-.-" cktwai would be a good person to answer your questions but for an insight on current situation of IT Audit in EY do feel free to ask me.

actually all Big 4's no matter where's minimum requirement is 2nd upper or average credit.

PM-ed you.

Not sure where did you hear that accumulatively EY staff get more than PwC staff but perhaps you should get your facts right first next time. But EY's staff don't get a RM 600 - 700 increment when they are promoted from A1 to SA2 although A2 to A1's increment is more than RM 100 - 150.

You won't be issued a staff parking unless you are AM and above. Flat rate parking is available but it's only feasible if you're not going out to see client often (i.e. admin depts & tax). Flat rate parking is RM 7 per day in the open air car park next to MM building.

It's always about revenue generation. Considering the KL office will have many MNC/high profiled clients, the audit fee will definitely be higher than the smaller companies in the smaller towns. Therefore, it is only fair to reward the staff accordingly.

The department is called Risk and Business Solutions (RABS). But RABS is broken down into 3 totally different units. Business Advisory Services (BAS) provides consulting services to our clients for engagements such as project management. Business Risk Services (BRS) mainly provides internal audit services to our clients. Technology and Security Risk Services (TSRS) does IT consulting and IT audit. Which unit are you placed in? PM me if anything.

Well, I really don't know which unit your friend is in; but i don't know what is it about the department that "sucks". If you could be a bit more specific about what's wrong with the department, I'd be more than happy to help clarify some issues. No matter where you work, there will be problems and issues. So I would sincerely like to know where what is it about the department that doesn't suit your friend.

That's a very unfair statement. Even if you said you've got to deal with silly PwC auditors, I don't see how that covers EY as well. In general, you are generalising based on 1 of your experience. Did you know that EY has the most PLC clients among the Big 4. In addition to that, in Malaysia; PwC and EY are the highest earners among the Big 4. I think the main reason why you thought it was easier to deal with Deloitte auditors was because they have lower expectations and merely do what is sufficient to complete their job. Maybe the PwC auditors were further investigating some stuff which Deloitte just didn't bother with? I would suggest that you mince your words a little before saying things that are completely unfair to people working in PwC and EY.

sorry for not replying earlier. I guess you would have chosen by now. But in my humblest opinion, there isn't much difference if you are joining the audit department as an intern. I think most of the Big 4 will still treat you like a fresh grad and give you a suitable amount of work to do. I would just suggest you to choose whichever one you "feel" is better for you. There's honestly not much difference between PwC, EY and KPMG in terms of audit.

I guess it applies more if u stay till managerial level. Managers tend to stay in the office a bit more .

Well, to begin with; I am also from TSRS and I am not surprised at the statements stated by your friend. I believe that at times, our staff are not guided as much as we would have liked. I believe that we are always short of staff and some times the junior staff are given a simple and straight forward training to explain what our job is and are then left to fend for themselves. Being in TSRS, I have not only heard of this but I have also seen it personally. I do not deny that certain staff who have been around slightly longer than others do not always pull their weight but I'm sure you could say the same for majority of the other companies.

I would say that I was pretty lucky when I joined because I received ample training to complete my first job and I had excellent seniors to guide me along the way while I was on a job alone. Therefore, I have tried to give my support to the newer staff in the department as I know how difficult it is to start out. I have always kept myself open to questions from the newer staff and always tried to guide them at best I could, following the example set by my seniors when I first joined.

I believe maybe your friend was not taught properly, but we always provide our recommendations as per best practice. In general, we refer to COBIT, SOX and also ISACA guidelines to provide our clients with valued recommendations. I believe that if your friend had the opportunity to participate in our specialised audits for various clients, he/she would be able to see the level of detail we check and the amount of work we put in. I can honestly say that for the specialised audits that I have participated in, the clients have been more than happy. That includes the CEOs, CFOs, CTOs and other upper management.

Well, that's just my 2 cents and of course I believe that each individual person has their own individual expectations of their employer. Even for me, I was alright with the fact that my senior did teach me some stuff before i started a job but after that it was mostly on the job training. I guess it suited me to be put in that situation where I had to be on a job on my own and learn quickly. But of course I also understand that it would be better if a new staff is guided all the way for his/her first job. Hope you understand where I'm coming from. Thanks for taking the time to explain to me.

I think what he means is in terms of purely external audit. There really isn't much to differenciate between the Big 4. From my experience with the external auditors, they do not get a choice which industry would they be placed in. They can state their preference, but of course when they get offered the job; it isn't stated which industry they are in. They will only be informed on their first day.

