Milkround Offers 2013/2014

scheister

cat_xx wrote: »

Where are you seeing this?

irishjobs.ie updated today and go onto their site you can fill in the form

sureitsgrand

scheister wrote: »

irishjobs.ie updated today and go onto their site you can fill in the form

Anyone know anything about Deloitte consulting?! Offers/rejections?!

April O Neill

scheister wrote: »

Am i seeing things or have FGS reopened the grad roles already following the milk round

Yeah, I applied for tax. Think you need full CAP1 exemptions though, and I'll only have 3, so doubt I'll get an interview. I'll be half exemption from the CTA exams (Part 1 and half of Part 2) but I suspect that won't be enough. Go for it anyway. How's this milk round going for you?

Demba Baaaaa

RN001 wrote: »

I'm in the same boat as you. Have you heard anything either way? I'm just assuming that it's a no at this point.

STILL no word from Mazars...

scheister

April O Neill wrote: »

Yeah, I applied for tax. Think you need full CAP1 exemptions though, and I'll only have 3, so doubt I'll get an interview. I'll be half exemption from the CTA exams (Part 1 and half of Part 2) but I suspect that won't be enough. Go for it anyway. How's this milk round going for you?

they want you to have full cap1 to study tax. i give up. not a tap out of milk round still to hear from baker tily and BDO limerick but have given up hope of getting anything at this stage. if you are missing one cap1 and thats the issue see about sitting that one exam with aca if it helps you

moneyonmymind

Did anyone who had an interview with Deloitte get a pfo yet?

sureitsgrand

moneyonmymind wrote: »

Did anyone who had an interview with Deloitte get a pfo yet?

Nope. Neither offer nor PFO. Considering getting on to them tomorrow.

moneyonmymind

sureitsgrand wrote: »

Nope. Neither offer nor PFO. Considering getting on to them tomorrow.

A pfo is probably on the way so. Fairly slow on their part

Trainme

Any word hear word from GT?

neilaccountant

Hey guys slightly off topic but was wondering if there is much of a chance of the top accountancy firms taking graduate applications in the new year ?

If so how many places roughly would you say could be going ? would 15-25 places in each of the top 5 be a realistic guess ? or is it just too difficult to say how many could be going, if there is any going in the first place ?

Also if they are taking graduate applications in the new year could they use the applications that I sent them in september/october as well as the new application sent in the new year ?
In other words could they reject you based on your 1st application ? If you dramatically changed some of your answer and details compared to the 1st application would they take that into consideration ? Or would it not matter in the slightest ?

moneyonmymind

neilaccountant wrote: »

Hey guys slightly off topic but was wondering if there is much of a chance of the top accountancy firms taking graduate applications in the new year ?

If so how many places roughly would you say could be going ? would 15-25 places in each of the top 5 be a realistic guess ? or is it just too difficult to say how many could be going, if there is any going in the first place ?

Also if they are taking graduate applications in the new year could they use the applications that I sent them in september/october as well as the new application sent in the new year ?
In other words could they reject you based on your 1st application ? If you dramatically changed some of your answer and details compared to the 1st application would they take that into consideration ? Or would it not matter in the slightest ?

I'd imagine late grad offers occur when people who accepted a job offer decide to later decline it. Hard to say how many would do that.You could give the summer internship programme a go and see where that takes you

AtticusFinch86

moneyonmymind wrote: »

I'd imagine late grad offers occur when people who accepted a job offer decide to later decline it. Hard to say how many would do that.You could give the summer internship programme a go and see where that takes you

Are there any rules to applying for summer internship? Don't you have to be in 2nd last year? I'd consider doing it myself but I finished my last year in accountancy in May and am currently doing a one year college and work experience course in a related field.

moneyonmymind

AtticusFinch86 wrote: »

Are there any rules to applying for summer internship? Don't you have to be in 2nd last year? I'd consider doing it myself but I finished my last year in accountancy in May and am currently doing a one year college and work experience course in a related field.

I dont know the rules but check out the firms websites.

