me feel more relaxed, but dont get too relaxed as this may make you appear tooo confident. He asked me questions as why auditing, what skills i have or have learnt. Do not try to lie or make up information or the day, they have superior practice at interviewing and can find this out.

Lunch This was quite interesting as they took us to zizzi's and had a nice informal chat with a graduate who has been working their for a year. Ask as many questions as you want here, make the most of it.

Good luck

I got my offer relatively quickly and a few days after i left i got a phone call saying that i had ben offered a job.

Please don't think that the lunch with the graduates is just an informal chat for you to ask questions. They will be from the department that you will be working in and will feed back to those making the decisions. Whilst you should not be too formal - you need to be aware that this is also a big opportunity for them to see you interact while your guard is slightly down while you are eating and decide whether or not you are someone they want in their department. It can be as important as many of the other stages because once you have the interview they know you are capable of the job....it just whether or not they want you in the team.

(I know because I used to be one of the people taking new grad possible recruits out to lunch to assess them at BDO)

hmm, that's interesting. do they see sense of humor? :)

..that's a good point actually - if the lunch is essentially a personality fit assessment then should you just be your funny, humourous self and try to make friends with the trainees, rather than being reserved, and just try to be polite - i.e. not yourself at all?

Thanks for all this!! PwC have been really helpful and sent me lots of links to help improve my commercial awareness and things but I am still having a bit of trouble. I have applied for assurance in the public sector and really want to talk confidently about a public sector organisation that PwC could help. However, I am having lots of trouble. I would like to talk about data and security issues or sustainability as these are the two 'issues' in public sector that I am most interested in. However, finding an organisation and recent news story is proving quite hard...I don't know if I am just being completely blind??? Have you got any tips/advice?

how about the soc gen banker scandal? that was both a data and security issue. one trader knowing too much about front/middle/back office procedures allowed him to hide massive trades & risks from his bosses. this is a bank tho, so not public sector.

i think this could go down well with PwC as when I went for my interview there i spoke to someone about recent contracts they were going for and they had just put in their bid to investigate and provide consulting for Soc Gen on how to stop it happening again.

just make sure what ever you do you research it well and understand exactly what happened (how & why) and how it could be prevented & how PwC could help.

good luck

Keiron Poynter who used to be managing partner of pwc was engaged to review the systems and controls in place at HMRC following the lost CDs scandal. The curiously named Poynter report suggested a restructure... which amusingly HMRC had asked McKinsey to advise on previously. Money well spent it seems.

Hey,

I just wanted to say thanks for all the help I found on this site - I got offered a job with PWC, so it was obviously all very good advice.

I thought I would put down my experience to help any other graduates applying too...

Application Form This is pretty straight forward. Most of it will be simply filling in your grades, however, there are a couple of tricky questions. The first question tests your understanding of PWC's services. I literally found all my info on the website. You only have 150 words, so keep it brief. The second asks who your 'ideal client' would be. My tip for answering this is to think about what you want from your work i.e, to be rewarding, to be paid alot, to increase your knowledge, to travel etc. This should help with the type of client you want to help. Then have a look at their work in that field i.e if you chose Marks and Spencers, look at their services in Retail. I chose a charity, so had a look at their work in that field and gave my reasons as wanting to be personally satisfied with my work. You may be asked about this in further detail at later interviews so stick to something you are genuinely interested in. Your final questions relate to personal experience. You will be asked about working in teams and two times when you have developed yourself. Again, be honest and don't worry too much about these.

Online Tests I don't come from a Maths background and still managed to pass these. My tip is to do the SHL practise tests several times. My score on the numerical test increased from 40% to 85% by doing this. Don't aim to answer all the questions, only answer ones which you know the answer to or can make an educated guess. Skip and don't answer ones you have no idea how to answer. I also had a diagrammatic test which I did not prepare for, as I assumed it was a verbal reasoning test - so first tip, is CHECK! All of these have practice tests on SHL. Another good website is the University of Kent careers page and Cubiks.

1st Interview This will be with a Manager from your area. You will be tested on the core competencies, so make sure you have pre-prepared some answers to these questions before you go in. Also read the newspaper and keep up with current issues in the financial services, economy and your chosen area of interest. For example, I applied to Assurance, Public Sector. I was asked questions such as ' tell me about a recent issue in the Public Sector', 'What interests you about the public sector?', 'What do you know about audit?', 'what is the different between public sector and private sector audit?'. I came out of my interview thinking I had done appaulingly, but was offered a second round interview. PWC were really helpful and sent me some info to help improve my commercial awareness for the next round too. The point is, don't worry if you don't kow everything, just make sure you know something to demonstrate you have an interest. Also, don't worry if you don't 'gel' with your interviewer: the first round is quite structured and they have to ask certain questions so it won't flow like a normal conversation. It doesnt mean you havent answered correctly.

Assessment Centre This consisted of a group exercise, tests and partner interview. Group Exercise - There were 6 of us. We were each handed a booklet about 10 pages long and a seperate laminate with different infomation. You have 20 minutes to look through this and answer the brief. Then 20 minutes as a group to discuss your ideas and reach a conclusion. This is not about what you say but how you say it. We didn't complete the task but I still managed to do well in this activity. My main tips here are: talk! they cant assess you if you say nothing (I didn't get a previosu job for this reason); try to include everyone; be aware of your body language, I was praised for smiling, nodding my head, taking notes and agreeing; be reactive, when you get new infomation be aware of how this changes things - i.e, if you suddenly have less money, figure out what your new budget is - I was praised for using my calculator and doing this; finally, work as a group, you are not in competition with one another, and if you dominate the group you will necessarily be praised. This is quite fun, even though it seems daunting. I don't think I was the chattiest or most helpful in the group, but I helped keep the group on track, worked with the team, made comprimises and gave infomation when necessary which was why I got through. Partner Interview - This is not as scary as it sounds and will be more relaxed than your first interview. Having said that, the depth of you commercial awareness definitely needs to improve. I was asked specifically about the NHS, University Fees, and the state of the economy on public sector. I was asked about issues facing the public sector and accounting industry, what I found interesting about PS, and to give examples of one PS organisation that was successful and one that was unsuccssful. I was asked about issues Auditors need to address and even, what i would do if I was Prime Minister for the day. Sounds daunting, but it flowed naturally like a conversation and very much fed off what I said. All my knowledge came from the PWC wesbite and BBC so don't panic, I by no means am an expert on the economy or finance, I just spoke about what I knew. You will also be asked about what interests you and competencies like 'how would your friends describe you?' and 'how do you network' etc. Essentially, this is about showing you really want to work there and that they could work with you. So be friendly, relax and enjoy it. Tests - These were the same as the online ones. The only difference is that the numerical tests have a different chart for each question. I bought a numeracy book to help improve my maths, however, if you have passed the online ones, you should be fine.

So that was my day. Overall, it was actually fun! I have had quite a few assessment days and this one was my most enjoyable, so maybe it was a sign that I had done well, I don't know. I hope this helps someone else!

Congratulations Charlord! Which office will you be at?

Really great info... thanks Charlord!

I'm joining the Birmingham Office in Assurance. How about you?

Hi guys,

I have an assessment centre coming up at PwC. The group exercise is not always my strongest point and I have fallen down on this at past ac's. Can anybody please give me some advice on how best to PREPARE for one. Any help is much appreciated! Thanks

has anyone got their links to assesments they do, or anything of a similar nature? i know theres some stuff on this website, but is there anything else? everywhere else they are jus selling books

Has any of you had a pwc assessment centre anytime soon?When I got the feedback about my first interview, I was told that the partner interview would again be based around my competencies. Commercial Awareness issues would comeup in the interview but that it would stil be competency based. Is this how its like now?I am totally confused.

