Grant Thornton Interview Questions

i had my first round telephone interview today and they drilled me on how i managed my time, how i prioritise my time, how i prioritise my work and social life etc.

hey i have a telephone interview coming up, do u remember what sort of questions they asked you? thank you

Hi,

I am having a phone interview with Grant Thornton on Monday and it's also my first ever phone interview. I would be grateful if you could tell me what were the questions asked and how you found the overall experience.

Many thanks! :)

Hi,

Melissa, how was the interview? Hope it went well. What sort of things did they ask you, was it mainly competency based, or about the company or general market awareness etc??

Thanks

Hi Allmodcons,

Below are the questions I got asked at the telephone interview:

Why you chose the university?
Why chosen degree of subject?
Run through work placement stated in application form and explain what skills gained.
Why the summer internship?
Any area of tax you are interested in?
How did you hear about us?
What are you involved in outside university?
Run through work experience and the skills gained
Example of taking initiative from WORK PLACEMENT
Example of Successful teamwork project- obstacles faced- why it was successful?
How do you plan your day to day procedure?
How do you plan social and work balance?
Example when planning didn’t go well?
Why are you suitable for Grant Thornton?

I hope this is useful! There were no questions on commercial awareness whatsoever. The person on the phone was extremely friendly and kept the conversation fluid and relaxing. Just be yourself and relax. When are you having your phone interview?- Good luck!!

I got through the phone interview round and will be attending an assessment centre tomorrow!

Anyone can share their assessment centre experience with me?
What was the group exercise like?
What was the face to face interview like? Was it similar to the phone interview questions?

Many thanks! :)

Thanks for the advice, my interview was yesterday eve so just in time! I think they have a pretty set script because I had pretty much exactly the same questions. Although they did also ask me
where I read information about the industry?
why I wanted to join GT?
why I wanted to join the department I had applied to?
I guess I'll find out in a few days or so whether I've got through or not. Hope the assessment centre went well Melissa.

I had my first round interview with Grant Thornton last wed (oct 7) ...I have yet to hear back from them, whom do you think i should contact to find out whether they completely discarded me or if I am still an option for a second round? =(

I've just received an email from Grant Thornton saying I passed the tests but that my application is placed on hold for them to sort out those at further stages than me and to refer to their website if I want to change to another location. Has anyone received the same email?I applied for the London office, does this mean I should change the office location?

Hi K_panye

I received the same email a few days ago. From past experience I would advise transferring your application otherwise you risk missing out all together.

Hey mdbmt, I've emailed them beginning of this week about transferring but still haven't heard anything back yet. Have you been contacted ?

can anyone tell me which uk office location has the greatest number of audit trainee positions?

Any ideas about the assessment centre?

What are the expected questions and the recent business issues?

What is the case study like?

Hi

I have just recieved an offer from Grant Thornton which I have accepted. I have 2 more accountancy interviews lined up for smaller firms, and I'd much rather work for Grant Thornton than either of those firms. I was just wondering on whether anyone could advise me on whether I should attend these interviews (one is tomorrow) - I am just waiting for my GT contract to be posted out as I only got offered the job on Thursday, and have an email with an offer which says it's conditional upon references (which I don't see why I would have any problem with my references as they are both good ones). Should I attend this interview tomorrow? I also have another one in Febuary to fall back on to if I needed....?

Thanks

Hi pinkpenguin,

Congrats on getting the offer.

What did ur assessment centre consist of? I got told that mine will be an interview with an audit manager and maybe also a partner's interview and a case study. Did you have a group exercise as well?

Thanks a lot in advance for your help.

Hi, I have a telephone interview with GT very soon.

Can anyone, who has been through it recently, give me some advice on what to expect?
I gather most of the questions will be competency based, but any other tips?

Also, to the questions "why GT? Why this line of work?" Can I simply tell them what I put in my application form?

Thank you.

Hi, everyone,

I also have a telephone interview coming up this week, just wondering if anyone can give some comments about theirs, and the questions which may come up. I will be very grateful.

Thank you

Hey I successfully completed the online tests and just received an email saying that they're putting my app on hold so they can deal with applicants who are at further stages in the process. Did anyone recieved this email too when they applied - if so how long did you have to wait until hearing from them?

Thanks

Hi grad2009,

unfortunately I had the same email in November and literally just got invited to an interview. Unless you have applied for a vacancy outside of London and its suburbs it is unlikely you will get to an interview. I say this because I personally applied to London but was offered an interview in kettering. It seems GT are just trying to fill the last few places.

At the moment Grant Thornton have literally no vacancies left according to graduate recruitment. My advice to you would be to chase up grad recruitment otherwise your chances will be slim. Alternatively, try and move your application to an office that still has vacancies. Chances are these will be in tax.

Thanks for your reply mdbmt,

When I started the application London was my preference, but I didn't apply to that location because those were all completely full up already. Thanks for your advice - I'm going to call the recruitment line to find out which locations/offices still have vacancies left.