AdamD

Does anyone have experience with accepting an offer, only to choose to do something else at a later date (but before the start date)?

Mick1993

Would anyone be able to provide a list of firms that are still taking applications? And their closing dates would also be appreciated if possible, thanks!

April O Neill II

Trainme wrote: »

Any word hear word from GT?

Not a peep. And a lot of people I know are the same.

CommerceKid

Can anyone tell me the actual clients that I would typically be working with if I were to accept PwC Audit in Dublin... I am hoping for the I&DB department.

I have searched for a list of clients for PwC ireland yet found nothing?

neilaccountant

moneyonmymind wrote: »

I'd imagine late grad offers occur when people who accepted a job offer decide to later decline it. Hard to say how many would do that.You could give the summer internship programme a go and see where that takes you

Yeah I suppose it would be too tricky to put a number on it.. but I've heard that usually these firms wouldn't have all of their graduate programme places taken by the new year.. some might switch between companies.. some might even emigrate and go down a different career altogether.. so to fill the remaining places they take on more applications in January ?

Would anyone be able to confirm that these firms definitely do that ?

April O Neill II

neilaccountant wrote: »

Yeah I suppose it would be too tricky to put a number on it.. but I've heard that usually these firms wouldn't have all of their graduate programme places taken by the new year.. some might switch between companies.. some might even emigrate and go down a different career altogether.. so to fill the remaining places they take on more applications in January ?

Would anyone be able to confirm that these firms definitely do that ?

KPMG says to check back on their site in January as there may be vacancies. It's not a definite though. I guess the companies can't know until they ascertain how many acceptances they get in December.

cat_xx

neilaccountant wrote: »

Yeah I suppose it would be too tricky to put a number on it.. but I've heard that usually these firms wouldn't have all of their graduate programme places taken by the new year.. some might switch between companies.. some might even emigrate and go down a different career altogether.. so to fill the remaining places they take on more applications in January ?

Would anyone be able to confirm that these firms definitely do that ?

I remember KPMG advertising tax grad roles last february.

moneyonmymind

CommerceKid wrote: »

Can anyone tell me the actual clients that I would typically be working with if I were to accept PwC Audit in Dublin... I am hoping for the I&DB department.

I have searched for a list of clients for PwC ireland yet found nothing?

check their grad brochure. the big 4 normally have a list of their clients there

neilaccountant

April O Neill II wrote: »

KPMG says to check back on their site in January as there may be vacancies. It's not a definite though. I guess the companies can't know until they ascertain how many acceptances they get in December.

Thanks for letting me know .. ah but kpmg have what 280 graduate places is in it the highest out of the top 5 ? So realistically not every single one of those 280 places will definitely filled up by January/February

More than likely they'll take more graduate applications in January.. especially when they say to check back in January for vacancies

Acc7777

moneyonmymind wrote: »

check their grad brochure. the big 4 normally have a list of their clients there

List of who audits the 1000 biggest companies in Ireland

http://www.top1000.ie/auditors

blackwhite

CommerceKid wrote: »

Can anyone tell me the actual clients that I would typically be working with if I were to accept PwC Audit in Dublin... I am hoping for the I&DB department.

I have searched for a list of clients for PwC ireland yet found nothing?

Biggest Irish clients of that department about 3 years ago were:

Aer Lingus, Smurfit, Ardagh Group, DCC, Musgraves, INM (think that they have since lost this audit), Glanbia (done out of their South-East office), Arytza, Origin, Eircom, CIE.

They also do a lot of referred group-reporting work (i.e. Irish subsidiaries of US, UK, German, etc companies).

April O Neill II

Anyone hear from Smith and Williamson yet?

freema

Does anyone know if its difficult to swap companies during your training contract?

April O Neill II

Have to admit, it's a bit agonising listening to people on my course talk about their offers.

rask43

Anyone heard back from Deloitte Consulting yet?

