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KPMG 'immersive assessment centre'

Hi there,

I noticed the KPMG assessment centre seems to have changed for this year, whereas previously it involved a group discussion, e-tray and partner interview/presentation - this year it involves a virtual office exercise, analysis exercise and two simulated meetings. The partner presentation/interview is now a seperate final stage in the process.

I've read various peoples experiences of previous assessment centres on wikijobs and all the usual sites, but haven't come across anyone posting about this years centre (obviously its still quite early) - so was just wondering if there was anyone out there who knows anything about it! I have mine on friday and am just trying to get a feel for what it might be like. Also has anyone else got their's coming up?

Thanks in advance!

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Reply 1
Original post by Landy3693
Hi there,

I noticed the KPMG assessment centre seems to have changed for this year, whereas previously it involved a group discussion, e-tray and partner interview/presentation - this year it involves a virtual office exercise, analysis exercise and two simulated meetings. The partner presentation/interview is now a seperate final stage in the process.

I've read various peoples experiences of previous assessment centres on wikijobs and all the usual sites, but haven't come across anyone posting about this years centre (obviously its still quite early) - so was just wondering if there was anyone out there who knows anything about it! I have mine on friday and am just trying to get a feel for what it might be like. Also has anyone else got their's coming up?

Thanks in advance!


Just out of interest, when did you have your telephone interview? I just want to know approximately the gap between passing telephone interview, being informed when your assessment day is and the actual day. I was told I'd passed my interview about 10 days ago and got no further info...

I've been told that the simulated meeting is just a role play type thing. Like you, I am also searching round for more info.........
Reply 2
Hi Guys, Can you please please post your experience on KPMG's assessment day after you are done with it?

That will be really helpful

Thanks
Reply 3
Original post by bt_1000
Just out of interest, when did you have your telephone interview? I just want to know approximately the gap between passing telephone interview, being informed when your assessment day is and the actual day. I was told I'd passed my interview about 10 days ago and got no further info...

I've been told that the simulated meeting is just a role play type thing. Like you, I am also searching round for more info.........


I had my phone interview on friday, was told I had passed on tuesday and AC was arranged the same day for this friday. I'm applying for the London office, so i imagine the dates of AC's vary depending on the office and they just fit you into the next available one. What office are you applying for?

Yeah I will post my experiences here after the AC - quite nervous this is my first one!
Reply 4
Original post by Landy3693
I had my phone interview on friday, was told I had passed on tuesday and AC was arranged the same day for this friday. I'm applying for the London office, so i imagine the dates of AC's vary depending on the office and they just fit you into the next available one. What office are you applying for?

Yeah I will post my experiences here after the AC - quite nervous this is my first one!


I've also applied for London Office! I'm going to call them now....
Reply 5
It's a brand new method of AC. The senior management have just been put through it themselves! I'm sure they'll give you more details more the day.
Reply 6
Hey

Yeah it seems as though the AC has changed for this year - i think due in part to the volume of info available on the internet about previous ACs...

However I gained a lot from browsing TSR and wikijobs so I feel obliged to give something back. The virtual office exercise is not unlike the etray - but with a few differences - not all the responses you give are in a multiple choice format. Some require you to give a written response, often to a client, manager or colleague. The sort of scenarios you may be faced with include brainstorming prior to a meeting, reassuring a client about the level of your service or replying to a colleague who has asked for a favour. There is also some data handling - working out a few fairly simple calculations or pointing out mistakes in a table of data.

The analysis exercise is very similar to the Trafford Lea written exercise for anyone who has experienced the e-tray at deloitte. Time is extremely tight - you are given a large volume of info about a company to digest, then asked to write 1500 words detailing your recommendations about where the business may be able to improve and how AAA (mock professional services firm) might be able to assist them. You get an hour to do this.

The afternoon involves two role plays, one with a client and one with your manager. The client meeting is first - the key issue really is assuring them about the level of service AAA will provide, as you are trying to rebuild a relationship that had turned a little sour. It is likely the client will have some sort of personality quirk that will make your job a little more difficult - perhaps they will question you aggressively, or conversely be extremely reserved. The meeting with the manager is slightly more informal (and a bit less nerve-racking in my opinion). You will have to brief them on the previous meeting and you will also be pushed to show a little innovation. I imagine the questions they ask will differ, but generating new ideas is certainly a key theme of the meeting.

Keep the competencies in mind during the AC - they assess these throughout in a very objective fashion. This may seem a little obvious but if I had another chance (I was unsuccessful) I would focus far more directly on the competencies and think about how I might best demonstrate examples of them during the AC. There are 8 in total, and you will be scored between 1-4 on all (4 being high). To progress you will need to score a minimum of a 3 in all competencies.

Best of luck to anyone attending the assessment centre at KPMG, they seem like a great company to work for - everyone I met was very friendly and their new office in Canada Square is pretty easy on the eyes...
(edited 12 years ago)
I had the same AC. Was very interesting. The first "meeting" was pretty unnerving as you only have 15 minutes to prepare for it, have to lead the meeting and dont really have much information on what you'll actually be doing. I think they're just looking for you to take control of the situation, get some information out of the client and present yourself in a good manner. In the 2nd meeting (much easier as the manager leads the meeting), I think the focus should be on looking creative and looking like you want to develop. Both also have a massive focus on cross-selling between departments.