HI bomb891, I had my PwC assessment centre last week and it was exactly like that. Mine ended up with a director, as my first interview had been with a partner....so I was pretty scared but it was still quite laid back. They have your application to work from so will sometimes refer to that and ask you to expand in it. I was told be HR that they need to cover all of their core competencies within the two interviews, so whichever competencies they didn't cover in the first interview you can pretty much guarantee that they will be discussed.....however I found that one answer can often incorporate lots of different competencies so i didn't really know what would be new so covered all of it again! I was then asked to talk about one of their clients (but not the one I'd used on my application form). From this I was asked how we can improve their services, and how the current climate could cause that company problems. I'm not from a business or economy background so found this hard, and kept it on quite a basic level, but this was obviously enough for them, as I got the offer the next day. As far as I could tell, they wanted to see whether I would fit in with the company and staff, and also to cover any areas missed in my previous interview.

I hope this helps a little bit, feel free to ask any other questions and I'll try to explain more

good luck

embee16, That is exactly the same as my interview then. I was also with a director. Same question to choose a different client and say how could help improve their services. I don't think they expect you to be a genius as far as commercial awareness goes, they just expect some understanding of it.

p.s congrats on the offer. Which office are you in?

Hey, thanks for your reply. Did you guys already have a company in mind to talk about?For the question where you were asked how the current economic climate had affected one of their clients and what pwc could do to improve their services, how did you exactly answer that question?The partner might also ask how the current climate has affected pwc and the accounting industry as a whole?Can you help with an answer with these questions?

Hey, I've got a Partner Interview with PwC and need some urgent help. Can you rememebr any of the questions he/she asked you. What type of commercial awareness questions are asked? Would it be a good idea to have a back up company I can talk about and how the credit crisis has effected it, and how PwC could help.

Kind Regards

Hey,

Thanks dave, I'm with the Cambridge office. Still have a Baker Tilly final int. to go to, so haven't yet sent back my offer paperwork (only had in 2days!) but I'm 99% sure I'll be accepting the offer, so will be starting there in April! So very pleased! how about u? are you with PwC?

bomb891, I must admit, the question was the one thing that i thought i did really quite badly on! I hadn't really prepared for that style of question (hence why i was quite simplistic in my answer!), so my answer even now, may not be great - but it did the job! Regarding how the current situation could affect a client....well it really depends on what type of client you choose. eg. for a retail company, people are changing their priorities and the competition for retailers is now changing...this could mean falling profits and excess stock....it could affect their manufacturers, as supply demand decreases they may not be able to continue running effectively, may shut down, meaning supply to the store stops......M&A's are more risky.....etc. As for affecting the current accounting industry....I'm applying for audit, so mentioned how there is bound to be an increase in regulations and new procedures will have to be followed. Also....the analysis of any debts will have to be investigated in depth. At that stage I also mentioned that in recent years Sarbox and IFRS has affected Audit.

I hope that helps abit....I'm afraid business and finance is defiantly not my strong point - I am planning to learn the majority when I get into the role! But the fact that I'd researched abit and could adapt my knowledge to suit a question was recognised and mentioned afterwards.

Good luck and hope its a little bit helpful!!

embee16,

Yeah i'm joining the Edinburgh office in Autumn 2009. Turned down another offer today and just finished signing my contract ready to post off tomorrow. All very exciting. Was so chuffed when got the phone call through for an offer. Think anyone else in the building may have heard my excitement haha

embee, congratulations on the offer :D!! I have my assessment centre for PwC coming up soon for the Cambridge office, but if I get the job will be starting in Sept 2009. Was your AC held in Cambridge or London? I have been told it may be London for me if the partner cannot make it to the Cam office in the next week or so.

Thanks embeee, ur answer was great. U are great! I might have to defer my assessment centre though. I am finding it hard to cope up with the stupid flu I have caught. But I will defenitely need more suggestions. Thanks again.

hey all,

edinburgh dave - i got my offer call while I was in a carpark in morrisons and walked around the shop afterwards with a huge grin on my face - people must have though I was mad!! Congrats on your offer in Edinburgh....I'll have to give you a buzz via PwC staff email in september to say hi!! hopefully I'll have an idea of what I'll be doing by then!!

david - is it your first interview or the second interview? I found the 'employability brocure' on the PwC website helpful to prepare. have a look through all the compentencies and you'll get an idea of the questions you could be asked. I personally had a framework for answers for most of those. it helps you to know what they're looking for, and then in the interview you can expand answers to include lots of different compentencies....means you talk for longer....less questions need to be answered, and you can relax abit. good luck.

Imiliano - I managed to get all my ints and assessments done in Cambridge. I was warned that I might have to go to london too but it was fine in the end, so I'll keep my fingers crossed it'll be the same for you. goodluck and let us know how it goes

bomb891 - hope you get better soon.

embee16,

If you know what you are doing by then you can pass on all your wisdom to me :D

Cool that would be great thanks. Yeah the grads i spoke to at lunch did say you spend the first few months not doing much work but just doing courses and exams. Good times ahead!! :p

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the posts on here, they're great and have definitely helped me to get to Assessment Centre stage. Just wondering how long after the AC you got the call offering you the job? I had my AC on Weds this week, and was kind of hoping to have heard by today (I now have an agonising wait over the weekend!) I've heard lots of people, if offered the job, are called the day after their AC... I hope this isn't true!!

Word of advice to you all! I'm with big 4 company now and they are all long on head count. that means in this latest graduate intake they have taken more grads than needed and are looking for any excuse to sack them. for example last year they let graduates retake e-assessments at least twice if they were failed them the first time, this time it is one 2 fails and you're out! know from experience my friend got fired the other day.

if you're going to defer make sure it's for a proper reason other than "i'm not feeling well".

Thanks bright_future, its a scary thought to think you get to the job and then they're looking to get rid of you. I've applied for PwC Cambridge, starting April and they've said that they've already reduced the intake and there'll only abe 2 - 3 of us starting in Audit...do you think as they've planned this in advance chances are they'll work there hardest to keep us??

I've got an offer from Baker Tilly as well, and had pretty much decided on PwC but if they're going to make things harder than they'll already be that worries me! Its already going to be tough surely!!

where are you working?

embee16 - I've got my PwC AC for Cambridge in London on Nov 26th. When I had my first interview in Cam the guy told me that their policy is first time passes are desirable and most ppl achieve this. If not you can sit them a second time around, and if you fail these you are indeed kicked out. Apparently they haven't had to boot anyone out of the Cam office for a couple of years but it can happen - and does. Don't let this deter you from working for them though. If you have an offer for April i'm sure you're competent and that with hard work you will be fine. So hope I get the job!!

Yeah I did hear the same actually. And I've been thinking about it, and as they've already made the decision to cut back the admissions hopefully they'll support us all as much as usual!!

Thanks for ur response tho its good to have someone else reassure the facts!!

good luck with your AC, let me know how it goes! hopefully see you in sept!

Just thought i'd post on here about waiting for the result of an Assessment Centre. I had mine on a Wednesday, and didn't get a call until the following Tuesday, offering me the job! This really surprised me as the only posts i'd read on here imply that the majority of people hear max 2 days after if the result is positive. So if you're still waiting for a reply, relax! It totally depends on how much time the partners have to meet with the HR people etc and they do say you'll hear within 5 working days, which was certainly true for me.