Johnny_Fontane

blackwhite wrote: »

Biggest Irish clients of that department about 3 years ago were:

Aer Lingus, Smurfit, Ardagh Group, DCC, Musgraves, INM (think that they have since lost this audit), Glanbia (done out of their South-East office), Arytza, Origin, Eircom, CIE.

They also do a lot of referred group-reporting work (i.e. Irish subsidiaries of US, UK, German, etc companies).

For your career, going forward, the actual clients within Big 4 aren't that important. The most important thing is that you actually GET on the big audits. And of course, you will be rated (from 1-5) every year. So having a very high rating can be the deciding factor in getting the best jobs out of Big 4.

blackwhite

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

For your career, going forward, the actual clients within Big 4 aren't that important. The most important thing is that you actually GET on the big audits. And of course, you will be rated (from 1-5) every year. So having a very high rating can be the deciding factor in getting the best jobs out of Big 4.

It's much harder to get on the big audits if the firm doesn't have as many big clients. I would have thought that it's obvious to anyone that the firm with the bigger number of high-profile clients will have more opportunities for staff to work on such clients.

A good rating will generally make it easier to get assigned to bigger clients, but when I was leaving (and from what I know of my peers that left) I never encountered (or heard of) an interviewer who asked what your actual rating was. They'll be more interest in talking to people you worked with/for and what their impression of you was rather than what the assigned rating was.

BTW - I worked in Big 4 from training through to manager level, and then moved across to my largest client.
From what I saw of my own firm, and firms where friends worked, the best of each intake will always get on the biggest clients. However in two of the Big 4, the bigger pool of clients meant that the majority of staff in each level (except those in departments that specifically only worked on small clients) would have worked on at least one high-profile job. Some departments in the other 2 firms didn't have the same level of opportunities for a large percentage of staff.

MLC61

What are the factors that influence your rating?

moneyonmymind

Anyone know why EY has such a bad reputation?

blackwhite

moneyonmymind wrote: »

Anyone know why EY has such a bad reputation?

I haven't worked in EY, but have worked in another Big 4 firm.
I lived with a lad who was in EY from training through to 2nd year manager level (when he left for Oz). He actually quite liked EY, but was quite honest about what he saw as its failings. He now works for Deloitte in Sydney, and says his time working there has reinforced some of is views on EY.


The bad reputation comes from a lot of things.

From what I've hear, there is a very bad atmosphere surrounding a lot of the departments there. The FS department in particular seems to have a bad atmosphere.
The other firms generally have a "we're in this shit together" vibe between staff - and no matter how crappy the work can be at times this will get you through it. From what I have been told, this seems to be missing for a lot of the staff - there is more of an "every man for himself" vibe.

Staff don't get any benefit for overtime worked - in the other 3 firms the least you get (below manager level) is time-off-in-lieu.

The firm is no longer owned by Irish partners, it was bought out by EY UK a few years ago. Hence, operational control no longer rests in Dublin, and any key decisions are run through London first. From what I hear, there is a feeling of "neglect" at times amongst the staff.

They seriously struggle to retain staff (even more so than other firms), and this lends itself to the general bad-feeling in the place.

blackwhite

MLC61 wrote: »

What are the factors that influence your rating?

PwC procedure outlined below - but from what I understand it's similar across the firms.

For every job you work on that exceeds a certain timeframe (2 weeks in PwC) you are required to prepare a self-assessment of your performance.
The senior/manager/partner then comment on this, and you are assigned a rating from 1-5 for your performance.
At the end of busy season each year there is a "ratings meeting" within your department attended by all managers and partners. Some departments include Assistant Managers in this meeting. The performance for the year of each member of staff is discussed and a final rating is recommended for the year.
The ratings are compiled by HR and then a final review is done by HR and one or two of the senior partners in the department. In this final review some ratings may be adjusted up or down (i.e. can't have too many 1's and 2's - it's a rating relative to your peer group).
Your final rating will determine where on the pay scale you fall for the following year, and the likelihood of getting assigned to presenting at training, going on secondment or being assigned to more complex/high-profile clients.

