Smith & Williamson -Phone interview

I've got mine on Monday! What position are you applying for? I'm going for Investment Management.

ive got mine on friday.will let u know what they ask.im going for audit in their southampton branch

Had my interview this morning. It was really relaxed and not very difficult at all. Started off with just confirming the stuff you've put on your application form, then asks you about your a levels, university choices and any work experience. After that they ask why smith & williamson and why the particular programme, how you keep up with business issues and name an issue which interests you, how do you think you would cope with having to work and study at the same time, what do you know about the qualification. At the end she asked some HR questions like do you have a criminal record etc. and that was it! Lasted less than 30 mins in total and nothing really to worry about.

cool thanks for that glad to hear it went well.what business issue did you mention by the way?

I was supposed to have mine a couple of weeks ago, but I'm actually having it on Thursday morning. I applied for Investment Management too.

I talked briefly about the need for better regulations in the financial services industry. It could be absolutely anything though, I think the precise question was "can you tell me about a news story you have read recently that has interested you". What I said was very brief and she didn't ask any follow up questions. Basically they just want to know that you keep up to date with the news.

well had it today.its a quite friendly processs.shame i focused on doing so much advance work on it though.
you only get asked competnecy questions and pretty much got the same ones as plintveld.
only question which kind of stumbled me was tell us what u know about the firm-think they are angling more about news and not just what you have lifted from the website.

I wouldn't be worried about their news, I looked up S&W news before my interview and there really wasn't very much, I looked at the FT at stuff.

Has anyone heard back from their interview yet?

Hey...how long after taking the tests did they get back to you?

how long did it take for the tests invites??? I got an email saying that my application is on hold!

I had my telephone interview on monday last week and still haven't heard back... even though she said I would hear back within a week. Has anyone heard back?

I reckon that they're super busy and will get back to everyone together.

I heard about my interview 4/5 (I can't exactly remember) days after I did the tests.

they got back to me in about a week.i first got an email saying they were very busy so my application was on hold

Hey plintveld had my interview and got told they would get back to me in a week.today is when that week ends and still havent heard back.will be emailing them on monday regarding the application

I just heard back today, I've got an Assessment Centre in January.

also heard back today in the end. through to assesment only they have no days currently available

hi Hopeful IM, just wondering when in january your assesment center is. I also applied to IM but did so quite late so dont have my telephone interview until the 7th Jan - it seems they are really busy because i booked that a couple fo weeks ago and it was the first one they had!

Heard back today as well and through to the assessment day. tr226, at the moment the dates for the assessment centre are the 15th and 25th of January.

When I got my invite the only day available was the 15th (which suits me better anyways)

Are the ACs broken down by business area, or do they take everyone together?

thanks guys, was pretty annoyed i have to leave the telphone interview so long but i guess at least its before the assesment centers

Dear All,
I have the telephonic interview coming up for the Audit trainee program....can u shed some light on the questions asked...i shall be grateful....

Becks!

had mine a few days back, they asked:
- about my A-levels, University and Work Experience
- why I had chosen tax
- about anywhere else I'd applied to
- what I knew about the ACA
- how I'd cope with working and studying at the same time
- where I see myself after training
- how I keep up with business world
- an issue in the business world that interests me

unusually, they DIDN'T ask:
- why I chose Smith and Williamson
- anything about S&W vs. the Big 4
- anything about the local and global issues/factors affecting the business world/S&W

I did talk A LOT when giving my answers so they might just not have had time to ask the above questions so I'd still research them!

Hope this helps and good luck to everybody!

Hi,
Those who have had phone interviews, how long do they take to get back to you?

Hi everyone have a telephone interview this week and was wondering if anyone could help me with regards to the local and global issues affecting businesses that are small and large as well as any interesting news with regards to S&W- seems to be limited information out there on them. Much appreciated!

Hi Donell,

You could talk about how Smith and Williamson is dealing with business contracts being increasingly decided on price (i.e. KPMG/Rentokil deal), whether they are experiencing an increase in demand for their services (recession => companies desperate to lower costs => companies look to redesign their tax strategies) or a decrease in demand for their services (recession => companies unwilling to OK expenditure on services that do not add any immediate/obvious/tangible value to their operations), whether they are cutting back on recruitment (to adjust to new market conditions) or are not cutting back on recruitment (so as to ride out the recession and be well-placed in the recovery) etc.

Hope this helps,

matt

Hey guys- i just had a phone interview with S and W- just thought i'd add to what has been said: A question she asked me which isn't on these forums is:

'Name a business which has been doing badly'
'Name a business which has been doing well'

She asked me 'what do you know about Smith and W' rather than 'why S and W'

I was only asked one competency q- Which was 'Name a time you have explained a complex issue to a client'

Hope this helps!

Hi guys!

I have a telephone interview coming up next week and I was hoping if anyone could provide details of the type of questions they asked?

I was wondering if the questions may have changed as I am applying for a 2011 role.

Thanks and any responses will be highly appreciated! :-)