I'm not going to post my experience through their recruitment process as everyone on here has done a fantastic job! Mine was pretty much the same, but if anyone has specific Qs i'd be happy to answer : )

Good luck!

hi guys,

KINDLY GIVE ME TIPS TO HELP PREPARE i have to to an online assessment test (numerical + logical) ASAP for PwC...i have applied for a PIC position.. already done my telephone interview on tuesday and I think it went on very well.....assessment centres are for 19th and 20th this month, so I have to the tests today/tomorrow to help them make a decision to invite me! I have been really scared because I feel my performances in SHL and other practices do not look too good!!

numerical - make sure you can do percentage increases, cross multiplication of fractions, currency exchanges. try practice tests on efinancial.com. there are 3 logical - isolate each changing part between the diagrams and deal with them separately discarding wrong answers and leaving you with the correct one. with practice this is really quick and easy test general - skip a question if you don't know or can't get close to answer. don't random guess them all. remember you only really need just over half right probably to pass. good luck

Congragulations kk2008, where did you apply? What type of questions did your partner ask, what type of commercial awarness questions did he ask you? Did he/she ask how you have coach someone else's skills? kind regard dave

thanks dave....

ANOTEHR QUICK QUESTION

the email I recieved says - a numerical reasoning test (21 minutes) (please note you may use a calculator for this) - a logical (Diagrammatic) reasoning test (21 minutes)

What is the difference between Diagrammatic Reasoning Questions AND Abstract Reasoning Questions taking into account the different explanations given in http://www.wikijob.co.uk/wiki/diagrammatic-reasoning). in my own case, will it b the first one.

SHL's website appear to hav practive for abstract reasoning,.... as well as in the practice leaflet sent to my by PwC with the online test invitation email!!!

thank again guys!!

ioladapo - if you're taking the PwC logical/diagrammatic reasoning test you will be presented questions where you have to choose the 5th object in a sequence. You see 4, and have to look at how they are changing and then choose the 5th (there are usually 5 options to choose from I think). Do as Dave suggested and disregard any that are not possible. Therefore, in answer to your question, yes it will be the first one! There is also a good book you can buy written by Peter Rhodes - it's on Amazon and has a white and yellow front cover. The first half of the book has SHL style questions. I am using it at the mo the prepare for the AC in London.

Good luck :D

thanks Imiliano......

Thanks David!

I applied for Assurance in London, April start. I was interviewed by a director at the AC, and he was absolutely lovely. He gave me some nasty questions tho... the first was asking how I thought the result of the US election would affect US businesses and the world in general! Bit of an open-ended question I thought .... the others were mainly about companies i'd worked for, and how they specifically should deal with the current economic crisis. I was surprised as i'd say 80% of it was on commercial awareness, I think I was asked 2 competencies max. and no I wasn't asked about coaching someone. It's really hard to give advice as the director really fed off what I said, so you could and probably will have a completely different interview! Therefore i'd definitely advise you to mention something you're interested in, and you could well end up talking about it for 10 minutes!!

Good luck!

Ioladapo - I found the following website really useful specifically for PwC's diagrammatic test, it really encourages you to think about the patterns that emerge, there are also good numerical practice Qs too - Good luck!

http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/tests/spatialtest.htm

thanks again KK..... got to crack the tests tomorrow!

ioladapo, as Imiliao said it is the diagrammatic test. do as i suggest and you should be ok with it. to be honest it is unlikely that having passed the numerical test you will fail diagrammatic. its quite simple.

hey guys........ THANKS for ur tips! finished the tests this morning.....was sent an invitation for AC within 3 hrs -21 mins for 21 questions in numerical ( i did 17, very sure say 15) and -21 mins for 18 questions in logical (did 17, very sure of say 13 or 14)

I am not sure if these conditions are quite flexible......compared to others' experiences?.

have to prep for AC now...the comments here are detailed...but i'll be back for more tips

Hey guys, can anyone help with a question. I just received my feedback from my first interview(which I passed) and they said that I had over-confidence and that I should stick to the point of the question and that I should have a better example of when I gave feedback or when I received feedback. Could anyone give me some advice about them? I have an assessment day on the 20th with PWC! thank you in advance for ur reply!

Anyone knows the positions at pwc? for example first year graduate associate and so on.. In addition to that, does anyone know any advices that an auditor can give to a CEO to a company such as M&S?

Can anyone tell me what topic came up in the most recent group discussion at the asssessment centre for a job in Assurance?

I had an individual exercise as they hadn't taken enough people through to the a/c but I was told it was exactly the same as a group exercise...

Based on corporate responsibility, it was about a hotel/resort. I was given guideline criteria that the resort had to meet, and then given about 8pages of information, each one regarding different areas of improvement...how they could be improved, and the cost of the improvements [I think in a group exercise these are given out among the group so you have to present the information you've been given and listen to the other peices, making notes]

You're then given a budget, and have to decide what to do... I don't think you can have a wrong answer...you just have to be able to justify your decisions. All the choices will have pro's and con's.

In mine there was no way I could meet the criteria in full, so I chose priority areas and focused on them.

There were also areas that were not fully explained, so when I was presenting my choices I used this as an opportunity to say that there were areas of information missing, and with the given information I would do 'A', but if we could get more information about it, perhaps 'B' would be a better option.

I think the key is to be able to explain your choices and decisions.....oh and be adaptable, during the presentation of finding the budget and requirements were changing constantly!!

Good luck!

I took a practice psychometric test run by the career office in my uni. The form of the test was different from online ones. All the graphs and diagrams were mixed and put in left-side pages, and questions on different diagrams were mixed on the right-side pages. It took me much time to find which diagram each question related to.

Does the written PwC numerical test have graphs mixed, or does it have one graph followed by all questions relate to it?

Is there a different procedure for the Belfast offices for PWC? I recently done an online test for them but it was a personality test with questions about how I would handle certain situations in a working environment. I was later invited to a 'Testing Session', which involved the Numeracy and Diagrammatic tests only, it took roughly an hour and no business wear was required.

Is this standard? I was expecting a full on AC with these tests taken then, along with group exercises etc. Could this be because the numbers are very high? (There was roughly 30 of us in the room and I think there were two sessions per day for two days.)

I passed these tests and I am now awaiting further info on what process comes next.

On a side note, anyone know of any good commercial awareness topics I could research on before the interview? Besides SARBOX, credit crunch etc. Something a little more interesting and unique perhaps?

I think the recruitment procedure varies slightly between offices and Belfast's is just significantly different. It's probably just a question of time, resources and personnel available. There's a PDF on the PwC site somewhere with the Northern Ireland procedure, it's only one page long though and doesn't contain an awful lot of information.

I was at a Testing Session in Belfast too, are you going to this drop-in session thing? I'm not really sure what to expect to be honest.

dt.mckeown

I applied for Belfast too. I also took the personality questionnaire only, and was invited to the test session.

This link provides information about the selection process for Belfast office http://www.pwc.com/uk/eng/careers/main/doccentre/456i.html

longrang, with regards to the tests, if you haven't done them yet - you get a graph or diagram etc followed by a question. then another graph/diagram and a question. same for all questions. some diagrams are used more than once throughout the test though followed by a different question obviously. hope that clears it up for you.

hi,

Can any one tell me the following: the detail about group activity; what specific questions were asked in your partner interview.

Also, I have got firm grip over commercial awarenes. I have been following all the event s that have been caused by credit/food/oil crisis in detail and was thinking of mentioning the US Car giants in trouble , its impacts and solutions. What is your take on it.

