Firstly, Big 4 staff deal directly with clients most of the time render English language skills even more important, so it's not hard to see why they would require a graduate who at least satisfy that aspect. The fact is, you inadvertently represent your firm everyday and it is this reason that you are required to have proper language skills to get work done. Technical skills are a given in a Big Four, since most would provide on the job training.

Hi there, thanks for your respond. i wrote the post while i was blur and have not yet sleep for whole 9..yeah, what you said is correct, i spell wrongly the name of deloitte. sorry about that. i did know how to spell DELOITTE.

i would like to inform you that regarding what i said, deloitte is stop recruiting, i am not heard from rumors but it did state in the website that there is no vacancy in deloitte malaysia at the moment.

my cgpa is above 3.75, i do not know does it consider high. however, i do believe there are many of first class students in the market. PWC did call me for a tele-interview, but i guess the call was not at the right time, while i was busy with my presentation, thus, i just simply answer the question, used the short and simple answer. therefore, i think i was failed to impress the HR executive.

yea, i know about the essay test, i did it at KPMG last time. If i decided to join back KPMG last august when they offered me , my salary would be RM2,700. however, obviously i did a wrong decision that rejected to join them back.

and i do realize about i have to improve my english level after i joined KPMG. i will attend the British council English course soon.

i grew up at a rural area, which does not emphasize english at all, i regret about why i didn't realize and learn English properly last time. i am the only one can speak English in the home....so i have no one can practice to...maybe u will say i could practice with my friends, but most of them only speak mandarin in the university, only if there is presentation they will use English, otherwise, normal conversation if i speak English , they will LOOK at you... thought u r showing off. sigh.

regarding the extra-curricular, just to be frank , i do not have, only those compulsory i have. maybe as 1 of the participant of National Service program could be considered as ?

and BDO didn't invite me for an interview session is because they said 1 of their requirement is SPM Englsih score A. that 's why, i failed. but my coursemate who scored B can get in there, because he applied earlier, and he is ex-vt there. so the executive said they give excuse to those VT.


anyway, i agree that English is really important, tat's y i even hope if i were English educated, like those 'banana'. although my friend who is banana keep comforting me that, i should be indebted because i can read, write and speak chinese. however, if i can choose, i wish to be English educated.


thank you for all the responses.

See, again. THere is a difference between VACANCY and STOP HIRING. When we talk about no vacancy, it simply means that the firm is sufficient in terms of no. of employees that they need and they will only recruit as and when people leave and they need to make back up the numbers that had left. Not hiring simply means that even if they have a shortage of staff, they will make do with it without embarking on a recruitment exercise.

Your BIGGEST mistake was simply not showing the slightest interest at all with tele-interview by PwC (yea its a small w), perhaps what you could have done instead of simply answering the questions is to tell them that you are in the midst of a presentation and maybe you could have the contact person and number to call them back, which would have definately made a better impression than that of simply answering questions. Actually, your indecisiveness have costed you jobs with 2 out of the big 4s already, with 1) rejecting KPMG and 2) simply not showing interest in the tele-interview.

Honestly, at times there are more mitigating factors to consider rather than only concentrating on your CGPA. That includes sports, societies and as well as your social etiquette in life, had afriend with CGPA3.50 working with one of the big 4s now as well, and boy trust me, 100% of the people bet he won't even get called for interview, but hey, he did got called and he did get the job.

Don't fret though, because if you can read, write and converse in Mandarin, it is an added value that helps market yourself to the employers as well as people mainly can only read and converse in Mandarin but are not able to write. So keep on looking, hope you'll find your job soon.

p/s: Oops getting too long winded. Shall let ThanatosSiwftfire to continue on...

well.. u may try to apply Deloitte again mid/end of next month.. may hav vacancy on tat time..

1. Have you tried calling up the HR department in Deloitte to enquire, or did you just stop at the website? Have you sent in your CV? If i'm not mistaken, a CGPA of 3.75 is pretty good and it would be quite bad if they did not at least invite you for a first round.

2. Being able to read/write/speak Mandarin is a huge advantage in any industry now. But that doesn't mean you cannot be proficient in English as well.

3. As Garfie mentioned, you've only yourself to blame for missing out on the 2 employent opportunities with PwC and KPMG. Any interviews, face to face, over the phone or otherwise, should be taken seriously as it gives the interviewer a glimpse of your character.

reply:

thanks for your advices. erm, i did not call HR deloitte as i received their email stated there, if there is vacancy and if i have been shortlisted for a position with the Firm , they will contact me.

yeah, i am trying to improve my English level so that i could proficient in it.

