Guys I need some confirmation right here about recruitment policy of Big 4.
I attended my own course career fair which only PwC & KPMG participates so can only confirm like this :
PwC : October intake full, work starts next march.
KPMG : October intake open & can start working at 1 Oct.
EY : ???
Deloitte : ???

I am a fresh acca affiliate so I wish to look for jobs asap.

All 3 also can since I think interest is still very raw at young age. Is there any major difference between each divisions in terms of hiring policy ?
Got to fulfill 3 years for membership status so looking for a job that lasted for that period (hopefully). I think audit should be the main choice, but I also took up tax as an optional paper if audit position is full & I am also interested in advisory since I am a "jack of all trades, master of none" kind of guy.

I have some offers from medium firms but that is b4 I got full qualification & I sent application b4 result as a back-up security if things gone the other way around. Now armed with full cert, I will try for large firms b4 deciding.

I have been preparing full resumes, CV's, cover letters, compiling certs just 3 days after graduating. Then when apply today, they all asked for photograph, rushing to take the latest one ...... . By the way how useful are contacts to enter Big 4 ? Some people told me it is completely necessary with huge competitions around. Some of the Big 4 acca students also told me the same thing. Said if recommendation comes to partner level can skip a lot of the interview process. Just checking ..... (still ignorant here).

Got an interview with EY next week.
Applied for advisory but they mentioned its full so they ask for 2nd choice, gotta go for audit associate.
Never thought they replied ridiculously fast, applied last friday got call last morning.

My application have been accepted with 2 of the Big 4's but for different position.
Is there any major difference in terms of working hours, travel, training & exposure between audit & advisory line ?
I have tackle the assurance interview but need some rough idea for advisory.

Can anybody share their experience in advisory post application. How different it was compared to assurance ?
Is it the same process like : 1st & 2nd interview or 3 test then 1 interview ? Its because i was told it will not be in batches.

How is teamworking in audit ? Cooperative or Competitive ?

Well thats quite a positive note (considering the fierce competition to even get a job these days).
Another thing is that is it better to drive to the office or take public transport then carpooling if unsure about the assignments location later on.
I mean why drive all the way there then park for half a day but need to carpool to another location. My area has good public transport coverage.
Still unsure about how the travelling system works.

So carpooling is very normal & frequent, then I think taking public transport is better for few weeks. Its because there is a huge jam & bumper to bumper from my home to the firm's HQ on weekdays. Is your house near to your firm ?
I know that question is quite irrelevant considering we will be at client's premise most of the time, but just for curiosity sake.

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Added on September 26, 2009, 6:14 pmI sat for Pwc, got essay & profiling & verbal & diagrammatic tests. I think it should be similar to all firms (I mean how different it can get). But you need to manage your time efficiently since they want to know how you react under time pressure.

I heard for audit interview, it should be in relaxed & friendly manner. Tell me about yourself, Why you choose our firm, How you come to know it very general & should be non-tricky since its normally hired in batches. They bound to asked whether are you willing to work long hours during peak period. Donr simply say yes immediately since its kinda generic since many resign bcos they thought can handle it, just said willing, willing, willing.

For an advisory interview I undergo, its damn serious & something like this, Are you aware of the industry, How well you deal with crisis, Strength & weakness & very technical question regarding the department you applied to. If you don't do research, prepare to suffer the whole session.

This post has been edited by Topace111: Sep 26 2009, 06:14 PM

Heard that for advisory process is slower compared to audit. Mine is financial advisory so I am not sure whether its same with IT. When they called you they will mentioned which specific dept you will be assigned to so they will stress "Please research about it". I thought its kinda a normal situation but hey I am fresh & naive but I did prepared a bit (not in depth though) since I assume it will be similar to audit interview.

For advisory, they WANT people. In audit they NEED people. So if you have that perception in mind you will have a rough framework. In my opinion you should show the interviewer or interviewers (I got 2 directors) that WHY they should hire you since they don't actually need to, but once they called for interview it should be ok since they won't bother with you if you don't impressed them with your resume.

Wait until they asked you to travel to a very far client. I kena this week, he he now browsing net from the hotel provided by client after audit work. Last week have to drive 1 hour back & forth from another client's place.
Do you have any requirement to take up professional courses like ACCA ? If yes then your life will slowly end from there.

I find acca its manageable provided you are given enough time to study for it, hence I never failed in my exams when I am taking fulltime. However it cannot be said for part timers since time management is extremely important to juggle your work performance & exams. In my firm acca students are only given like 2 weeks study leave while ICAEW are given 2 months.

Actually if you join Big4 you MUST take up professional courses (your choice is only on which one).

Actually I am not sure about other firms but how often a junior auditor will be "booked / requested" into another team instead of staying with the permanent team. Let say you are placed under a manager A but out of the blue manager B requested you as well, then you know the story la.
Common scenario ?

