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Big 4 Target Universities.

Reply 20

456789

That is probably because more people on the forum go to english uni's I guess

they take english, scottish, welsh etc.

Reply 21

jockstrap

Sure I seen Strathclyde there somewhere.

Reply 22

Mochamoo

I used to recruit for the Big4 and we were not given target uni's. What they wanted
1st or 2:1
Min of 3 B's at A level not including AS levels,
GCSE's all A-C with B or higher in maths and English

Highly literate / Articulate
Extra Curriculium activites ideally showing leadership

Reply 23

JamieP

4

My intake - FS Audit Manchester is:

Nottingham x2
Durham
Manchester
Liverpool
Warwick
Sheffield
Cambridge

Reply 24

i have no name

14

hiii
im expectin 3As 1B or 2As 2Bs in Accounts (A) Business (A) Economics (A/B) Maths (B) .
im going to do maths and economics at keele
was going to york or lloughborough but ue to family issues couldnt
so would i have a chance of getting into the big 4 at the end of my degree?? providing i get a 2:1 or a first of course :woo:

Reply 25

Ianan

3

The Big 4 do target universities. All it means is they have a bigger presence there, because experience has shown that's where they get the most good applications.

Someone with good A Levels, a 2:1 or above and strong extracurricular activity from a non target university has an equal chance of getting an offer as someone with the same background who went to a more reputable university.

Do not write off your chances now.

Reply 26

86501

1

I think with these lists of where people have come from; it's worth remembering that there's a selection bias. People with the best A levels often go to the best uni etc. You will get more people from "better" unis because they are more likely to meet the requirements. However, if you have the GCSE, A level and degree requirements from a university then any of the big 4 will review your application seriously and you will be at no disadvantage, it will then come down to your competencies, such as your soft skills.

Reply 27

borbts

It's not just the Big 4 that are decent firms to start off at. I have worked at Grant Thornton and Deloitte and often the difference in the work is negligible. Chances of progression can be better outside of the Big 4 too.

It's worth looking at who the other big firms are:

Top 50 firms in the UK http://www.bringonretirement.co.uk/Home/News/Top-50-UK-Accountants.aspx

Hope this helps. Best of luck. :smile:

Reply 28

Big_Dave

i have no name

hiii
im expectin 3As 1B or 2As 2Bs in Accounts (A) Business (A) Economics (A/B) Maths (B) .
im going to do maths and economics at keele
was going to york or lloughborough but ue to family issues couldnt
so would i have a chance of getting into the big 4 at the end of my degree?? providing i get a 2:1 or a first of course :woo:

Well it depends on far more your than your educational background as long as you meet the minimum requirements which proabably about 10,000's of graduates do.

If you want to improve your chances improve your CV by taking part in extra cirricular activities and achieving things outside of education. Ideally things that demonstrate the competencies that the big four look for in new graduates. The competencies vary firm to firm, but you will find a list on there websites.

Reply 29

TheBowMan

I am starting with one of the Big Four, although in advisory, so rather more difficult to get into than audit, but from our incoming group it is mainly Warwick, Imperial, Edinburgh, Oxford, Cambridge, and LSE (though randomly one from St Andrews and one Leeds).

A 2:1 from a top 20 university and strong commercial awareness, with good social skills / team work in the case studies / group work, then you should be quite competitive.

Reply 30

Captain_Sl0w

5

Its all about what you can bring to the table really and not where you are from.

I graduated from UWE with a 2:1 History degree and it had absolutely no bearing on the application or interview process for Deloitte's Risk Assurance, I was made an offer the next day after my Partner interview. I also made it to the final interview for PwC in London but bailed on the process when I had an offer from Deloitte.

As said, the appearance of a bias can be put down to the fact that the UCAS requirements sit around 300 points which is quite high and it tends to be the higher ranking/more highly regarded Universities who catch these students. Hence the eligible students just tend to come from the upper quartile of Universities, its purely circumstantial. The emphasis for pretty much any graduate scheme anywhere is entirely on personal competencies and natural aptitude.

When you think about it, its pretty difficult for firms to target applicants by university ranking or prestige even if they wanted to because things change. A small polytechnic might in 20 years time become a major ranking university, which in some sense raises the perceived value of any of its graduates degrees whenever they graduated. The opposite is equally true.

Reply 31

RamocitoMorales

21

What about a First in Mathematics from Aberdeen?

Reply 32

86501

1

RamocitoMorales

What about a First in Mathematics from Aberdeen?

The answer is the same as it has been for all the others really, you have a good grade in a good subject, therefore the Big 4 will be happy to consider you as long as the rest of your CV is good and you do well through the application.

Reply 33

.ACS.

19

I can't believe this thread is still going.

Reply 34

RamocitoMorales

21

Assuming I take mathematics at university in the hope of applying to the Big 4 after I graduate, would the modules I take in my course matter? For example, would it help if I took more statistics modules, as opposed to pure mathematics? :curious:

Reply 35

.ACS.

19

RamocitoMorales

Assuming I take mathematics at university in the hope of applying to the Big 4 after I graduate, would the modules I take in my course matter? For example, would it help if I took more statistics modules, as opposed to pure mathematics? :curious:

It depends on which area you wish to work in. The actual modules won't make any difference in being accepted, though if you wanted to work within actuarial, you'd find your job slightly more easy by taking lots of statistical and mathematical finance options.

Reply 36

i have no name

14

Big_Dave

Well it depends on far more your than your educational background as long as you meet the minimum requirements which proabably about 10,000's of graduates do.

If you want to improve your chances improve your CV by taking part in extra cirricular activities and achieving things outside of education. Ideally things that demonstrate the competencies that the big four look for in new graduates. The competencies vary firm to firm, but you will find a list on there websites.

oo ok well i do voluntary work at my local youth centre, i have been on a trip to south africa with my youth club to see people efecte by aids, i also have over a years experience in retail, customer services etc ( working at primark :eek3:

) wa else can i do to improve my application over the next 3 years and make it more competitive? :biggrin:

Reply 37

RGBDZ

i have no name

oo ok well i do voluntary work at my local youth centre, i have been on a trip to south africa with my youth club to see people efecte by aids, i also have over a years experience in retail, customer services etc ( working at primark :eek3:

) wa else can i do to improve my application over the next 3 years and make it more competitive? :biggrin:

Learn to spell.

Reply 38

86501

1

i have no name

oo ok well i do voluntary work at my local youth centre, i have been on a trip to south africa with my youth club to see people efecte by aids, i also have over a years experience in retail, customer services etc ( working at primark :eek3:

) wa else can i do to improve my application over the next 3 years and make it more competitive? :biggrin:

Those sound like great things, but without knowing what you did/do at them it's hard to comment on what's lacking etc. What you need to do is go to the careers section of a big 4 firm, look at the skills they require (might be called something like our competencies within a what we look for section, they're things like motivation, resilience, responsibility) and see which you can relate your youth centre work to.

Then the areas you can't give evidence to say you've done you need to go out and do something that says 'yes I can demonstrate to you that I have done this'.

Having a good breadth of experiences is always good, they don't particularly care what it is but a variety is better than everything being from the same work.

Reply 39

Captain_Sl0w

5

You need to do things or explain past activities in a way that brings out competencies you've developed:

Initiative

Responsibility

Organisation skills

Meeting professional expectations and targets (if you have work experience where you can show this)

Leading a team / being part of a team - handling difficulties on a project / activity / related demonstrations of enthusiasm and commitment etc etc

Big 4 Target Universities.

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