I belong to an underdeveloped country and this job is very important for me and my family's future. Any help will be highly appreciated. This is my dream....to work for PwC....

Thank u, edinburgh_dave. Anyway, that's better than dozens of diagrams mixed together.

mermoikl - Yeah I'm gonna drop in for a while anyway, maybe 15-20 minutes should be enough, I imagine it'll be very casual with tea and biscuits! It should be interesting to hear how the current crop of graduates are getting along and maybe even see what sort of people PWC are interested in. I'm trying to relax as much as possible but pretty nerve wrecked as this will be my first interview.

longrand - Thanks for the link, I actually did have a look at this but was still unclear as it mentioned AC on it and not 'Testing Session'. Hopefully the Irish way of thinking is a lot quicker and less painful than 66 interviews and 52 group exercises with 429 tests. :-)

On a side note....

To anyone who works at PWC, I won't be offended if there's no tea or biscuits....

hey guys, I am going to PWC assessment center in Reading on 16th Dec and need some help urgently. could anybody with pwc AC experience tell me some details in your group discussion, such as in which industry the company is in, what are the specific targets you were asked to meet, what are the information they provide, sales figure?expense figure? an investment decision?

any helps are appreciated!

i have an assesment day coming up after 2 days. any last minute help is very much appreciated

Hello everyone

I have an AC coming up and would just like to say that all the information you have given has been really really helpful.

After the actual AC - I will surely write my summary from the moment I opened the application form to the Assessment Centre. If I get the job, then I will write about the Offer details too. Just to add more to this forum.

On a side note - chavdagaura - is your AC in london??

Dave, is yours tomo with PwC in London by any chance? Mine is :p

hey dave no mine is in birmingham on this thursday let me know how your goes, if by chance you happen to have it on wednesday

Imiliano - sorry - mine is in London but its actually on Friday. Mine is for the summer internship, not sure if that's what you are going for. But whatever you are going for, I wish you the best of luck and hope you have a great time.

Chavdagaura - again, sorry I can't give you any more help as my AC is actually on Friday, so it will be after yours. If only I could.

For both Imiliano and Chavdagaura, in terms of general advice as I've heard from other people and would like to sum up: -In the Group Exercise, one of the main things that have come out of these forums is that try your best to find the right balance between helping the group and stating your point because you wouldn't be doing well if your assessors saw you showing everyone that they are wrong and your views are the only ones correct but then again, you havee to have a certain amount of input and discussion, otherwise you won't be showing your 'Communicating with Impact' competency. -For the partner interview, make sure that your 'Commitment to Career' and 'Commercial Awareness' competencies are worked on well as these are likely to be the ones that the partner will focus on. By saying that, I'm not ruling out any 'Normal' competency questions regarding teamwork or leadership but I have been told that at that stage, they want to know you as a person rather than just your experiences.

Good Luck to both of you.

I hope it goes well.

Hello everyone!

I just had my Assessment Day with PWC. Tests and Interview went very smooth but messed up quite a bit in the group exercise. I am currently waiting for my results and shall write the detail experience after getting the outcome.

I had mine on Weds, still waiting to hear the news... was told I should hear by friday (but haven't). I'm worried about the interview, the guy wasn't that friendly and I forgot some of the things I was going to say (for example, regarding commercial awareness I meant to mention that PwC may be the auditor on the Lloyds/HBOS merger). My first interview was soo much better. Group exercise went fine I think, and on the tests I did about 16/20 on numerical (with a few guesses) and about 37/40 on diagrammatical reasoning (with three guesses).

Hi Imiliano and adilqurshi, could you share a little bit now what kind of questions were asked in partner interview? eg were you asked to talk about ideal client or asked to change an ideal client? and how did you talk about commercial awareness? Mine is coming next week.... Thanks!!!!

ok! cheerios!I was also nervous about my partner interview and wanted to know the kind of questions . The truth is that each partner interview is different. I had about 11 other people on the Assessment Day and each one told a different story. But the common thing was that we were not ask taxing commercial awareness question. Don't worry about it. The interview is very relaxing, more like a chit chat, and people a pwc are very very friendly. Basically, you need to go over your application as your interview will pretty much revolve around it. Don't worry, it is the easiest part of the assessment day.

) good luck....and please pray for my selection in pwc. I have always dreamt of having this job.....

I was asked no taxing commercial awareness questions at all - but was asked about my ideal client in quite a lot of detail as it related to the service line i've applied to. I would say most of my interview revolved around answers i'd included in my application - team leading and how did I motivate team members, etc. I know that at least two people were asked commercial awareness questions - so it would probs be wise to geek up a bit on current affairs!! I was also asked why PwC other than another Big Four, which seems to be a common Q. The people at PwC (Embankment office, London) all seemed really great, and so too were the other applicants I met on the day. Really try not to worry, this will only impair your performance - be confident, friendly and just think how well you've done to get to the AC stage.

Best of luck :D

Hi guys, I'll definitely pray for you both. And hope PwC will be effective to get back to youse soon. Looking forward to hearing some good news from you guys next time.

Hi,

I am doing an A/c next month for a graduate job starting in 2010.. but mine is for tax. Most of the advice on this forum seems to be for audit positions, just wondering if anyone has had an a/c for a tax job and is it different to the ones for audit?

Thanks!!

Glasgow-accounts-08. The Assessment Centre I had included a couple of people applying for tax and the group exercise / written tests seem to be the same for them but the interview was with a tax partner/senior manager. I think that should be the only difference but I would call them and ask or even look at the 'Documents before Assessment Centre' they send you in your A/C confirmation e-mail.

Hey all, I've been made an offer by PwC and Grant Thornton. Does anybody have any suggestions or tips in what I should do?

Kind Regards

Accept one!

Well done, weigh up the merits of each - its as much down to personal preference as anything... Big 4 or mid-tier!

Which offices are they at?

David you're soooo lucky! I can't get an interview at these places, let alone two offers!!! I'm with joyrevision...accept one!! Lol.

I wasn't certain whether to go for a big 4 or a smaller company either, but a friend of mine sent me this link

http://www.thegatewayonline.com/article.php?id=137

and it actually really helped...hope it's good for you guys too!

Thanks Dave, I'm hoping the interview isn't much different coz all the advice on here is for audit interviews!! :-)

Has anyone to been asked what division they would want to work in if they were offered a place at PwC for Assurance? I am confused as I went on the PwC careers website and I have been on the wikijob page which talks about how the Assurance and Audit divisions are split up and I dont know when they ask the question whether they mean industry sectors TICE etc or Risk Assurance etc.

Pls help...

Hi Riddles, Your post was very useful. I have an AC at PWC in 2 weeks . Can you please tell me something about the individual exercise at PWC ?

Thanks

Hi All Can anyone tell me if the order of the AC is always the same i.e. are the tests always first? Thanks very much

Hey Glasgow Accounts 08,

How did it go? Was it similar? Did they get back to you?

Hi Nishuu1,

I was asked this question and I chose to say something I was interested in and had done research on (Consumer Products and Retail). When he asked me why, I just said it is very interesting at the moment and a lot of businesses are closing down in the sector but others are also benefitting by taking over the market share (Woolworths - although Wollworths was audited by PwC so that is a dangerous step).

I hope that was helpful.

Also,

Hi Midnightcowboy,

Mine was certainly in that order with the tests first and everyone at my university who has gone to those interviews had to same order but they were all at the Embankment Office so if yours is there too, then it will probably be tests first. To be honest, it doesn't really matter because on the day each exercise is given a time-slot and there are breaks between each exercise but I think they normally do tests first to get it out of the way. I can only talk from my experience at the Embankment Office but if yours is somewhere else, I'm sure someone else can help.