Like above, concentrate on the competencies! They tell you which are being assessed before each of the sections. You are also told to give feedback after each part, which is assessed. If you missed anything out then put it down there.
Reply 8
Hey thanks for the information about your AC experiences.......Could you please elaborate on what the "simulated meetings" are about?...Like what are you ment to discuss...Any way you can prepare for them..

Thanks for your help
Reply 9
There's not a great deal you can do to prepare beforehand really. I guess that's partly the point of this new format. You get given all the necessary information there and more than enough time to prepare. You're already better off than me, because all our group had been sent the information about the old format and weren't really sure what to expect at all. All that time wasted on the presentation!

Anyone had the partner interview yet?
I had my KPMG AC recently, and as a lot of you probably know by now the process has changed quite a lot from last year so i'll give a brief run down of my experiences.

Task 1: Written exercise

We were given a booklet outlining the fictional firm we would be working for AAA and the fictional client (an energy company). We then had to complete the first etray exercise, which was the written section. You are asked to write a report for the client, outlining the what the company is doing well, areas it could improve and challenges it faces in the future.
This is probably the most challenging part of the day as you have a large booklet to read not the brief is quite vague, adding to the time constraints.

The first task lasts for 60mins and is followed by a 10min self-review section at the end, were you must describe what areas of the task you were pleased with, areas you were displeased with and what you would do differently in the future. This is assessed so I would recommend highlighting an problems you had and try to justify, i.e. how time constraint caused you to miss certain details etc.

Task 2: E-Tray Exercise

After a 10min break you go back into the room to complete the second task.
This is the etray were you answer incoming emails, voicemails, and reports.
It is slightly different to the Civil Service practice etray in that there you are required to respond to some emails and voicemails with a written response as well as the most appropriate action. I would recommend that you answer the emails, voicemails and reports separately, leaving the reports to last.

Again this task lasts for 60mins and after you have lunch with two of the current employees. Our group was split into two, with half of us given about 30mins for lunch and the others given 45mins.

Task 3: Simulated Meeting with Client

You then go back into the room and are given a booklet and asked to prepare for a simulated meeting with a new employee at the energy company. You are told in the brief that AAA is tendering a proposal for the company, however you have worked together in the past but the relationship ended after a breakdown in communication. Thus the employees at the energy company are concerned that this may happen again.

The simulated meeting is with an actor who stays in character which is a bit strange at first.

Tips are to:

1. Keep track of time as you lead the meeting therefore need to make sure it isn't too short or too long.
2. The focus of the interview should be on providing assurances that open communication will be a key factor in the new working relationship.

Task 4: Simulated Meeting with Manager

Again you are given a brief for the meeting and 15mins to prepare.

The objective of this meeting is to feedback the information you gained from the client meeting and to propose any ideas you have with regards to adding value to the proposal.

Tips are to:

1. Be slightly less formal in this interview as it is supposed to with a colleague, therefore your ability to build relationships is being tested. However maintain professional manner when discussing key issues.
2. Feedback everything that you learnt about your client and really try to think of innovative ways to improve the processes, it is important that you think outside the box than state the obvious.

After this, and the final self review, you are free to go. I had my AC on Friday and got an email the next Wednesday saying that I had passed.


From wikijobs with credit to Graduate_88

Now this has terrified me. Seems as if they are really tightening their standards this year.
Reply 11
Immersive assessment sounds like a CIA euphemism for waterboarding.
Reply 12
There are no simulated meetings for vacation scheme
Reply 13
Original post by Sweety_pie
From wikijobs with credit to Graduate_88

Now this has terrified me. Seems as if they are really tightening their standards this year.


You shouldn't be terrified by this, it is a lot more reflective of what the job is actually like, admittedly probably trying to push you more towards slightly later in your trainee career, but at the end of the day where it has changed, these are the sorts of things you should feel confident that you could do in a job (liaise with clients and managers, prepare for meetings, report writing).

Really you should see this as giving you an opportunity, everybody is going to find it tough and that allows more chance to differentiate yourself and show you'd be a great addition to the team.
Original post by wc4life
Hey thanks for the information about your AC experiences.......Could you please elaborate on what the "simulated meetings" are about?...Like what are you ment to discuss...Any way you can prepare for them..

Thanks for your help


I am also wondering what sort of things you are meant to discuss with the 'client' during the simulated meeting? Anyone got any advice?
Reply 15
Hi,
For the two role play, how many role players are there in each meeting?
Original post by Daisy8888
Hi,
For the two role play, how many role players are there in each meeting?


In the first one you're leading 300 Spartans into battle against a million marauding Persians. You have to deliver a speech to get them motivated to fight. So there's 300 actors plus an invigilator who's marking you.

Does it really matter?
Reply 17
I did the telephone interview on Sunday and got this today

"Thank you for attending a recent telephone interview with KPMG. We appreciate the time and effort which our candidates put into their preparation for their interviews and we enjoyed talking to you on the day.

We are currently reviewing your application and it may take us a few more days before we can get back to you with a decision, but we will be back in touch as quickly as possible. "

Has anyone else had this?
Reply 18
Original post by partoftheweekend

Original post by partoftheweekend
In the first one you're leading 300 Spartans into battle against a million marauding Persians. You have to deliver a speech to get them motivated to fight. So there's 300 actors plus an invigilator who's marking you.

Does it really matter?


That is not very useful!!!!
I had mine today and it was difficult to say the least. If any one wants advice and tips send a pm my way.

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