Hi guys,
I applied to BDO for the Financial Services Audit Level 7 Apprenticeship and received an offer in January. The process is the same for the apprentices as it is for graduates however interviews may be slightly different (not sure). Just thought I'd talk about my experience incase its helpful for anyone.
For the video interview, it is all strengths based questions, such as 'What does teamwork mean to you'. I can't remember many of the questions but none were particularly challenging. I'd recommend to do your research on BDO and what they do.
I got invited to the Assessment Centre 3 days after submitting my video interview- if you apply early on they are very quick to respond which is great! I arrived super early to the assessment centre and waited in the reception area, as each of the other candidates arrived we got talking, just to make the day less nerve racking I'd recommend you make friends! At mine there were 4 people including myself, and we were guided by someone who worked in HR all day who was really lovely. The assessment centre consists of a group exercise (which you then present one to one), written exercise and interview. The structure of my day went - get to know each other, group exercise, q&a with current grads, continue group exercise, lunch, prepare to present ideas from group exercise to one assessor (this is individual not group), present to assessor, interview, written exercise.
My group exercise was coming up with an induction event for newcomers and you get given different posters with events and the costs of these (you get given an info pack where you can work out the budget). My main tip for this is to just listen to the other people in your group and find the right balance between leading and listening. You get given plenty of time to do this but something I did was made note of when we started and reminded the group how long we had left at different intervals. They did not rush us at all and you have plenty of time so just don't rush.
In the q&a just ask as many questions as possible and sound keen. Financial services sounded great so defo recommend apply to that - spend a lot of time with clients rather than behind a desk and get opportunities to travel.
When presenting your ideas just try to sound as confident as possible and don't look at your notes too much. I just introduced it with what the task was, budget and the aims for the idea even though the same assessor was in the room whilst we discussed. Make sure you have a structure to your presentation. Mine didn't go on for too long so I ensured I had a chat with the assessor (who worked at BDO).
The interview is prob the most stressful part of the day so just keep calm and come up with as many examples as possible that you have done. I was first asked to introduce myself and my hobbies, as did the interviewer and we had a small conversation about this. The questions were all very strengths based but also 'Why BDO?' - I talked about how friendly and welcoming they are to staff (lots of stuff on their website for this), 'Why financial services?' - I said I liked working with numbers and being able to meet with clients and learning how businesses operate (expanded obviously), then more strength based questions such as 'Do you believe a senior member of the team's opinion is more important than those lower down?' and 'Do you act differently when presenting to different audiences?'. Make sure to be very polite and enthusiastic about the role you're applying for.
The written exercise was just replying to an email. I did not think this was particularly challenging but just ensure you know how to structure an email.
I got the call to offer me the job a couple of hours after the AC!
Hope this helps, good luck with your applications and feel free to ask me any more questions.