Good Luck!!!

PS. Sorry Ayaz, I didn't have an individual exercise.

Midnightcowboy: As far as I'm aware the tests are always first, it's the interview and group assessment that vary, usually half the group doing one while the other half does the other and then swapping later.

Thank you SO much, will help me relax a bit more. Had my assessment centre yesterday and was under the impression that if I didn't hear back today that was pretty much it. I was already starting to lose hope and its only 11 o'clock!

hi guys i have upcoming pwc assessment...

just to confirm - diagrammatic tests in pwc assesment? I am confused between these and abstract tests. the tests we sat online would be abstract i.e. choose the square that completes the sequence.

cheers!

No, that is the diagrammatic test, not abstract. And yes, diagrammatic for the assessment.

i have just passed my online tests for PwC, and i have now been invited to come to one of their assessment centres. this is from 12:45 - 16:30, but it doesn't say anything about a first interview? will this be included at the assessment centre, or have they made a mistake?

i would appreciate some feedback form anyone else who has done this.

hi guys

so i'm preparing for a 1st interview at an AC and have just read PWC's guidance booklet re: the 1st stage assessment centre. The booklet says that "prepare to discuss your knowledge of specific PWC clients."

I didn't expect that.

I am, of course, expecting to be asked to elaborate on my ideal client. But having read all the posts on the website about the pwc 1st interview, I can see no mention of anyone having been asked to discuss a PWC client.

I do, however, note that some people have been asked to discuss a PWC client at the partner interview.

Should I boff up and expect to talk about a PWC client at my 1st interview??

Just that I have enough to prepare as it is (knowing my ideal client inside out, knowing a back-up ideal client inside out, AND boffing up on industry developments etc) using the very very little time I have left...

hey guys,

i have an invite for the AC as well this week. any ideas about the dress code... as it says business casuals in the email, so a bit confused.

Wearing a suit's probably the best way to go, esp for a guy.

Thomas,

I'd advise to go in a suit, always try to present yourself as the consummate professional whenever you are 'on show'. Want to provide as good a impression as possible and it is always better to overdress than underdress.

Lil. x

thanks guys.

one more quick ques. the numerical tests in the assessement centre, are the questions the same like the online ones?

have done quite a few online shl tests for different companies now, so quite fine with those.

I have found this website really useful in my application progress so I am going to write a little bit about the secondary interview and assessment centre to hopefully help any future candidates.

Firstly the dress code is business casual; some wear suits and some choose a more casual option. I decided to go for a suit but I really don't think it matters!

There was around about 10 people in the assessment centre and the day began with a written report advising a company on a choice of manufacturers. Your are given 20 minutes to read the case study and write the reports, everyone was quite pushed for time so you need to be quick with your decision. There was then a short break followed by a group exercise/discussion where the group was divided into two rooms. The mains points have already been stated but from my experience time management and speaking is key but do not get caught up in speaking over people and speaking too much as some people did. Another good thing to do is encourage quite people to give their view. Finally there was two tests similar to that of which you completed online, numerical; 20 in 20 minutes and logical; 40 in 20 minutes. The graduates then come in for a chat; this is not assessed so ask genuine questions that may possibly help you with your interview don't just try to ask questions to make yourself look like a strong candidate!

The secondary interview is slightly more informal than the first, as it is structured more like an informal conversation. It’s geared up to find out a bit about you and your commercial awareness, so be aware of recent articles in the media and be prepared to discuss it. Don't just learn facts or rely on something you learnt at University as I feel this will come across in the interview. There is some reference to your application and results but not much, there are not really any competency questions like the first round interview. My last bit of advice is to have some questions prepared to ask them. Again try and come up with some genuine questions, as it will hold better in conversation rather than you trying to illustrate you know things. Remember this is a partner interview and they are very experienced so it’s a great opportunity to gain an insight into the company from an internal perspective and I think this will come across well in the interview if that’s what you are genuinely trying to do. Two hours later I was lucky enough to be offered a job.

One major tip; take a digital watch with you to allow you to keep an eye on the time as it goes fast!

Yes they are shl as well, they are meant to be harder but i felt they were around the same degree of difficulty.

Hi qwe85, Thanks for your advice. Which office did you apply? Could you give some examples what kind of commercial questions were asked in the partner interview? Ta-ta!!

Hi Everyone, I have an assessment day coming up with pwc, and i have applied to do tax. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on what sort of questions to expect in my partner interview that relate to tax. I also wondered how people found the written exercise and group exercise? This is my first assessment day, and i am quite worried that i`ll have a mental block or not really know what to say/write!

The info on this site has been a great help. Thanks

hi zebadee

i did an AC for a position in tax in London recently.

the group exercise is time-pressured, in that there is alot of info to digest in very little time. i found that as a group we made very little progress in terms of the task, because none of us had sufficient time to digest everything. however, my feedback was good because i interacted well with the group, providing direction, encouraging others to speak, acting inclusive but leading when necessary etc. so although I didn't perform so well in terms of substance, i performed well in terms of interaction and people skills and I can say that PwC prioritise that for the purposes of the exercise.

the written exercise again is time-pressured, but there is more than enough time to complete the task without panicking. emphasis here is structure, grammar, spelling and some semblance of logic in your reasoning! In other words, very basic written skills. Wouldn't worry about this exercise too much.

Partner interview - well I'm sure the Qs asked will depend on the particular partner/director. Because I was not asked a single Q relating to commercial awareness! Nothing on current affairs/ideal client/pwc services at all. But you should by all means prepare for these Qs big time. I felt it important to show awareness of this, so I tried to bring these in by asking Qs to the partner and then try to converse on the topic (e.g. current challenges facing PwC/ opportunities in tax brought about by current eco. climate) I was asked more competency questions re: teamwork, integrity, communication etc. All very standard. In fact, it seemed like a continuation of the manager interview. E.g. I was asked what did I expect to do in my 1st year, what do I know about the ACA.

Thank you very much bingkk32. Any info you have is very useful! Did you find the numerical test harder than the online one? I cant believe you weren't asked anything on ur ideal client and commercial awareness!! Lucky!! In my first interview i was asked about how the VAT increase back to normal rate this jan would affect the services pwc would offer clients! This caught me off guard abit, so i just blabbed through it! I dont really know much about tax tbh, so i need to get my head around it all i think! So you got asked no questions to do with tax?! Thanks x

Also would you be able to tell me what were your group exercise and written exercise about? Obviously mine will be different, i just wanted to get an idea of what we'll be quizzed on! Thanks x

i found the paper tests to be of the same difficulty as the online ones. only diff is the paper maths test involves a diff diagram per question, so more time is needed per Q to understand the diagram.

oh, my manager interview involved some com awareness - I was asked whether I had read anything in the papers - I talked about the pre budget proposals. For my partner interview i read up on current issues that would affect PwC's HR tax services (the position I applied for is HR consulting) such as pensions deficit, exec remuneration and retrenching/job cuts etc.

group exercise - our client is an eco-resort looking to acquire accreditation which would enable them to secure extra business. To acquire accreditation they need to make some changes and you are given various options of varying cost. You have to work to a budget and decide what changes should be taken.

written exercise - our client is a biscuit manufacturer and is looking to find a business partner. You are given a choice of 4 companies and you have to recommend a company for your client, giving reasons with regard to overseas network, expertise, strength of brand etc.