Besides that, I would agree on advisory teams; there is a difference between the Big 4.

IT Advisory : The numbers for KPMG might be a bit deceiving. In terms of actual advisory, I believe PwC and EY are also up there. Each have their own specialisation.
Transaction advisory : BDO is not part of the Big 4 but their Corporate Finance team consists of mostly ex-KPMGs.

I can't really comment much on the rest.

This post has been edited by kevinleng: Apr 7 2008, 04:18 PM

As most people join Big4s for exposure, in my most humble opinion; I'd suggest you join the Big4 as a fresh graduate. Then with about 3-4 years working experience move on to greener pastures.

Big4s don't have HR partners. That's the most accurate answer.

I think it depends on what type of consulting. If you're interested in business, IT or internal audit type of advisory work, fresh graduates are more than welcomed to apply. However, if you want to go into corporate finance advisory line then yes; i believe experience is preferred. With that being said, I believe you shouldn't be too shy to just try and apply. If you apply you at least have 1% of getting the job, if you don't you have 0%. So just be a bit thicked face and try it out.

If by medium firm you mean other audit/accounting firms, it is possible to apply to the Big4s now. In fact I would recommend you to do that to get better exposure.

Considering you don't know what a Partner is in an audit firm, I'm not surprised you screwed up a Big4 interview. To be very straight forward I believe you already screwed it up by not understanding the organisation structure of the interviewing company.

All of the Big4s are Partnerships, where by the biggest bosses are Partners and net profits are shared among all Partners. The Partners are then split to head different departments. So for example you'll have a few Partners for Audit, a few Partners for Tax, a few Partners for Advisory and etc.

The work scope for auditors at the non-KL offices would be the same as the KL office auditors. You'll basically be doing the financial audit for any of their clients. The only difference would be the size of the clients. The KL office would have more Public Listed Companies and higher profile companies while the non-KL offices may be doing audit for smaller companies that are only based in that state alone. For example Kuching auditors may audit Kuching specific clients such as Sebor. All offices would have their own set of Partners too of course.

Senior 1st year is getting approx. RM 3200 to RM 3600 I believe. Promotion is once a year.

=.=" maybe people's family is in Malaysia leh. Don't brain wash ppl =.=" Pst, I send my resume to you

Dude, that's 6 years ago. 6 years ago I can buy a plate of nasi lemak + fried chicken for RM 2.50. Lets talk current.

If you are looking to increase your knowledge and gain the most out of your working experience in PwC, Financial Services is a good group to be in. I would recommend in specific order:-

1. Financial Services (FS)
2. Energies, Utilities, Media & Infocomm (EUMI)

Then the 3rd one you can choose for your own depends where your interest is.

Financial Services is good because FS is a heavily regulated industry (Bank Negara Malaysia), therefore all banks would have to comply with BNM guidelines/standards. In addition to that, if you get clients who are in the securities/investment industry; they are also fall under Security Commission's standards. It is in my own personal opinion that you would learn more in a heavily regulated industry because the margin for error is VERY minimal.

On top of that, when you plan to move on from the Big4; your experience in FS would help you get a job in banks and other financial services companies. As you know, banks offer quite good packages. Of course you could say that oil & gas or other MNCs can also offer you good packages but I guess in the end its about your interest.

Well, I won't say that you will be limited to banking and financial services industry; but of course with the experience in any specific industry you gain while in the Big4 will give you an advantage in your next job. So I suggest you to choose wisely which industry you want to be in. Perhaps if you want to be in telecommunications industry then you can choose EUMI and so forth. But that being said, i'm sure you won't be ONLY limited to the industry that you have experience in while in the Big4. As the saying goes, "Any experience is good experience"

I think expected salary now should be RM 2400-2500? Not too sure about that sorry. I think you should just go in formal working attire (shirt, tie and black slacks). Jacket would make you look very over dressed. We can tell when there are new joiners in the firm because alot of the guys and i do mean A LOT come in blazers and jackets. Lolz....

Oh oops. Sorry. Well, if you are a lady then its perfectly normal to wear a blazer. Some ladies even where a normal baby T inside and a blazer over to make it look formal. Anyway, blazers are good as some ladies may find the air conditioning a tad cold. Btw, if you're an ACCA grad you should try for EY too. Their starting pay for ACCA fresh grads are slightly higher.