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Deloitte Competency interview

Hello all!

I have applied to London's graduate audit programme and have been invited to the first competency based interview held at the office and was wondering whether you guys can help me out and provide some hints regarding the process.

Am I correct in assuming that the interview will be purely focused on competencies?..in effect no questions regarding why Deloitte/ what is audit etc etc??

Also when giving examples of a competency, for example team work, would it be reasonable for me to use university projects? for instance:
Does it make sense to talk about your role in the project regarding Investment inflows into country X and the outcomes of your efforts?

This is gonna be my first interview! and i am really anxious and nervous..PLease Help!!!!! :woo:

Also...I hear that auditing is a very boring job but many ppl just do it for the ACA qualification + experience in Big4 and use this a stepping stone to get more challenging jobs such as IB ...is this true guys??

Thanks for any help!!!!!!

Reply 1

lexinuk

PookyTheBear

This is just my opinion (and I work in public sector finance), but audit is a boring job. You will spend a lot of time on clients premises, which means you get a broken chair and someone's desk in a corner. It could also involve a fair bit of travel. Travel for business is not fun at all - the company will make sure that you earn every penny of costs. I for one like to go sightseeing and this is something you can't do when traveling on business. I don't count getting drunk in the evening as fun, but some people would disagree :biggrin:

This website http://www.glassdoor.com/ also seem to indicate that Big4s don't treat their people well and most graduates leave after they get their qualification and training contract runs out (3 years). I don't know if this is true for audit, but it certainly is for some IT consultancies like Accenture - they LOVE graduates, because they're cheap and work mostly for experience. The reason I am saying this is only for you not to expect the job to be as glamourous as recruiters try to display it.

And if you want to do investment banking, just apply for it. I am sure you can change later on, but it will be difficult and people who started right after the uni will have a head start.

Good luck!

Reply 2

PookyTheBear

Thanks for the reply lexinuk! I am painfully aware that Big4 is not really a dream come true for a graduate as much as it is a nightmare realised. Auditing /Assurance/Taxation do not really feature highly in the minds of fresh graduates...but at the same time i need to be realistic about my chances at Asset management firms and IB's...If I am successful with Deloitte, the idea is to move into more interesting areas of finance with the help of my then (cross my fingers) completed ACA and CFA qualfications...I know auditing/assurance is a mind numbing thing to do day in day out...but I gotta do something!!...

Anyway thx for the reply~...could you also reply to the questions regarding the competency interview??

thx

Reply 3

lexinuk

PookyTheBear

could you also reply to the questions regarding the competency interview??

I wish I could! I worked for Accenture and having spoken to a lot of people in other places, I decided not to ever work in a large company again!

So, can't really help you with this, sorry!

Not sure about CFA, but ACA (and basically any chartered accountant) qualification puts you in a good position to go for MBA and work in mergers / acquisitions or long-term investment banking if that's what you fancy. I guess both wouldn't be of much help if you want to do quantitative trading but if you look at the high-end finance and management jobs advertised you'd see they prefer people with financial accounting background.

Reply 4

rscully

The competency interview will ask for one or two examples of each competency listen on the website. Using university stuff is fine, but not for everything - think about how you can illustrate the broadness of your CV and interests through your examples. The interview isn't going to be very interested in 'we did a group project at uni and I was the group leader and we got a first because...', even if it does illustrate the competency. He might, on the other hand, be a little more interested in 'when I was lead lion tames in the Chinese State Circus everything we did was based on team work...'.

There won't be much Deloitte specific talk, but it certainly wouldn't hurt you to know a fair bit about the firm and the service line you're applying to.

Like the lex has said, if you want to go into IB, go into IB. Spending three years of your career as an accountant is less valuable for an IBer than having three years in an IB.

Reply 5

PookyTheBear

thanks for the reply rscully. I know that 3 years at an IB is better than 3 years in hell (a.k.a accounting at Big4)..=P..but judging from the rejections/lack of replies from IB firms there is basically no chance for me!..I am not impressed by the Big4 and their notoriously meagre treatment of graduates...but if worst comes to worst then i really dont have a choice! :frown:

I wonder if ACA + CFA + experience at big 4 will pay off down the road in terms of exit opportunities...

I keep on hearing that ppl leave big 4 after 3 years and join IBs at the associate level.

Ah well...hopefully 2010 brings better tidings for all of us in some way!

Reply 6

bendie88

hi pooky,

my girlfriend just went for an interview at deloitte london for graduate audit.

she said there was a question asked on what the current issues deloitte is facing.

Also according to her, the interviewer was really nice, in a way that after my gf finished talking, the interviewer recapped her points and asked her if that was really what she meant, just to avoid any misunderstanding.

Reply 7

PookyTheBear

hey bendie thank you for sharing...(and thx and good luck to your girl friend =D)..does she still remember the competency areas she was asked about during the interview?

much appreciated!

Reply 8

bendie88

i could ask her. when is your interview?

she mainly used wikijob for the questions and the competencies listed on Deloitte's site. Apparently on wikijob, some said that they require 2 examples per competency. My gf prepared 2 examples, but they did not explicitly ask for a second one. Maybe it's because she already covered it. But still in any case, I'd prepare two examples per competency in case the question asked for the competency is not suitable for one of your examples.