Thank u so much for your help bingkk32. It will really help to prepare me! I hope your job search goes well. Have you got/had an interview with Deloitte by any chance?

i had an interview with deloitte in Spring last year but didn't get past the 1st round interview because the interviewer felt my examples didn't demonstrate the required competencies well enough. Certainly their online tests were alot easier than PwC's tests. Never mind, I have accepted an offer with PwC so it's their loss :)

oh thats a shame. i have one next week in entrepreneurial business! Well done with your offer. Fingers crossed i get through! Thanks for your help!

congrats bradlever on the job offer, and thanks for such an informative post. just a couple of quick questions, you mention they want recent knowledge of sox and ifrs, did you relate these to recent issues or discuss these points in a general manner? also, for the written exercise you were given 2 pages - in the allocated time did you write 4 sides of A4, if so wow! and finally I have my assessment centre prior to the final interview (if i am so lucky) - did you notice any major differences between the two interviews, for example one asking more competency based questions instead of commercial issues? thanks.

I've just received a job offer for Assurance in the East Midlands and thought I'd share my experiences of the Assessment Centre.

I got to the Birmingham office at 8.50 to find that the other 3 candidates had already arrived. We were able to have a quick chat and introduce ourselves informally and I was relieved to find that they were all really nice people.

We were brought into a small conference room and told the layout for the day which would be a group exercise, followed by a written report, followed by the partner interview and finishing with the psychometric testing.

The group exercise was based around a hotel resort on a Filipino island which was trying to achieve official eco-tourism status in order to take advantage of a lucrative deal with a cruise liner. For the exercise, we were given about 20 minutes individual preparation time where we were able to read all the information given to us which included 2 pieces of unique information each that we would have to share with the rest of the group when the time came for discussion. When the time for discussion came, we went round the group and each shared the unique information we had. There were several criteria that the resort had to meet, including Waste, Recycling, Water, Water Recycling, Environment, and Energy. There were normally 2 options to choose between for each criteria with different initial costs and annual revenue/expenditure. The task was to choose 4 priorities for the hotel to focus on while staying within the budget. 5-10 minutes before the end of the discussion, we were given a new piece of information which told us that our budget had been decreased. This was to show that we could still work well even when given a new objective.

The main areas to focus on when doing the group work are:

• Ensure you contribute enough to give the assessors the impression that you know what you are doing and you are able to give your input.
• Ensure you listen to the other team members. I was given positive feedback based on the fact that i gave non-verbal (e.g. nodding) cues that I was listening and interacting with other members of the team.
• Ensure you look at all the objectives given to you. As a team we were given negative feedback based on us not thinking enough about the last objective which was to look at what services PwC could provide the resort.
• Try and take the lead on some area. I took responsibility for keeping a running tally on the budget and ensuring we still had enough money left.

After the group exercise was finished, we were given a quick toilet break and then we were given the Written Exercise. We were given 30 minutes to read the information and write the report. The task was about a Chocolate Bar maker who were looking to diversify by producing a chocolate biscuit. In order to do this, they want to enter a partnership with a biscuit making company and need PwC's help to choose between 3 different competitors. Each of these biscuit makers had their own advantages and disadvantages and so I went about the task by outlining these pros and cons for each company and then coming to a conclusion on which company I thought was best. There isn't any right answer and afterwards I found that we had all chosen different companies.

The main areas to focus on in the Written Exercise are:

• Ensure you give yourself enough time to read and write. While I was able to complete the 2 sides of A4 that were given, the other 3 in the team spent too long reading and planning and so weren't able to finish.
• They are assessing you mainly on your ability to write in clear English with good grammar, spelling and punctuation. Make this your priority instead of fretting too much over which company is best.
• They want to know that you have a good understanding of the content, so try and make reference to as much of the information given to you as possible and structure it in a clear way.

After the written exercise we had a relatively long break while we waited for the Partner and Director who would be doing interviews to arrive. When they were ready, we were split into 2 groups of 2. One group had their interview first, while the others did their testing first. I had my interview first with a Partner who was really nice and while I was nervous at first (and this was commented on in my feedback), I was able to relax more during the interview. The interview is a little less competency based than the first one, but he still wanted lots of different examples. I think they like it best when you are able to tell the whole story about what you have done, so I came up with examples on Young Enterprise, volunteering at a hospital radio station, my role as treasurer of a JCR and some work based examples as well. There were a couple of commercial awareness questions as well as questions on what PwC do and why they were able to charge a premium to their customers.

The main areas to focus on in the Partner Interview are:

• Don't be too nervous and ensure that you look happy, maintain eye contact, don't fidget too much, finish your sentences (which I didn't always do) and don't speak too quickly or slowly.
• Ensure you have prepared enough decent examples as well as knowing what PwC do and looking at both general news articles and news relating to PwC specifically. They do want some recent knowledge of SOX, IFRS, impact of recession on prof. services firms etc.

Finally, I had the psychometric testing which was made up of two tests. First we had the diagrammatic reasoning which is essentially about working out logical sequences and isn't too difficult. The second test was numerical and involved ratios, percentages and all the other basic maths skills that are required in this sort of job. The tests are similar to the online tests but are definitely a bit more difficult. The main point I would note is that while the online numerical tests ask 2 or 3 questions on one piece of data, the questions here are based on data which keeps changing for each question and therefore requires you to spend more time reading and thinking.

The main areas to focus on in the Psychometric Testing are:

• Keep track of time and if a question is stumping you then move on and come back later.
• Make sure you read the question properly so that you are able to get the right answer.
• Guess if you're running out of time.

After the assessment part of the day was over, we were able to talk to a couple of people who were in their second year at PwC and ask any questions that we had but didn't want to ask the assessors. You're told to expect a phone call within the next 5 working days where you'll be told if you have received an offer and also given feedback. If you aren't successful then definitely take advantage of the feedback they give you so you can improve for next time. If you are successful then well done, when I got my call I was jumping all around the house for a good 5 - 10 minutes before popping open a beer.

I hope this helps and good luck.

Sorry for the confusion, when I said 2 pages I meant 2 sides of A4. I agree that 4 sides would have been quite an achievement.

I talked about SOX in a very general manner as it is an old topic, so I just mentioned that it's an issue. As for IFRS, that's a more current issue so it could be discussed in more detail, although I didn't do too much on it. I guess the main points to note are: - 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 PwC 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.

To be honest, I didn't notice all that much difference in the two, but I think in general you should expect that the partner/director interview will be more about getting to know you and how much you know about the profession and PwC in particular than the first interview. Note that the partner/director who interviews you will have all the notes made in the first interview so they will know what you have talked about already and so you may wish to think up new examples if you can.

I hope that helps. Brad

Hey guys,

I have my first round interview coming up this week...just a quick thought.

Discuss any recent financial news in the press?

I was thinking of mentioning how pwc is backing the bid for world cup 2018 to be held in England....does this sound sensible? as im generally interested in the game....

comments would be appreciated!

Thanks.

It couldn't hurt, although I wouldn't make it that big a deal. Maybe relate it to how they are aiming to become the iconic professional services firm which advertisement of major sport events will help them with.

Recent financial news needs to relate more to the actual job like IFRS (and the effect of the VAT increase maybe if you're going for a tax position).

would agree with bradlever.

e.g. i applied for Tax, and read up on proposed tax changes in the PBR, as well as changes that would come into effect or have recently come into effect due to the 09 Budget.

Also agreed with last two posters. It's good to show them that you are interested in the firm's PR side because as well as being a good accountant they like "corporate man" who plays with his team as well as works with it. Those who can also contribute to the social and personal side of the firm get recognised especially if it involves helping to promote your firm. Thought PwC would have been more into rugby myself...............

