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PwC Assessment Day

Hey Guys!

I have made it some how to the 2nd stage of PwC.

Has anyone done the group / individual exercise? What does this entail, to you have to do a presentation? Any advise how best to prepare for it?

Also any one got any advise on how to prepare and know any good resources for the diagrammatical test, I have read a lot of previous post saying they were really hard.

How long is the partners interview? If there is a group attending the assessment day do you have to wait and take it in turns to be interview?

IS the partners interview like the first one, or more commercial based? Does the partner ask you to talk about particular things, or is the same case as the first interview where you can choose the story.

Thanks x

Reply 1

fredstar

Congrats on making it to this stage.
I recently had an assessment day, unfortunately didn't get the internship, but I can tell you my experience.
The day starts with the two psychometric tests, the numerical and diagrammatic. The numerical is a lot harder than the one they made you do online and is 28 questions in 25 minutes. It is pretty damn hard and I didn't do that great.
The diagrammatic, on the other hand, is pretty easy. I managed to score in the 96 percentile of the sample, ie better than 95 percent of the people doing it, so it is not too much worry. Just practice with some of the books that can be found on amazon, also shldirect.com should help. I got this book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pass-Professional-Level-Psychometric-Tests/dp/0749442077/sr=8-1/qid=1166029543/ref=sr_1_1/203-8371555-8023905?ie=UTF8&s=books but the diagrammatics in this are a lot harder than the test.
Then our half of the group had our partner interviews while the other half did their group exercise, and visa versa over the next two hours. The partner interview was a lot worse than the first interview and a lot more tense. They drill about issues on your cv and mainly commercial issues. Read up on them in detail as they will ask you do some detailed analysis of some of the stories, so pick 3 stories and dig deep. My partner wasn't that nice...my first interviewer was younger and a lot nicer. The interview was a solid 50 mins and 10 mins of me asking him questions and him going on about how PwC take on the best and are amazing.
The group exercise is not too bad, but a lot of info to digest in 20 mins. You have a booklet of information, that everyone has, and unique item to yourself. Just offer commen sense input from the information you read and don't raise your voice, encourage other people to give input and take on what they are saying.

After this we had a nice lunch with a few fresh faced graduates at PwC. Overall the day was pretty stressful but enjoyable and informative and definately a great experience if you haven't done assessment days before.

Let me know if you want more info although I think I have written everything!

Reply 2

Jhs2cp

OP

Hey!

Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it. Could you please clarify the format of the Diagrammatical test as I am a little confused.
Is the test in the format of a sequence of shapes and you have to finish off the sequence OR is there a INPUT, PROCESS, OUTPUT diagram with letters which you need to solve then use the info to answer questions.

Thanks x

Reply 3

TheWolf

15

If you are doing the individual exercise, I can tell you what it is about. PM me.

Reply 4

johnbasham

how long does it take for pwc to get back to you if you are successful at an assessment day? ive herd they generaly call u straight after the assessment day or the next day if you are successful and it takes slightly longer if you are not. is this true? im getting slightly worried lol

Reply 5

fredstar

Jhs2cp

Hey!

Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it. Could you please clarify the format of the Diagrammatical test as I am a little confused.
Is the test in the format of a sequence of shapes and you have to finish off the sequence OR is there a INPUT, PROCESS, OUTPUT diagram with letters which you need to solve then use the info to answer questions.

Thanks x

The diagrammatic is in the form of alphabet letters, so transformations of ABCD. It is a mixture of input/process and output.
You will hear within 24 hours generally, I heard by 11 the next day.

Reply 6

Streetwize

1

i had mine on a thursday and found out i got accepted on monday evening. so it all depends really. never a set number of days

Reply 7

dups45

8

are you talking about gap years, head start or graduate here?

I would be interested to talk to anyone else who is doing a gap year scheme in london startin in 07!!! Need to find somewhere to live and i dont have a clue where to start

Reply 8

Streetwize

1

mine was for graduate

Reply 9

Jhs2cp

OP

For the Commerical awarness part of the partners interview, Do there ask about a particular company performance? or do you have to speak about a company, e.g perfoming good/bad or have you got a choise like the first interview and talk about any current issue?

Does the partner ask general question about acountacy?

I really am unsure on what type of thing i should research, could any one help?

x

Reply 10

dups45

8

Jeez you only need to post it once, i thought i asked a lot of questions when i was going for my interview. You need to be able to talk about different aspects of the company, buy the economist for a few weeks and keep up to date on developements in a story. I talked about ITV, it was interesting because my interview was the day that they appointent the new chairman etc etc, if i hadnt had read around it abit then i wouldnt know. Also read the business section of the times on sundays thats good and gives a good overview

Reply 11

Ubiquitous

5

I don't actually think the Economist is very useful for UK business stories. If [to take an example from the current issue] you start talking about car manufacturing in India, it is likely the interviewer will ask you for 'anything else' so that they can ask you questions on something they are familiar with!

Reply 12

fredstar

Ubiquitous

I don't actually think the Economist is very useful for UK business stories. If [to take an example from the current issue] you start talking about car manufacturing in India, it is likely the interviewer will ask you for 'anything else' so that they can ask you questions on something they are familiar with!

The economist is quite good on business/economic issues but it is also very political, something like the FT is great and accountancyage.com

Re above, that is not correct. They are looking for a world wide commercial awareness rather than a limited UK business news!

Reply 13

Blue_nite

..about one of Fredstar's posts:

Can u plz say smth more about this: ".. so pick 3 stories (in ur CV) and dig deep.."?

Many thanks.

Reply 14

fredstar

Blue_nite

..about one of Fredstar's posts:

Can u plz say smth more about this: ".. so pick 3 stories (in ur CV) and dig deep.."?

Many thanks.

I was referring to 3 stories that interested you in the business world...lol not 3 stories in ur cv!
Um not sure what more to say. Google them/ft.com them and check for different professional peoples opinions of the various matters. They want you to answer analytically about the stories rather than recite facts, figures and issues.

Reply 15

turbodave

4

Is the assessment centre the same, irrespective of division? I have an assessment centre coming up for a position within the strategy group and was wondering whether the format is the same as the other departments?

Reply 16

sandraca

Hello there,

I would like to ask you guys what to expect from the numerical tests at PWC and how did you prepare for them. I checked the SHL website but it is not clear there how to buy the products. I would really appreciate if you could give me some tips to be prepared for the assessment day at PWC.

Thanx a lot

PwC Assessment Day

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