Some departments used to have reputations for giving higher ratings much easier than others - but PwC have consolidated many of their departments together so I believe that this isn't as much of an issue anymore.

MLC61

Given my understanding of what a first year trainee is expected to do, how can you influence your rating?
I understood much of t.he work is low level. Is it based on willingness, hours put in, getting on with team?

Johnny_Fontane

From a recruitment perspective, most of the largest clients that we place Big 4's directly into ask for a rating. Also if you have a top rating, its an excellent selling point.

E & Y getting a bit of a bashing on here, but they have an outstanding Insurance group and Ireland biggest and most acquisitive company, by a country mile, CRH.

As a recruiter, I don't pay particular heed to which of the Big 4 you are in and neither do my clients. The things that matter are:
You, the person, your communication skills and how you present
Educational background/results/rating within Big 4
Audits undertaken (obviously the larger the client the better)
Secondments/overseas/project experience (i.e. something out of the ordinary)

blackwhite

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

From a recruitment perspective, most of the largest clients that we place Big 4's directly into ask for a rating. Also if you have a top rating, its an excellent selling point.

E & Y getting a bit of a bashing on here, but they have an outstanding Insurance group and Ireland biggest and most acquisitive company, by a country mile, CRH.

As a recruiter, I don't pay particular heed to which of the Big 4 you are in and neither do my clients. The things that matter are:
You, the person, your communication skills and how you present
Educational background/results/rating within Big 4
Audits undertaken (obviously the larger the client the better)
Secondments/overseas/project experience (i.e. something out of the ordinary)

The future career point is a good one, Big 4 is Big 4.

The experience point remains valid though - EY have a decent insurance practice, and if insurance is the way somebody wants to move in future then they should certainly take that into account.
For most other career paths, they lag behind.

CRH is the only big indigenous client that they have. All of their other large audits are subsidiaries of foreign companies (and a lot of them are shared service centres - flash names but shitty enough experience).
By comparison, PwC have Smurfitt Kappa, Ardagh Group, DCC, Aer Lingus, Glanbia, Musgraves. KPMG have Ryanair, Grafton, Paddy Power, United Drug, C&C, Greencore, One51.

Much more chance of getting to work on the head office audit of a big client in PwC or KPMG.

blackwhite

MLC61 wrote: »

Given my understanding of what a first year trainee is expected to do, how can you influence your rating?
I understood much of t.he work is low level. Is it based on willingness, hours put in, getting on with team?

In no particular order:

• Completing work that results in little or no review points
• Being willing to ask questions about your tasks to try to achieve the above
• Demonstrating a common sense approach to your work (application of common sense is surprisingly lacking in a lot of trainees for some reason!) - not wanting to get into jargon, but this means actually thinking about the work you are doing instead of blindly following what the junior did last year
• Show willingness to do work in areas you are unfamiliar with - for example once you have worked on a number of jobs being bank and fixed assets, maybe ask could you help with some of the work around debtors confirmations, etc.
• Getting on well with both colleagues and clients - it won't get you bumped up or down a grade, but it can be the difference if you are a borderline call. Someone who likes you is more likely to be positive about you!
• Most importantly, communicate, communicate, communicate. If you come across something that looks unusual, that you don't understand or that just doesn't make sense make sure to tell the senior/manager asap. There is nothing that will annoy a manager more than an issue arising that could have been flagged a week earlier.
• Finally, if you make a mistake, talk to your senior about it asap. Getting caught out trying to cover up an error is the cardinal sin you can commit. Mistakes happen to everyone - it's showing that you can deal with it and learn from it that's important

April O Neill II

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

From a recruitment perspective, most of the largest clients that we place Big 4's directly into ask for a rating. Also if you have a top rating, its an excellent selling point.

E & Y getting a bit of a bashing on here, but they have an outstanding Insurance group and Ireland biggest and most acquisitive company, by a country mile, CRH.