:smile:

Reply 9

Mr Tone

I had my Deloitte interview a couple of weeks ago. It was mainly based on the competencies. We got through about 6 competencies and I was asked explicitly to give 2 examples for each. I had only prepared one for each so I had to think on my feet but I got through (failed the assessment centre though FYI). Some of my second examples weren't particularly great but I advise you prepare two examples for each.

I was also asked why I had chosen audit and why I had chosen Deloitte. I had to explain what the purpose of an audit was and what is involved in auditing. Also any issues that Deloitte are facing due to the recession.

So it's not just based on the competencies. You need to show that you've done your research and that you really want to work for them in that particular service line.

Having read over what I've written it seems quite daunting but it's not too bad. The interviewers tend to be relatively sound and will probably try to prompt you if you get stuck.

Hope that helps, and good luck.

Reply 10

PookyTheBear

Thanks alot Mr.Tone...sorry to hear about the AC but I am sure you will get another job at a reputable firm in the UK.

Bendie, if you could ask her and if she still remembers that would be great :P

Thanks alot guys...and keep warm...its freezing over!

Reply 11

86501

2 things:

1) Yes you need to know why you want to work for Deloitte and a little about what the job would entail. They're not expecting massive details of how to audit, just an understanding of what an audit is if that's what you're going to be doing. They are also looking for career motivation, which means they want you to want to work for them. Everything you've said suggests you have no actual interest in working for Deloitte. That's likely to come through and they're not going to be happy.

2) Working for the big 4 is not hell in the slightest, I find the suggestion that we're treated worse than people at IBs very strange. Why? Because we're paid less? Maybe. But I rarely work longer than 0930 to 1800 unlike many in finance. I also work with a team of people where I like every single one of them and where they're all extremely respectful. As for the client sites, the broken chair in a corner thing is just silly, I've always been in a meeting room that has been perfectly good. The Big 4 treat their staff very well and the reward of getting paid well (you're coming out of uni to earn more than the average person in the country if you're in London, that's well paid), get a great qualification and have very good career prospects is pretty fantastic in my opinion. Clearly all of this is just my opinion though and I've only spent 6 months working so far.

Reply 12

PookyTheBear

hey 86501, i did not mean to be rude to the profession... i guess i am one of those ppl who simply cannot deal with accountancy on a friendly basis, even with best intentions...i wish i could...but i am a complete idiot when it comes to accounting :frown:

...thats why i am pretty anxious about it all..

Reply 13

86501

I didn't take it as rude, just a somewhat odd opinion to have. I appreciate accounting is not for everyone, but then if the work is really not for you then I don't think getting into a 3year training contract is a good idea and I suspect Deloitte are going to realise this unless you bluff well when they talk about career motivation. Having said that, when I was interviewed by KPMG, Deloitte and PWC I don't think I once said that I wanted to be an accountant or an auditor, I just focused on my public sector interest.

I'm just intrigued as to what you've heard about the big 4 to make you describe them as 'a nightmare' and 'hell'. Frankly the stories of people I know working in IBs and the way they've been treated strike me as far more nightmarish, but that's another discussion!

Reply 14

mercifulinpain

what happens if vacancies close for a summer internship while you were waiting for a date for a summer internship?Do they fast track your application for the grad role?

Reply 15

86501

mercifulinpain

what happens if vacancies close for a summer internship while you were waiting for a date for a summer internship?Do they fast track your application for the grad role?

Not quite sure where you're saying you've got to. Chances are they'll ask you if you want to transfer to a different office or possibly a different role, in which case you'd probably have to have an interview with the partner.

If you don't take/get that role then they wouldn't make you do the competency questions again so you'd probably get fastracked through to the assessment centre if you had already done the other stages.

Reply 16

Mard

Snap! Had my deloitte interview today for audit in London so let me know how yours goes... I was a bit of a doofus and went to the wrong office (there's about 4 deloitte offices in the same area), then thought another candidate was my interviewer! doh, lol. Interview seemed to go well though and it felt easier to me than some other interviews I've had e.g. smith & williamson. Interviewer didn't seem to want very long answers so don't waffle and be concise. If you are nervous at the start then take a pause to structure your answer or you might come across as uncoherent. You have no reason to be nervous though, they don't really throw anything unexpected at you so just do your preparation properly and make sure you have 2 different things for each competency (and different examples for each competency). As I think someone mentioned you might be better off using your course for something like problem solving as opposed to teamwork (although I could be wrong as I don't know what your example is).

Just one thing - if you're suggesting that you're not a good enough candidate for IB now what makes you think that will change in 3 years? Sure the ACA is good but I wouldn't expect it to be the key to unlock every door.

Reply 17

Neocortex

ACA/CA will normally get you to IB Product Controller/Finance roles if you are good. If you are exceptional then you may able to land a job in FO but as an Analyst most likely.

IB work lifestyle in MO/BO is perhaps hourly more friendly than Assurance as they have less to travel and compulsory exams pressure. But typically operations/finance people are frequently hiring Big4 people to fill in the places at range of 50k base salary (higher than what you get just qualified in Big4).