Good luck with your interview!

Hi, I work at Grant Thornton so maybe can help about being on hold and jobs as the posts are half right.

The grad recruitment is nearly done - but only definately finished for London. Theres quite a few people on hold for this position who are now being contacted to see if they want to move to other locations.

Other locations are also getting pretty full but there are some roles left. The problem is that there are applicants ahead of new ones with arranged interviews already. If you move to that location though at least you are in with a chance though if any other interviews come up.

Ways to go about this...

- if you are totally 100% flexible on location then consider those we are still encouraging applications like Kettering, Norwich, Ipswich and potentially Sheffield and Leeds.

- if its audit you want, have you considered public sector audit where we need more applications in Leeds and others for example. and like the previous person said - there are tax roles still available...like slough, gatwick, cambridge etc

- call the recruiter in the office of interest...the numbers are all listed on the website or in the brochure...http://www.grant-thornton.co.uk/careers/graduate_opportunities/more_about_us/where_you_could_work.aspx?city=Norwich

Hey, i recieved an email invite for the telephone interview!

Im guessing it'll have the usual why GT, why the chosen service line, and competencies etc..

Just wondering if anyone who recently had a telephone interview can remember anything else in particular that came up?

Much appreciated

no u r wrong, i prepared for all the basic competencies they could've asked/ mentioned on this URL and wikijob, but it didn't help much.

Make sure you clearly know your application in and out because they will ask you to explain further in detail on each answer you gave. DONT GIVE SAME EXAMPLES

Then they will ask not the usual upto 10 compentency based questions which I was baffed, so yeh good luck.

Clearly they have changed the standard format of questions

I didn't get through unfortunately and I applied for the Slough office.

Good luck

Hi everyone,

Just thought I should share my experience on this forum, since I used this website a lot to prepare for interviews.

The application form and the tests are straight forward.
Upon completing them, I was asked to sit a telephone interview conducted by HR. This was competency based. GT has a list of the key competencies they look for in their trainees, but prepare as much as you can. The list given on this website covers most competencies, and unless you get someone who's had a really bad day on the phone, you should be fine.

My interview lasted about 50 mins, and I was simply asked the main competencies.
Leadership, team work, why GT (make sure you explain why GT as opposed to the Big Four), why the line work, my knowledge about the line of work, decision making, problem solving, and organisation.

In all fairness, I messed up my answers on a number of competencies - make sure you keep your answers brief and straight to the point. Do not waffle or go wondering off topic. Sounds obvious, but when under pressure you end up doing stupid things (like I did).

At the end, when asked if you have anything else to add, I think you should mention why they should hire you and state your key skills that you will take with you in your line of work. Right at the end, when asked about any questions you have, ask things that are not answered on the website.

The manager interview is also competency based and very similar to the HR phone interview. Mine was very relaxed. The manager was young and extremely friendly. You will be tested on commercial awareness. Make sure to maintain eye contact and use good body language. Again, keep your answers short and brief, ensuring you cover everything asked in the question. Also, it sounds obvious again, but look professional! They need to know that you will be able to cope when faced with clients.

The Partner interview too was relaxed. He quickly ran through some competency questions, although I must say, he worded them in such a way, I was not sure which one he was after when asking the question.
But he was more interested in getting to know me as a person, He asked general questions, i.e hobbies, family, interests... Again, it felt like a very friendly discussion.

In all honestly, I had no idea about the level of my performance in those interviews. I did prepare as much as I could, and just tried answering the questions in the best possible ways. At times, I would take a quick time-out would think to myself "I can't believe I just said that" or "Crap, I answered that question so badly" or "Yep, that was badly formulated and I mumbled a hell of a lot..."
But it's all a learning curve. That's what I keep telling myself.

General advice: Prepare as much as possible (goes without saying) and more importantly just be yourself.

Hi

I got my telephone interview coming up towards the end of this week. I was just wondering if they test on your commercial awareness at this stage. And also, do they ask you to give more than one example for each competency?

Any help would be much appreciated

Thanks

Hi, Can anyone please give me some idea how GT is different from its competitor in both good and bad? I would like to apply for GT industril placement but I cannot compare GT with its competitor.

no commercial..just study on the competencies the guy above has posted..u'll b fine

http://www.accountingelf.com/accounting-firm-size/

read as an overview..hope this helps

Hello there,
I saw your comment on the GT graduate recruitment forum and was wondering whether the situation for filled places also applies for summer internships.
I have been told that they have given out enough offers to cover the places for the division but saw that the website is still accepting applications for the summer.
Any answer you can give me will be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

i think its an all year round recruitment, Just apply anyway, your sure to get a response. Just might not have your preferred location.

Best of Luck

Hi, in answer to your query about the summer internships...there are locations still hiring and looking for more applications like Slough, Ipswich and Norwich. They havent been open long as are new schemes.