As a recruiter, I don't pay particular heed to which of the Big 4 you are in and neither do my clients. The things that matter are:
You, the person, your communication skills and how you present
Educational background/results/rating within Big 4
Audits undertaken (obviously the larger the client the better)
Secondments/overseas/project experience (i.e. something out of the ordinary)

Do you not consider applicants who don't have big 4 training?

MLC61

blackwhite wrote: »

In no particular order:

• Completing work that results in little or no review points
• Being willing to ask questions about your tasks to try to achieve the above
• Demonstrating a common sense approach to your work (application of common sense is surprisingly lacking in a lot of trainees for some reason!) - not wanting to get into jargon, but this means actually thinking about the work you are doing instead of blindly following what the junior did last year
• Show willingness to do work in areas you are unfamiliar with - for example once you have worked on a number of jobs being bank and fixed assets, maybe ask could you help with some of the work around debtors confirmations, etc.
• Getting on well with both colleagues and clients - it won't get you bumped up or down a grade, but it can be the difference if you are a borderline call. Someone who likes you is more likely to be positive about you!
• Most importantly, communicate, communicate, communicate. If you come across something that looks unusual, that you don't understand or that just doesn't make sense make sure to tell the senior/manager asap. There is nothing that will annoy a manager more than an issue arising that could have been flagged a week earlier.
• Finally, if you make a mistake, talk to your senior about it asap. Getting caught out trying to cover up an error is the cardinal sin you can commit. Mistakes happen to everyone - it's showing that you can deal with it and learn from it that's important

Thank you - great detail.
Another question if you don't mind? On completion of your contract what proportion stayed on and did many transfer abroad within the firm?

blackwhite

MLC61 wrote: »

Thank you - great detail.
Another question if you don't mind? On completion of your contract what proportion stayed on and did many transfer abroad within the firm?

My old department in PwC used to take on approx 30 graduates each year. It's now merged with two other departments and takes on approx 50. Out of my level overall, PwC took on about 200 people in audit.

Of the 31 who started in my department with me, approx 25-30% left immediately when their contracts expired. Either 3 or 4 of these were not kept on by PwC, the rest left because they wanted to.
Within 12 months there were only 10 or so of my intake left, within 24 months it was down to 3.

Myself and one other were given a secondment to the US the busy season following qualification. 3 others were given secondments to the US the following year. 2 were offered secondments to two different countries in Eastern Europe, and 2 were offered secondments in the UK.
Nobody from my dept intake left permanently to work for PwC abroad, although a number from other departments moved to PwC UK, PwC Channel Islands, PwC Australia and PwC New York.

To get a secondment to another PwC office you need to have at least a 2 rating (although some people who were 3 ratings in regional offices would sometimes get secondments - sending people on secondment is a core part of the regional offices' business model).

For stints abroad longer than 3-4 months, PwC have an internal Global Mobilty portal. PwC firms around the work advertise on this for roles they need filled, and people within the firm are free to apply. Again, you would need a 2 rating to get such a move, as competition can be strong for the more attractive offices.

Around the time I qualified PwC Ireland stopped offering "right-of-return" with the longer-term moves. In reality though, anyone who was rated highly would be told, off the record, that if they wanted to move home that a job would be found for them.

Despite none of my own level moving, a number of people from other departments, and from other intakes, have made such moves in the last 2/3 years. Moves to the US usually arise following someone doing a short-term secondment in that office first. London and New Zealand were the most common destinations.

Johnny_Fontane

April O Neill II wrote: »

Do you not consider applicants who don't have big 4 training?

It all depends on what the clients want. Most plc's opt for Big 4 backgrounds, but recently we have placed a number of strong non big 4 ACA's go into Internal Audit roles as Big 4's wont do it.

I never understand why people don't consider Internal Audit as a way in to one of the large corporates. Generally, its agreed upfront to be not more than a 2 year stint, and you get to see the real inner workings of the group and travel around the world. We have a number of roles at the moment, like this, but really struggle to find people for them.

