Milkround Offers 2013/2014

April O Neill

Kiltennel wrote: »

Consulting is incredibly competitive. Few spots available and along with Corporate Finance / Transaction Services (Also very few spaces) they're seen as the "glamour" departments. KPMG for example are only taking 18 on for Consulting while they're looking for 140 (I think) in Audit.

Also, just spotted my typo in my post that you quoted. If I put that much care into a consulting application, I'd definitely have been a shoo-in. :pac::P

AdamD

April O Neill wrote: »

The silence re: inteviews has been deafening in my college group. The most interviews anyone has got is one, and many people have got none.

2.1 degrees and excellent LCs all round. Many have relevant work experience. It's strange.

Rather different in mine tbh, lots of people getting 1/2 interviews.

Has anyone done an EY interview? Any tips?

TG860

AdamD wrote: »

Has anyone done an EY interview? Any tips?

This link covers it fairly well.
http://www.mgrad.ie/interviews/ey-interview-questions

They use a strength-based interview rather than a competency-based interview like the others do.
The differences are minimal, but essentially you want to talk about your strengths that align with what they're looking for.
On the flip side of that, you will be asked about your weaknesses, so prepare good answers for that especially.

Here's the list of strengths they're looking for. (This came from their insight week).

• Flexibility
• Work Ethic
• Learning Agility
• Growth orientation
• Credibility
• Personal Responsibility
• Analyst
• Time Optimiser

The second interview is a more general chat with a partner.
They'll only ask one strength/competency question at most, mainly focus on good answers for career goals, know your service line, what you'll be doing in it and why you want to work in that area.
And obviously, why EY?

And given the budget was recent, you'll probably be asked about something you would have done differently.
Most big 4 firms have released commentary/analysis of the budget so referencing any of their research in your answer would give you brownie points.

Best of luck with it!

April O Neill

Is KPMG the best of the big 4 for tax?

trooperdx31171

Tralalalala wrote: »

Anyone know anything about the Mazars recruitment process? I have an interview next week for consultancy but am living in the UK, so have had no opportunity to attend any of their events or talk to anyone about them. Any help would be much appreciated!

Hey I just did an interview with Mazars today for auditing so im not sure how different it will be.

First when we came we were brought to a board room given a case study about general business knowledge. You had 15 minutes to prepare it and then you talked about it in the interview. It's not really hard and there's no preparation you could make really. It's just a chance for you to use your critical thinking skills.

After that I had an interview with two managers. They were really nice and it was a bit of a chat really. Just asked me about my work experience, do I really want to do auditing, why did I pick my college degree and so on.

After that it was the aptitude test. Thats like 2 hrs with numerical, literacy and abstract reasoning as well as a personality test. No preparation you can do for it to be honest. Good luck!!

scheister

just got my first PFO of the season and it was off PWC

xiongnu

Eireann91 wrote: »

So, successful peeps - What backgrounds do those who have been called for interview or got an offer? Like, have ye done business in college?

I got called to KPMG and EY, actually graduated a little over 3 years ago and have had 2 jobs and 1 internship since then with a year of for travelling. None of the work experience was related to finance and my degree was only half Economics.

To be honest guys, I'm from Northern Ireland and I've lived outside of Ireland as a whole for most of the time since I was 18. I'm a bit worried about appearing totally clueless about Ireland and the Irish economy, I'm afraid it will work against me, I think I have a lot of research to do! Don't wanna look like a twat when I can't remember the name of the president!

April O Neill

scheister wrote: »

just got my first PFO of the season and it was off PWC

Me too!

The email had a header "PwC - the Opportunity of a Lifetime". Er, no, it's not for me!

This has kinda knocked my confidence for the KPMG interview. Am I just filler? :-/

xiongnu

double post

xiongnu

What's PFO?

I called PwC today to change a contact detail and they said applications were still under review.
Really don't have any hope I'll be called however.

April O Neill

xiongnu wrote: »

What's PFO?

Please Fúck Off.

xiongnu wrote: »

I called PwC today to change a contact detail and they said applications were still under review.
Really don't have any hope I'll be called however.

Check your emails. A lot of my buddies received the PFO rejection email too. So if you don't have one in your inbox, that may be a good sign.

Question: is PWC the holy grail of the big 4?

April O Neill

A girl in my class who got 520 points in the LC, a 2.1 degree, has a year's experience in an accountancy firm and is doing a pg dip in accounting got a PFO from PWC. What exactly are they looking for?

ashtonl2

What did the people who got the PFO email from PwC applied for?

April O Neill

ashtonl2 wrote: »

What did the people who got the PFO email from PwC applied for?

Tax, same as everyone I know who got rejected. I stupidly put Restructuring and Forensic second, and not Audit. Ah well.

TG860

April O Neill wrote: »

A girl in my class who got 520 points in the LC, a 2.1 degree, has a year's experience in an accountancy firm and is doing a pg dip in accounting got a PFO from PWC. What exactly are they looking for?

If you make silly mistakes on the application form, they will reject you.
You'd be surprised when you look back at the mistakes you can make when you're trying to fill out 6/7 before the deadline!