I was offered PwC advisory position as a fresh grad with 0 working experience which I never took due to the "professional membership years requirement". For advisory if you wants to be a professional accountant, it takes 4 or 5 years. Audit only 3 without bond. So people normally joined Big4 to "learn" something out of it, audit is really the best dunghole you can find.

For advisory position technical questions are almost guaranteed.
Normally a person will called you to research about that particular dept you was assigned to.
KPMG advisory requires you to state which dept first while PwC will allot based on necessities, EY straight gives me audit.

Advisory is a "Problem Solver" position so if you get this right then the interview scope should be quite clear.
Technically I heard it is very risky to join advisory as a junior / fresh since learning opportunities are quite scarce and very slow-paced. That is why if audit dept needs people, they will just transfer some advisory freshie to audit, happens to some of my seniors.

For accountants professional membership is a must if you want to venture far = ACCA, CIMA, CPA & ICAEW. 4 common foreign professional qualifications. So they will normally request their staffs to performed either of those and the firm will bond the staff by paying their educational fees and exams but you need to stay in the firm for 4 years (3 years working experience + 1 year working for study leave taken).

Before achieving professional, pay will be quite low compared to other professions like engineers or doctors. But once achieved + working experience in big4 + perfomance (if you are powerstaff) + network connections then you can start demand for higher payments or leave for better pay in MNC or joined advisory or consultancy to let off some steams.

For advisory I don't think they will ask you to study professional but it is encouraged but it depends on your job scope. For example the dept they assigned to me is mostly finance + law (but involves accounting knowledge) hence they need to recruit accouting graduates but not major in accounting works.

Audit is the best route to start your career but not necessarily the perfect 100% route. You may achieve even better success in advisory than in audit who knows ? Hey don't call HR to change midway, you can join first then request to change dept if you are unhappy = its far easier and less complaint.

Study leave should be paid or else I think nobody will go for such programme, but I am not too sure since I known some colleagues that always make some jokes that their salary was cut to pieces whenever there is exam. For acca many will go for unpaid leaves + study leave but ICAEW shoud be enough I think.

I think only 1 or 2 paper needs accounting knowledge, the rest requires analysis skills.

Case study is something that is very hard to prepare since they can ask anything and have million of ways to answer. It depends how well you react to the particular question being asked. Most of the time they will ask something non-sensical but if you stick fast to key principles and answer then it should be ok.

Give you a rough idea, let say there are some general steps you need to perform when going on a general trip (key principles).
Then they may ask you in specific like How to go to beach area, mountains, city centres, villages, remote area, fallout area,..... (case study).
So you apply your knowledge accordingly.

Good luck with your choices

If go to client place that provides hotel then working past 2-3 am quite common. Since hotel is provided, finish work then sleep then go office straight. I have tried a Naval company before and the sight of the beach is quite motivating every morning until I saw the client's dockyard.

I know certain clients got very high turnover rate due to their large subsidiary base. Interim also stays until past 10pm. Don't want to imagine when year end approaches. One thing I notice in EY everyone is friendly to one another (maybe the environment is a reason they can stay so late). If work work work only without friends then Big4 is hell yo.

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Added on November 7, 2009, 6:54 pmEy parking sucks, pay RM9 everyday if stay at office.
Client depends, if outstation then just carpool and live at hotel.
Current client got free access to parking from my manager, think she pities me that I live so far away compared to others.

This post has been edited by Topace111: Nov 7 2009, 06:54 PM

Heard that EY is forever terribly understaffed no matter how many new entrants comes in. Too many companies to audit and its normal to juggle between several companies. So under such circumstances deadline is almost negliglible since when you finish your work, next will be coming in then on & on until there is nothing left. Since lack of manpower, its normal for junior staff to performed a lot of audit works beyond normal capacity and expectations. That is why EY is normally associated with those "late working hours" until 3-4 am. Just pray you don't get large commercial PLC companies with a lot of subsidiaries.

My engagements unfortunately fall under "peak all year round" so no complains. I think EY is the best place to learn quickly and get out quickly but also around the harshest place to work especially the long working hours, good thing that people from all levels are quite friendly.

I think most of Big4 firms trainings are geared towards the firms rather than the staff itself. I think they expect their staff to stay beyond their expected 4 to 5 years so they invest heavily in training especially PwC. Junior staff will get a very good step by step training (eg : first few months doing a, next few months doing b, 1 year doing c,.....). In EY there is quite a high labour turnover rate so training although is quite comprehensive but less so since they expected the staff to leave after the normal expected range. Thats why staff needs to perform A,B & C in first few months instead of 1 year. The culture in EY is staff needs to learn things by doing instead of learning it in training. Some find it effective while others may scorn about it. Depends on your preference.