MLC61

blackwhite wrote: »

My old department in PwC used to take on approx 30 graduates each year. It's now merged with two other departments and takes on approx 50. Out of my level overall, PwC took on about 200 people in audit.

Of the 31 who started in my department with me, approx 25-30% left immediately when their contracts expired. Either 3 or 4 of these were not kept on by PwC, the rest left because they wanted to.
Within 12 months there were only 10 or so of my intake left, within 24 months it was down to 3.

Myself and one other were given a secondment to the US the busy season following qualification. 3 others were given secondments to the US the following year. 2 were offered secondments to two different countries in Eastern Europe, and 2 were offered secondments in the UK.
Nobody from my dept intake left permanently to work for PwC abroad, although a number from other departments moved to PwC UK, PwC Channel Islands, PwC Australia and PwC New York.

To get a secondment to another PwC office you need to have at least a 2 rating (although some people who were 3 ratings in regional offices would sometimes get secondments - sending people on secondment is a core part of the regional offices' business model).

For stints abroad longer than 3-4 months, PwC have an internal Global Mobilty portal. PwC firms around the work advertise on this for roles they need filled, and people within the firm are free to apply. Again, you would need a 2 rating to get such a move, as competition can be strong for the more attractive offices.

Around the time I qualified PwC Ireland stopped offering "right-of-return" with the longer-term moves. In reality though, anyone who was rated highly would be told, off the record, that if they wanted to move home that a job would be found for them.

Despite none of my own level moving, a number of people from other departments, and from other intakes, have made such moves in the last 2/3 years. Moves to the US usually arise following someone doing a short-term secondment in that office first. London and New Zealand were the most common destinations.

Thank you.
Its a key selling point of the Big 4 that you will get lots of international travel on qualification. From your experience however this is obviously not as common as they would lead you to believe.
In your time as a trainee, what were the typical hours that you worked?

blackwhite

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

It all depends on what the clients want. Most plc's opt for Big 4 backgrounds, but recently we have placed a number of strong non big 4 ACA's go into Internal Audit roles as Big 4's wont do it.

I never understand why people don't consider Internal Audit as a way in to one of the large corporates. Generally, its agreed upfront to be not more than a 2 year stint, and you get to see the real inner workings of the group and travel around the world. We have a number of roles at the moment, like this, but really struggle to find people for them.

[edit]Just re-read and it nearly comes across as having a pop at you directly - not my intent at all - more a reflection on recruiters that I would have encountered in the past[/edit]

That's because most of the people coming from Big 4 will have audited a large corporate at one stage or another, and know what the reality of life in internal audit is like. The "2 year stint" agreement is usually heavily qualified, and never guaranteed.
There's no denying that it's a good foot in the door of a big company, but that's really the only benefit.
Trying to sell the travel thing as a big plus is a joke. Very few internal audit trips will be to nice, glamorous locations. It's usually to a location in the middle of nowhere. "Seeing the world" usually involves seeing an airport, and an industrial estate. Trips to good enjoyable locations are the exception, not the norm (Glanbia having large subsidiaries outside Chicago and San Diego springs to mind).

Just wondering, have you ever actually worked in any of the types of roles that you try to recruit for - because from my experience very few recruiters have, and it shows in how they try to sell the roles (especially internal audit).

blackwhite

MLC61 wrote: »

Thank you.
Its a key selling point of the Big 4 that you will get lots of international travel on qualification. From your experience however this is obviously not as common as they would lead you to believe.
In your time as a trainee, what were the typical hours that you worked?

If you are good enough and you want to travel, then you will get an opportunity go abroad. It's more a case that most people going out of contract will choose to try and get out of audit relatively quickly.
Having trained in a Big 4 firm is every bit as big an asset if you are looking for accountancy work in Australia as it is in Dublin.

My hours varied depending on the time of year, and my level.