Certainly cost me for one of the firms for the summer internships, and I was sure I double checked everything!

Kiltennel

April O Neill wrote: »

Interesting.

How do you know how many places are available for each, do you mind me asking? Do you know how many spots are available in KPMG for tax?

The information is all available in their graduate brochure, they list how many spots are available under each area. For Tax this year they're recruiting 65 people. Audit is 180, the rest of the areas hover between 3-18 I think depending on department.

April O Neill wrote: »

A girl in my class who got 520 points in the LC, a 2.1 degree, has a year's experience in an accountancy firm and is doing a pg dip in accounting got a PFO from PWC. What exactly are they looking for?

What are her extra-curriculars like? I'm not insulting her but when it comes to the Big 4 a 2.1 is the requirement and 520 is good but nothing spectacular. That said the year experience should have helped her drastically. I think a lot of people here are looking too closely at academic credentials, a shoddy application or little to their name outside of academic credentials doesn't create an overly impressive application when you take into account the quality of many Big 4 applicants. As the poster above me said little mistakes can ruin a good application as it shows poor attention to detail, an absolute requirement for an accountant.

April O Neill

Kiltennel wrote: »

What are her extra-curriculars like? I'm not insulting her but when it comes to the Big 4 a 2.1 is the requirement and 520 is good but nothing spectacular.

Really? I only have 480 and have a tax interview with KPMG. Meanwhile, a lad in my class has 480 points and pass maths and has a PWC interview. He did the class rep thing in college, but it's hard to see how that can rival actual work experience in addition to better academic credentials. The claims people make about the big 4's requirements often don't seem to stand up to scrutiny. It's all just a bit arbitrary.

jubella

Missed a call from Grant Thornton :eek:
Fingers crossed it's an interview!

Edit: interview, boom!

April O Neill

jubella wrote: »

Missed a call from Grant Thornton :eek:
Fingers crossed it's an interview!

Edit: interview, boom!

Well done! I'm sure you'll get it.

I've pretty much accepted that the only interview I'll get is with KPMG. It's not too shabby at all. :cool: There is one smaller practice that I've just submitted an application for in the last few days that I would LOVE to get an interview for, but I'll just have to wait and see!

Anyone else have any news to report?

xiongnu

It sucks to get invites from some Big 4 and not others, makes you think why KPMG would ask me for interview but Deloitte wouldn't (although I haven't got my PFO email from them yet).

April O Neill

xiongnu wrote: »

It sucks to get invites from some Big 4 and not others, makes you think why KPMG would ask me for interview but Deloitte wouldn't (although I haven't got my PFO email from them yet).

Maybe it depends on the amount of applications they get? Supply and demand. From what I can see from my class, not everyone applies to all of the big 4, but everyone seems to apply to Deloitte and Pwc. They're kinda the "big 2", it seems.

sureitsgrand

Second interview in the bag - Consulting - Deloitte.

Still to hear from PwC, but now that I have a 50% success rate in getting an interview I'm feeling a bit better!

jubella

Hmm... My Grant Thornton interview is in the Dublin office.
I wonder does this mean I am interviewing for a role in the Dublin office rather than Newbridge? I picked Newbridge on the form, but that was just for "preferred" location.

xiongnu

Got my BDO form in on time, yay.
I wish I'd thought of applying to more firms in Ireland earlier, I missed the Irish deadline for Grant Thornton and the process is so much simpler in ROI! For the London office, I passed the GT phone interview to be put into a pool of candidates since they don't have enough assessment centre times/people/HR and they said they'd get back to me in 6 weeks!? WTFFFF!?

ainekilc

Has anyone gotten an interview with RSM Farrell Grant Sparks? Applied ages ago but haven't heard a dickie bird from them

jubella

Can anyone that has interviewed with Grant Thornton give me an idea of what to expect?

April O Neill

ainekilc wrote: »

Has anyone gotten an interview with RSM Farrell Grant Sparks? Applied ages ago but haven't heard a dickie bird from them

I haven't heard anything but bear in mind they only have something like 7 graduate places.

easylad

Have interviews from EY, Deloitte and PwC so far out the 4 I applied. This coming week is gonna be lethal.. goodluck everyone.

April O Neill

easylad wrote: »

Have interviews from EY, Deloitte and PwC so far out the 4 I applied. This coming week is gonna be lethal.. goodluck everyone.

What service line did you apply for?

easylad

April O Neill wrote: »

What service line did you apply for?

All Audit missy... hopefully the interviews would be grand. I havent done much preparation.. gotta make a start soon.

April O Neill

easylad wrote: »

All Audit missy... hopefully the interviews would be grand. I havent done much preparation.. gotta make a start soon.

Me neither, I'm really busy with study at the moment!

trooperdx31171

Just wondering so I did my first interview with Mazars there on Thursday, I though't it went really well and they were really nice so im wondering how long does it normally take for them to get back to you on whether their going to make you an offer or not?