Yeah, i guess i am a nut because i rejected KPMG. so many people wish to join them. However, to me, if the environment is not good or maybe the department culture is not suit me, i will not force myself to be work there. as it is very important that to have a nice working culture or maybe culture which suit me. the department i worked there (cannot state the name of the department) , it is really .....if you are in that department, probably wont be long also...haha, as almost all my seniors left already within a year...

yeah, i did a big mistake which i failed to show my keen to join the firm.

i am thinking about, is my resume too long....3pages....my friend told me maybe something wrong with my resume.

anyway, i will try my best again..

3 pages is normal. As long as it's clear, concise, free of grammar and spelling mistakes, it'll do just fine.

yeah, you are right. that was my big mistake. however, i cannot backward-looking, even thought i regret. therefore, i have to forward-looking.

actually my personal think that, CGPA is not important compare to English. thats' why i never think that with high CGPA will be an advantage to me.

so to me, it is not surprising if your friend who with CGPA 3.50 can get into big 4.. because my friend with CGPA above 3.2 already can enter big 4. my friend told me that the minimum CGPA is above 3.2 for big 4. thus, to add value will be the english and co-curriculum.

my friends who good command in English, had won loreal brainstorming competition lately. although their CGPA might not very high, but their communication skills are really admirable... they could use a very pretty sentence to express themselves. obviously , firms are hunting those people.


yeah, i will put more efforts to look for a job.. , there must be a firm who can contain me. ,thanks for all the advices and responses. appreciated. i just noticed about the forum this few days, i never know that i can learn more and get more information from the forums. Really thank you.

This post has been edited by mary51: Jun 25 2009, 03:06 PM

Mary51, keep trying and do not lose hope. I believe that many fresh graduates will find it difficult to land a job now especially in this 'trying economy'. IMO, CGPA is definately important and if you get a high CGPA, you will stand out from others. So please don't say that ' i never think that with high CGPA will be an advantage to me'

At the moment, if you are still interested in studying, maybe you can consider to take on professional accounting courses while looking for a job. I believe this will greatly enhance your resume and your chances to be shortlisted for interviews in the big4s would be higher commensurate with your good CGPA. I heard from my peers that big4 prefer candidates with professional qualification and if you are a degree holder, they will encourage you to pursue those professional courses. I might be wrong but this is what i've heard of.

I attended KPMG interview yesterday for the position of Audit assistant. Generally the interview went well. Scored 100% on the numerical test and 91% on the verbal portion and the face to face was okay.

Was told that they would love to hire me but couldn't because there was no vacancy and the earliest point would be in December. LOL.

so i guess have to search for other firms..

Hmm... That was tough even you scored high for the test... Don't give up and keep trying...

May i know which KPMG u apply for? Is that at KL one?

agreed. i saw one the big4 senior is accompany by his junior to walk the talk when meeting with the client.

Yup, for Audit team M.... I was shocked at the results too, never expected to do so well..

Prior to the face to face interview, the staff who was there wispered to me said I did very well... I thought it was about 80+ never expected the results that way.... LOL... I wished there was a picture taken when the Interviewer broke the news to me....

This post has been edited by Isaaru: Jun 25 2009, 11:19 PM

My sister just applied for an internship with my company in singapore, despite a scholarship recipient with CGPA of 3.8, she still get the red light. Am trying to push her resume to the HR but was told the hiring has been freezed.

Being in audit for 3 years, this is the first time that HR told me "full capacity" whereas I am always understaffed for my jobs!!!!

good luck, mate

why they called u up for interview when they don even have a vacancy ?

IAFG starting tmrw
Good luck to all that is participating

I'm told that for these firms they can't afford to have a vacancy for so long so they typically have a waiting list of available hirees to fill the spot. i've heard in the past that the duration of the wait was a couple of months but this time to go 6 months or longer is something new to me. I may be ignorant and perhaps this has happen in the past before.

Fact 1.
Audit firms CANNOT stop hiring. The moment they stop, there will be a gap in the review hierarchy, and that is bad for the firm.

Fact 2.
Good or bad times, people leave audit. Why? It's just too.. shall I say it, inhuman.

Fact 3.
Bad times means more people stay, as they can't find alternative work. Also, bad times means budget and cash runs lower.That will mean HR have to hire less. However, due to Fact 1 and Fact 2, they still have to hire. (for continuity and succession planning)

Fact 4.
In bad times, audit is the only consistent firm that still hires. THerefore, it may seem like the audit firms h ave stopped hiring, but what in fact actually happens, is that,
i) More applicants (as a result of the growing popularity of audit as a career to young, clueless and hopeful accounting students)
ii) Retrenched staff trying out audit
iii) Previously resigned auditors going back to it because they can't find other jobs since resigning.

As a result of Facts 1-2, they will still hire.
But as a result of Facts 3 and 4, recruitment criteria is much more stringent.

Thus, to the common, average performing student, it would seem as if hiring have ceased.