As an associate during busy season I usually was finished by 6.30-7 when on a client (unless the client locked up before 7!). I had one audit that I was regularly on the client site till after 8pm, lasted for 4 weeks.
As an SA1 the hours were similar, but busy season lasted further into the summer, and I had a second large client with late hours.
At SA2 the hours were more varied. On smaller clients you'd be finished by 6.30-7 as normal, but I had a few more larger clients and so these demanded more time. On these sort of jobs I used often head home around 7-7.30, but two or three nights a week I'd do an hour or two at home as well.
Senioring jobs will generally lead to longer hours - you have more responsibility so you end up needing to put more hours in.

Working in any of the Big 4 is going to need a certain amount of overtime - but then so is any job that will lead to bigger and better things. You will get out what you put in.
If all you want is the qualification and Big 4 on your CV so you can move into a 9-5 that will pay 50k p.a. but probably won't have much more significant progression then it's possible to get through without doing a whole lot of overtime.

But based on your questions, I'm going to assume that you want a bit more from your time in training than that. If you want to get the opportunities for secondments, to present training, to work on the biggest clients, and to ultimately either stay on to manager level and beyond or move into a large corporate in a role with room for progression then you will end up needing to put in the longer hours, do the overtime, and deal with some of the shittier clients. It's not easy, but the rewards are there for doing it.

One final thing on the overtime, no matter where you work in business if you are ambitious and want to progress then it's inevitable that you will end up working longer hours than standard. I'm in a large plc now, and it's unusual to leave before 6. If you have something to do/go to then there's no problem, but usually the workload will demand more.

MLC61

No - the hours don't bother me.
I am pretty committed to a sport that I know that I will have to drop sooner or later and I have come to terms with that.
Just wanted to see how many more years I could get out of t.

Salmon2013

Does anyone have any idea of the sort of pay increases one may expect during their training contract?
Surely as you pass each set of exams you can expect annual increases as 21500 is fairly poor for 3.5 years....

blackwhite

MLC61 wrote: »

No - the hours don't bother me.
I am pretty committed to a sport that I know that I will have to drop sooner or later and I have come to terms with that.
Just wanted to see how many more years I could get out of t.

I've played senior/intermediate club football in Connacht every year since I was 15 - it's doable if you really want to. A team mate is a manager in PwC and hasn't missed a year either! We have enough Dublin based players so I don't need to travel home during the week to train.

If you're up front with your managers that you will have training and matches at certain times then it would be very unusual for them not to be willing to let you work around it.
You just need to be willing to put the work in at other times i.e. I often found myself pulling out the laptop at 9pm for 2 hours following a training session (and sometimes still do :eek:); or I'd come in at 7am to ensure I had work cleared so I could leave at 5.30.
The hours can be tough at times, but there's no reason why you can't work around it.

Michael Rice (Kilkenny hurler) used to work in PwC Kilkenny; Peadar Andrews (Dublin footballer) was in the Dublin office. They managed the commitment of playing intercounty football and hurling, so it should be possible for most sports

Aine20

Wondering if anyone has any exoerience of pwc regional offices? Is it better to be in a smaller office if it means you get experience in both fs and non fs auditing?

Johnny_Fontane

blackwhite wrote: »

Just wondering, have you ever actually worked in any of the types of roles that you try to recruit for - because from my experience very few recruiters have, and it shows in how they try to sell the roles (especially internal audit).

No, I'm not a qualified Accountant, and you're right, I havent worked in IA.
Having recruited for a long time for Big 4's, I know how difficult it is to get people to do it! I dont put on the sell, ever, on people, in IA, they know the score.

The things is though, to get into a leading corporate, say a Smurfit, CRH, DCC, Fyffes, Kerry, IDB, Glanbia etc., everybody wants the sexy group/analyst roles which whilst attainable, are really reserved for the top 5% of candidates. If that's you, great. But for most people, this is not an option.

Having placed alot of Internal Auditors down the years, in companies mentioned above, we see what happens on the other side. Most do their stint and then move into a subsidiary eventually moving back to Group.

Of course, some people stay in internal audit and become highly successful at it, not unlike someone going to partner level in a firm. Its not for everyone, but it should be discussed as an option and not just blatantly dismissed.