There's also some graduate and school leaver roles for this year available. Again, particularly in Ipswich and Norwich - but looking for people to be focused on the jobs and location.

Other locations for the summer internship are nearly full but may still be open while we wait to see how people get on at final round or accept the offer - so other candidates go in hold until this is resolved.

Best thing is to call your office HR that you applied to via their numbers which are on the website. Emailing isnt great as they are swamped with them usually.

Or I'm happy to chase for you to see where your application is if you like. If you want to mail me direct privately with your details - office applied to, email, name I can get you an answer.

Thanks

Hello and many thanks for your prompt response!

I have talked to the HR and have been told pretty much what you have told me. Basically that I will need to wait and see what the offer-holders say.

Thanks for the tip on Ipswich and Norwich! Might consider it!

I just had my HR interview today, it was supposed to be over telephone however the HR lady was kind enough to arrange a face to face interview on request. went on for 90 minutes atleast, and we discussed many issues. i like to think i made a positive impression but she mentioned that there is only one seat lfet for southampton...
i just hope it was not to prepare myself for the bad news...

any one with any similar experience ????

Hi sorry been trying to research on the company and find out their uniqueness in comparison with other Big 4, please any one with answers?

I'd be very grateful.

Good luck guys

Hello,

Can anyone please tell me the pass mark for the online test? And how long they take to tell you if you have passed or not?! I have just completed the test and the suspense is killing me!!

Thanks.

Hello everyone,

I have a telephone interview booked in for Grant Thornton within the next week and I've been told the area I shall be tested on. The typically areas are there and I fairly aware as to how I would prepare for it, however, I don't understand what type of questions these areas will be bring up:

Ownership - no clue as to what this means... is this leadership?
Building business relationships - dreading this one.. I have limited work experience
Initiative - i have a slight idea here... could this be something like, example how you sold something innovatively?

So any ideas on what these three areas are about and what questions I could receive?

Any help would be very much appreciated!

Thank you

Hey,

I have a telephone interview with GT and was hoping you could share your experience.

I've never had a telephone interview before, were they friendly and easy to talk to? and how were the qus?

Hope yours went well :) :)

Hi inceptum and Bethan,
Have either of you had your telephone interviews yet? I have mine on Ruesday and also have the same competencies.
I think ownership relates to teamwork, how you've worked in a team, leadership etc.
Building business relationships, jsut think of times you've worked and had to adopt a formal relationship with someone, you could use an example of working in a group for coursework? Or working in a supermarket? I'm guessing anything like that!
I think innitiative means a time you've used your initiative to do something. Like using your innitiative in the work place, university work, to solve a problem etc?
I could be wrong, but thats what I'm hoping for!
If you've already had your interview any help would be great thanks!
WHere have you applied to and what for?

I've applied for audit in Milton Keynes, how about you two?

No, I haven't had mine yet. When I log on their system it says no available slots.. Good luck on tuesday :) :) :)

Just had my telephone interview, had the competencies: Business Insight, Ownership and Initiative.

The first is when you've used your knowledge from any walk of life to add value.
Ownership is when you've been relied upon to produce results
Initiative is when you've used your own initiative to solve a problem.

Also asked: why you want to work for GT? How has the economic downturn affected GT? why the department that you've applied for? and how do you think you'll add value to that role?

Hi Bethan. GT have just sent new interview slots live...get on quick as they get filled up fast. Good luck

hey the questions outlined above were almost identical to what i was asked.

has anyone heard bac from GT about how their interview went??

Thankyou :) I have mine booked for the 3rd of November.

How did everyone get on with theirs?:)

Hi

I was wondering if everyone for the Grad jobs 2012 has the same areas to focus on: motivation, business insight, initiative, ownership and building business relationships?

How are the interviews going?

Inceptum I had mine last week and haven't heard back either....has anyone heard back and how lnog did it take to hear?

I had a question about one of the questions on the application form.
As well as being business focused, we also look for people who show a strong motivation to the business area they are applying to. Please tell us about your focus and knowledge of your chosen business area, and the relevant professional qualification? (where applicable)

I wanted to know exactly what they meant when they say 'Tell us about your focus.' Do they mean state your service line and then demonstrate your knowledge?

Hi guys...im apllying to the school leavers programme and just want to ask what you guys wrote for these the 3 main questions:

to be a successful trainee, you will need to be focused and a good fit for our firm. Please let us know why you have decided to apply to Grant Thornton and what you think differentiates us from our competitors.

You will be expected to take on early responsibility, demonstrate ownership, and deliver results. Please describe any positions of responsibility that you've held which show this.

Hi Steph,

Any clues as to what questions the above focus areas, motivation, business insight, initiative, ownership and building business relationships, might be ?

thanks,

Hi RAAR,

Have you had your interview? How did you get on?