Bradlever... Thank you for your useful info on IFRS.

 I have an interview in a couple of days with Deloitte for Audit in Entrepreneurial Businesses and i have been struggling to think of current factors that will be affecting the audit of EB's.

Hi Zebadee,

Sorry for the lack of clarity of the post you're referring too, I always forget how to do proper bullet points, so it always comes out in one massive paragraph which is a bit hard to read.

Before IFRS, all companies in the UK were required to prepare their accounts according to UK GAAP. Now because of EU guidelines, listed companies are mandated to follow IFRS in their financial reports but smaller unlisted businesses still have the choice to follow UK GAAP or switch to IFRS. This part of the PwC website may be of use to you in thinking about PwC's services in particular: http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ifrs-reporting/index.jhtml Also: http://www.pwcwebcast.co.uk/dpx_live4/dpx.php?dpxuser=dpliv_ukpwc&cmd=autoplay&type=solo&pres=196

Yes it's still relevant to mention SOX as its still an issue for PwC and their larger international clients, in particular the ones that are listed in the US. SOX has also led the UK to look at its accounting framework to ensure that where possible accounts prepared in the UK are SOX compliant.

For other ideas, if you go to the website of the PwC office that you are applying for, and then click on the News and Issues at the top, that might help especially in terms of what PwC are focusing on at the moment.

Hope that's all some help to you. Brad

hi all, just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all the many contributors to these pages which have been indispensible in my application to PwC and I have successfully managed to secure a place on the graduate trainee intake for assurance. If anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Which office will you be at?

Hi,

All of the info posted on this site is really useful, I have an assessment day coming up in feb for the business recovery services and was wondering if anyone could give feedback on assessments for this area?

Thanks

Hey, congrats! I apply as well for assurance. Could you please tell how was the partner interview; commercial awareness/client or more competency based? Maybe any changes during AC or pretty similar to others described in the forum?

Hi just wondering if anyone could just confirm, the diagrammatic tests that I have been practising are the ones on assessment day.co.uk, are these the correct ones to practise for a pwc assessment centre or could there be flow charts etc?

Thanks

From the looks of what they do on that website, you're doing the right stuff. You are given 4 patterns which form a sequence and you need to choose the next pattern in the sequence. They're the same as in the tests done before your first interview.

hi, just wanted to ask how long did it take to get an invite to PwC AC. it's been 10 days since my first round interview and still did not get an invite. received an email next day after interview saying that I have passed and will be contacted shortly. since then have not heard from them, a bit worried it was automatically generated email. should I call 'em?

I wouldn't be worried. They will get back to you. Having said that, it might help speed things up if you give them a call. They're most likely waiting to get enough people for the AC.

Hello plpirat ....my partner interview was with a director...and it wasn't competency based at all!!.....it was just a chat with me asking questions about his role in the firm etc and also more general things about accounting, PwC and the future...my interview was over an hour.....however that doesnt mean it will be the same for all....it seems for most people it is competency based....and always commercial awareness....mine was all commercial awareness....so keep up to speed with current affairs

the psychommetric tests are a harder than the online ones but the same format

the format for the AC is pretty standard....they do not change this

also icas they have had unprecedented demand for their graduate vaccanices...so they will get back to you soon

good luck!!!!

Hey guys,

I have my AC for a position in valuations on the 11th, any advice on how to prepare for it? I don't come from a business background at all and am very worried about both the group presentation and the essay.

Also, are the tests much harder than the online ones? I've done shl ones and efinancial careers a good ten times or so, do you know of any other websites?

I'd appreciate any help as I've never done this before and I'm dying to get the job.

Congratulations to those of you with offers!

Hey,

I do keep meaning to do a Walkthrough guide for PwC like I've done for Deloitte, but haven't got round to it yet.

The group presentation isn't too difficult, and it doesn't really require you to be of a business background. I would highlight a few things that you should keep in mind while you go through it:

• Most importantly, make sure you speak enough for the assessor to actually be able to assess you. There's no way they'd be able to pass you on the group exercise if you haven't given them anything to work with. Having said this, don't talk too much either as this can be seen as a bad trait if you aren't able to allow others to have a say.
• If there are people who are talking too much and not giving you much of a chance, it's most likely because they're trying to give the best impression more than trying to block you out, but if this happens, you should intervene with your own points, even at the risk of talking over the other person. Just try to interject with your own point and the other person should take that as a hint to stop talking for a bit.
• If you notice that someone in the group isn't able/trying to contribute much, try and give them the opportunity by asking for their opinion. This will be seen as good teamworking skills.
• Make sure you do actually have something to add to the conversation. You are given time to prepare before the discussion and you should make sure that you are adding to what is said and working towards your objectives productively rather than just mimicking what other people say in the hope that it sounds like you are joining in.
• Try to do something that differentiates you and makes you stand out from the crowd. For example, I took responsibility for keeping track of our budget and doing all the calculations which made me stand out from the others.

I found it really helpful to watch this video:

http://www.pwc.com/uk/en/careers/student/assessments-at-pwc.jhtml

The essay doesn't really need any business knowledge really. You are given information on a range of companies which the company you are advising is looking to partner with in order to bring a new product to market. What you need to be able to do is show that you have good writing skills in terms of vocabulary, grammar, spelling and construct. You also have a chance to demonstrate your reasoning skills and the ability to justify your choices. I went about the essay by starting off with an introduction that outlined the problem and how i intended to go about solving it (in my case this was by assessing the relative pros and cons of each). I then went through a list of the pros and cons of each company and then concluded with my choice and a brief explanation, drawing upon my analysis as to why I chose the company I did and also why I rejected the others.

In my opinion the psychometric tests are very simple and throughout the whole job hunting process I never really did any practice other than the sample test they give you before you do the real one. However, I know some people have difficulty with it and many people recommend using [www.assessmentday.co.uk] for practice. PwC use numerical and diagrammatical reasoning tests (rather than the verbal one that most companies use). I think I ended up getting in around the 60th percentile.

I hope this helps some, and feel free to ask if you need something clarified or you have any other questions.

Brad

Hi brad,

Thanks for that, I really appreciate you helping with this! Just have a few more questions, I do apologize if this is getting a bit tedious for you :):

Does the essay just require common sense then (as to which option to go for)? Do you remember what kind of objectives you had to work towards, or what kind of company the group presentation dealt with?

As for the partner interview, I know it depends on who you get and what not, but was yours more competency based or more commercial awareness based? My first one was very relaxed and more of a conversation so I'm worried my partner one will be based on the latter.

Yes, the essay is looking for you to give a logical, rational answer which you are able to justify. Any answer is fine as long as you've justified it well enough.

I'm not sure if you'll have the same company for the group presentation but you may do. We were advising a client who owned a holiday resort on a Filipino island. The resort owners want to become recognised as an eco-tourism resort as it will allow them to achieve a profitable business relationship with a cruise liner who have offered to add the resort to their cruise routes if they can get eco-tourism accreditation.

Each person in your group is given a booklet with information about the resort, what it needs to achieve and what services PwC may be able to offer it. Each person is also given a sheet with two pieces of unique information which only you know. During the discussion, you will then need to tell the others about the unique information that you have as it will impact on the decisions you make. This encourages the discussion as nobody has the complete picture by themselves. You are given a budget which you need to stick to, so you need to prioritise what you would advise the resort to do as you won't be able to achieve it all. When you are about 3/4 of the way through the discussion, you are given a surprise announcement that your budget has been cut, which is testing to see whether you can cope under pressure when given different objectives.

