Heyoo! I recently went to Deloitte and PwC's assessment centres and I thought I'll share my experiences that some of you may find helpful.

PwC:

I originally applied for Audit, but I was first sent for International Tax instead because of my Business Law major. But after the interview with the Tax partner I decided that as interesting IT is, I told the partner I'd rather stick with Audit and we both mutually agreed, after which she recommended to the HR that I'm put through to Audit instead.

Anyway, I'm assuming that the test for both are the same since I only had to do it once. It includes an essay, mathematical questions and something else (sue me, it was over a month ago.) Nothing out of the ordinary, pretty easy stuff.

Tax interview was really informative, involved quite a lot of the partner telling me what the division is all about. But then it's quite a small and new team, at that time they only had 8(?) people in the team, and involves a lot more than just tax. Interview was really relaxed and more about getting to know me as a person. I had a blast.

Audit interview was more structured probably due to the time limit; for the Tax interview I was probably the only one interviewed for the day, Audit had five candidates waiting by the time I was done. The interviewer pretty much said, "Why should I choose you over the others outside? Sell yourself to me. I'll give you 10 minutes." This is where I have to warn people, anything you claim on your application will probably be brought up. But if everything you've claimed are true, then it's your time to shine because every positive attribute you will need to back it up with an experience, be it work, extracurricular, hobbies etc.

If you manage to fit yourself into the position you're a pretty safe bet. And oh, just be yourself. At first the interview was really serious, but by the end of it the both of us were laughing about stuff. Also, you may bring up money (I didn't) but it's best if you focus a lot more on training opportunities they have to offer; shows you're thinking long term.

Deloitte:

Testing was pretty much the similar to PwC, except there's no calculator allowed, but it was pretty easy. If you've passed UPSR you can do it in your head. The only difference being that it's focused a lot lot more on grammar and writing in general.

Group assessment was really easy as well, especially since I'd done the exact same thing in high school so I knew what to expect. An advice is to really analyse the situation. It's not about the solution, it's about getting to the solution. Speak up if you have something to contribute but don't dominate. The more sense that comes out of your mouth the more you stand out.

Interview... I never reached the interview stage. It basically goes from testing, group assessment, and if you had done ok in group, but the partners have doubts, you'll get an interview, if you had done really well you'll get an offer straight away.


I received an offer for both firms less than a week after each interview/assessment so I guess there's something there. And for the hopefuls I'll give some idea on what to expect when going through the application process for each firm:

1. PwC: by far the best of them all. My initial enquiries were replied within a day, the staff were really helpful and cheery. Even the receptionist at the lobby was really really friendly. If I had to pick a firm just for their helpfulness PwC would win in a heartbeat.
2. Deloitte: for some reason I had a feeling that they weren't so enthused about new applicants. The receptionists were downright rude at times, and the HR immediately assumed I will accepting their offer. Hell, they didn't even ask if I applied to any other firms. And they asked me the same question three times over a few weeks.
3. KPMG: applied at the same time as the two above over a month ago but only recently received an offer for an interview.

I didn't apply for EY because I keep getting directed to their online application page, but there's no opening, and I just couldn't be bothered to write another cover letter. But for those of you who might be interested I also applied for CIMB's programme. The HR is about on par with Deloitte, except replace "arrogance" with lethargy, but the receptionist is awesome.


I probably didn't go through my experiences as well as I could have and probably left some things out. If anyone has any questions just ask and I'll try to clarify as much as I feel comfortable (no questions about exact essay questions and the such.)