Interview with KPMG next week.

XX55XX

I finally heard back from the Big Four concerning audit internships. Only KPMG extended me an opportunity for an interview. I know the interview will be mostly behavioral, but what other advice (besides looking at the interviewer in the eye, dressing nicely, being friendly, not talking for too long) can you grant to a guy who has never had a real interview before? I am not a timid/shy person, but I am somewhat nervous, because I never had an interview before (in most of the blue-collar jobs I have held before, I was hired on the spot without another question).

Also, for anyone who has had an experience interviewing with the Big Four, who interviews you? Is it an associate, HR person, manager, partner...?

Feral

Do your homework on KPMG - find out who their biggest clients are, who they're working with right now. Make it look like you want to work with KPMG specifically. When a company like that is looking for an intern, they're looking for somebody enthusiastic and energetic and really eager to please.

suicidexcuse

I work for KPMG right now as an intern and have interviewed with pwc and KPMG 5 times. They usually don't care if you know their clients. All the questions will be behavioral questions. I'll give you some examples.

Tell me about a time you were in a team. What was your role?

Tell me about a time you had to communicate in a different way you werent used to. How did you deal with that?

Tell me about a time you encountered conflict in a team. How did you solve it?

Tell me about a time when you got criticized at work.

Tell me about a time you had to give someone constructive criticism. How did you approach the issue?

You will not be interviewed by HR. It's either a partner or manager. Be friendly. Have good questions to ask them. Stuff like training they provide, corporate culture. Most will usually give you a brief description of their history at the firm. If it seems appropriate you can ask them questions about their career paths and where they articled and stuff like that.

Just try to be friendly and outgoing. Just as feral said enthusiastic about working there.

finnith

Given that my own internship application didn't go through, I don't know if my advice is great (I am incredibly envious of you though, agh).

In any case I would try drawing from any info you received by talking with KPMG employees.

Kipling

Career center will do practice ones if you ask for one, but availability depends on the school.

XX55XX

finnith wrote:

Given that my own internship application didn't go through, I don't know if my advice is great (I am incredibly envious of you though, agh).

In any case I would try drawing from any info you received by talking with KPMG employees.

You applied for Big Four, too? In retrospect, I should have gone for IT consulting because apparently it was much less competitive.

And ironically, I talked with KPMG employees just once, during a career fair. Unlike the other firms, they don't seem have as great a presence on my campus. I've been to more PWC-related events than I could count, gotten to know quite a few associates on a first name basis, and still got blackballed.

Oh well. Fulltime, maybe.

ihmmy

also have some thoughts on future plans, i.e. when/if you're pursuing an accounting designation, which one (if multiple options are available in your country), etc.

mysticjuicer

First of all, congrats on making it to the interview stage! The good news is that you've gotten through the most difficult part, which is having your resume and cover letter stand out from the thousands of other people who've applied for the same position. I've been told that the big four only actually interview a few more people than they end up hiring.

My advice would be to (1) know a few things about KPMG to be able to articulate what about the firm appeals to you, and (2) do a little thinking about how you'd answer behavioural questions with an eye to the firms values. They understand that everyone they're going to interview will be shitting bricks, so don't worry about being nervous. Good luck!