My first interview was quite competency based and as far as I remember the partner interview was a bit more discussion orientated. The discussion is still trying to hit on your competencies though so I wouldn't have thought that the structure of your first interview would have any impact on the structure of the partner interview. It just depends on the partner and also how you go about answering questions.

Have I covered everything here, or do you have any more questions / need clarification about what I've said? I'm happy to help so don't hold back.

Brad

Hey,

Thanks for that, I guess I can't really prepare for the essay or the group presentation. Will just have to see how it goes.

Just one more question regarding the partner interview: Would it be unwise to use the same examples (for the competencies) used in the first interview?

Thank you so much for your help! I really hope I pass it.

They will know what you said in your first interview so if you can come up with new ones that would be better. Having said that, I went over some of the same examples again and he seemed to appreciate hearing them for himself, so I don't think it matters if you do repeat.

Hi, I was given an offer for grad role in london. How everything works from now on? I have the offer and still waiting for further or they gonna do now pre-employment check and after that will contact me?

Btw, this forum was very good, thanks everyone. I think everything was said already so no reason to repeat.

Hi, I was given an offer for grad role in london. How everything works from now on? I have the offer and still waiting for further or they gonna do now pre-employment check and after that will contact me?

Btw, this forum was very good, thanks everyone. I think everything was said already so no reason to repeat.

There will be overlapping, you can't avoid that. However, if possible try to add some new details and of course you must find some new examples. For instance, I left my best examples for partner interview. I have tried not to disclose my 'best' parts of life during 1st interview :-)

Hi ms1234,

I also have an AC for valuations on the 11th. Mine's in embankment at 1.30 pm. What about you?

Hey,

Mine's at 9 30, it's at Embankment as well. Good luck with yours!

Hey,

How did it go? We were a total of 5 in this session. How many were there in yours, The HR person told us they would be taking 8 today

Hey,

We were 8 in total. Not sure how it went, still haven't heard back and obviously assuming the worst! How'd yours go?

hey. has anyone been through the TRB assessment? ( its actuarial - pensions )

Yeah same here, although i messed up the individual writing and tests a bit so its not looking good ! Good luck!

Hi everyone, sorry if this is a bit out of place, but with all the amazing contributions I was wondering if someone could give me some pointers. I'm going to be having my first round interview for Assurance pretty soon, and just wanted to check if the list below would cover pretty much all competency based questions that might be asked:

1) Can you briefly talk about all the service lines PwC offer? 2) Give me 2 examples of when you have worked in a team to achieve a goal 3) Give me 2 examples of when you have been a leader/lead a team 4) Why PwC? 5) Give me 2 examples of where you have been in a situation of conflict, and explain how you chose to do the right thing 6) Can you discuss any recent developments which have strongly affected PwC and the accounting industry? 7) What do you expect you will be doing in your first year? 8) What can you tell me about the ACA qualification you have applied to? 9) What can you tell me about the line of work you have applied to? 10) Why did you decide to apply to Audit? 11) where do you see yourself in the next 5 years? 12) Discuss a recent piece of financial news that has been in the press? 13) How is PwC Assurance divided and what division would you like to work in?

Thanks very much all!!!!!!!!

enigma88 & ms1234, guys have you been contacted by PwC after your AC? I had my AC on 12th, but still haven't heard back, seems like a rejection...

me either... actually i had my ac on 10th...

and yesterday i saw a notice on their website saying We are currently experiencing a high volume of applications at this time, so this may cause a delay in us being able to respond to you. This could take up to 10 working days.

so i guess they might not be able to reply within 5 working days..

I still haven't heard. I'm hoping this doesn't mean it's a rejection, although I am starting to lose hope. Have you guys applied for graduate roles?

I have applied for a Graduate role within Transaction Services. there were 5 of us, 2 for graduate roles and 3 for internships

Hey guys,

Has anyone else heard? I gave them a call today but they just told me the generic stuff.

Derekjai, I would go to the PwC website and have a look at their competencies. Have one or two examples prepared for each. I got asked about a time I gave feedback, strengths/weaknesses, biggest achievement and some of the questions you mentioned.

Good luck!

(For advice and tips on landing a grad scheme in consulting, check out: http://consultinggrad.wordpress.com/)

My experience:

PwC 1st interview:

Competency based and commercial awareness questions.

1) Example of working in a team; 2) Time when you had to adapt to change or show flexibility in a new environment; 3) Example when you had to use a variety of resources to complete a task; 4) Time when you have had to manage multiple deadlines;

5) What are your strengths/ what could you bring to PwC; 6) What does PwC do, how is it structured, how much do you know about the firm as a whole; 7) What do you know about PwC's recent activity, eg. media stories, acquisitions etc.;

8) Tell me about a news story you've been following or have a keen interest in; 9) What kinds of challenges are facing this company; 10) What could PwC offer to this company/ deal;

The thing I liked about this interview was that it wasn't the rigid S.T.A.R format stuff other recruiters opt for which feels like you're filling out a verbal application form. The interviewer will not expect you to provide a 3 minute speech for every question but will respond to your examples and topics constructively to probe you for information and guide you to what they're looking for. Eg. they might ask about what you think made your team experience so successful, or what you feel you did best in a particular circumstance etc.

Do your research on the company - latest news stories - and have strong competency examples.

Assessment Centre:

Written exercise: 30 mins to read the brief and write a report of recommendation. It's about a company looking to branch out into a new market and selecting a suitable partner. Keep it clear, structured, analytical and present a final recommendation. Set out your objective (I found presenting a criteria of assessment immediately quite useful), go through the options listing pros and cons, and chose a partner.

Tests:

Maths and diagrammatic reasoning, same as online, numeracy maybe a bit harder.

Group Exercise:

20 mins to read through all the material and 30 mins to discuss in a group. Each member has a unique piece of information so make sure you hear everyone's and also present yours. Structure your time and press the group to move on when needed but also take a step back and listen to others. Contribute healthily to the decision making.

All the info is given to you, so it's about understanding it and presenting it to the group so that communal decisions can be made.

Partner Interview:

45mins - 1hr. Competencies again, mainly the ones that weren't covered in the telephone interview. I got questions about integrity and ethics, giving feedback to people and problem solving. There was a heavy element of commercial awareness again, this time I was asked if I could start a company what would it be. Very conceptual and discursive as we talked about the challenges involved and potential solutions.

Also talked about PwC's services and why I wanted to work in consulting. If I could work with any of PwC's clients which would I choose.

Very friendly and relaxed.

And There you have it. Hope my experience helps. Best of luck.

(For more advice and tips on landing a grad scheme in consulting, check out: http://consultinggrad.wordpress.com/)

hi everyone, I have found your posts to be very helpful. I have an AC coming up...ans as this is my first AC, I am a bit nervous.... Need a bit of advice on the written tests...I did OK in my online tests, and managed to pass...but i m worried about the written tests....can u give me some advice as to where to get some good practice on the tests? and....are there verbal tests in addition to the Numerical and the Diagramattic Tests that were tested online?? I would be grateful if you could offer some advice Thanks

No verbal reasoning. Just a written exercise where you write a report, numeracy test and diagrammatic reasoning. Numeracy was quite tricky because of the time pressure.

The practice questions at the following should stand you in good stead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QUoIhrCiss http://www.psl.co.uk/practice/ http://students.efinancialcareers.co.uk/numerical_test.htm

(For more advice and tips on landing a grad scheme in consulting, check out: http://consultinggrad.wordpress.com/)