Mooey115

trooperdx31171 wrote: »

Just wondering so I did my first interview with Mazars there on Thursday, I though't it went really well and they were really nice so im wondering how long does it normally take for them to get back to you on whether their going to make you an offer or not?

I think they are interviewing for all positions up until about Wednesday/Thursday next week and offers will be after that.

xiongnu

Anyone have any idea how long you get to think over an offer?

spillit67

I know its slightly presumptuous but what kind of salaries are the Big 4 paying out these days? Lows 20s still for audit/tax trainees? BDO/GT and the likes in a similar ballpark?

The___________

spillit67 wrote: »

I know its slightly presumptuous but what kind of salaries are the Big 4 paying out these days? Lows 20s still for audit/tax trainees? BDO/GT and the likes in a similar ballpark?

21.5k without a masters
22.5k with a masters

That's the going rate for the Big 4-8 at the moment. Obviously that increases in each year of the training contract

spillit67

The___________ wrote: »

21.5k without a masters
22.5k with a masters

That's the going rate for the Big 4-8 at the moment. Obviously that increases in each year of the training contract

Masters include non accounting disciplines?

April O Neill

spillit67 wrote: »

Masters include non accounting disciplines?

I wouldn't think so. I think you'd get a higher salary with an accounting masters because you get loads more exemptions, therefore there's less exams for them to pay for.

KaleidoJ

Hi,

just wondering did anyone get an offer from EY in Assurance?
Do I need to give them my decision within 7days?
I haven't got the hard copy yet.....might need more than a week to sort it out.

scheister

ainekilc wrote: »

Has anyone gotten an interview with RSM Farrell Grant Sparks? Applied ages ago but haven't heard a dickie bird from them

FGS can be a nightmare for getting back to u. think it was the new year last time b4 i got a PFO off them

Minji

Anyone know how to get to Deloitte office from Blackrock or city center?
Please help
Thanks a million

TG860

ainekilc wrote: »

Has anyone gotten an interview with RSM Farrell Grant Sparks? Applied ages ago but haven't heard a dickie bird from them

They contacted me on Tuesday, they're interviewing for audit this thursday/friday coming.

jubella wrote: »

Can anyone that has interviewed with Grant Thornton give me an idea of what to expect?

It's a pretty informal chat.
1 manager + 1 Director.
The director is a bit more interested/friendly than the manager.
It's a good cop/bad cop sort of thing, the manager sits back and asks you the trickier questions.
There's not really much you can do to prepare for it, they just run through your application form basically.

They give you little profiles of the people interviewing you when you first arrive which is nice.

KaleidoJ wrote: »

Hi,

just wondering did anyone get an offer from EY in Assurance?
Do I need to give them my decision within 7days?
I haven't got the hard copy yet.....might need more than a week to sort it out.

Yeah, 7 days is what I was told.
I doubt they're going to be too strict on it really if you're having problems. Just contact them!
If you only need an extra day or two, you could just email them saying you accepted the offer and sent off the hard copy to them.
Sign the date on the offer document for that day too.
Then actually post it a day or two later whenever you're ready, they won't know what day it was actually posted on.

xiongnu

Oh my goodness, you have to decide within 7 days? Yikes!

xiongnu

Leaving to Dublin now, 24 hours of journeying ahead of me :'-(
Really hope that I can find my way around once there, I can't believe EY's assessment day AND breakfast are both at the Irish Management Centre! So far from the centre.

cat_xx

Going to the BDO presentation evening on wednesday! What is the dress code for these sort of things?

An Citeog

KaleidoJ wrote: »

Hi,

just wondering did anyone get an offer from EY in Assurance?
Do I need to give them my decision within 7days?
I haven't got the hard copy yet.....might need more than a week to sort it out.

According to the Institute, you should have until the 6th of December to accept. If what you're saying is true and EY are putting pressure on people to decide within 7 days which may be before you've even been interviewed/received offers from any of the other firms, then it's very underhanded.

Is this assurance in Dublin?

RomanGod

cat_xx wrote: »

Going to the BDO presentation evening on wednesday! What is the dress code for these sort of things?

It's business attire. When did you get your call from them?

cat_xx

RomanGod wrote: »

It's business attire. When did you get your call from them?

Thanks! Got it yesterday morning

LunarSFX

KaleidoJ wrote: »

Hi,

just wondering did anyone get an offer from EY in Assurance?
Do I need to give them my decision within 7days?
I haven't got the hard copy yet.....might need more than a week to sort it out.

Do you mean an offer for a job already??

I have been invited for a breakfast networking session and interview over the next week. have you done your interview already? Also I applied to the IT consulting line but they asked me interview for assurance instead.. Any one know what that is about?..

LunarSFX

Apologies if this has been answered before (point me in the correct direction if it has)

I have been invited for a EY breakfast networking session and interview over the next week, didn't do an aptitude test.

Also I applied to the IT consulting line but they asked me interview for assurance instead.. Any one know what that is about?..

Would business casual be okay for the breakfast morning (8am!) and then a full on business suit for the interview a week after be okay?? or just go all out on both occasions?