Week-End: Interview tips. Video by PWC

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Here is a practical application of some of the top Interview tips from PWC US recruiter.

Audit Firm: ACCA exams

Audit firms are interested to hire and retain qualified accountants. For example, Big4 firms provide support to their employees during their study in college to obtain qualification.  ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is one of the professional accounting bodies certifying accountants through exams and experience. ACCA exams test the students very rigorously and they are not easy to pass if you are not well prepared ahead of time for it. Here are few tips about approaching the ACCA exams that will prove to be helpful in your preparations and to get you pass these exams.

Familiarity with Syllabus

Get yourself familiar with the syllabus of ACCA certification. ACCA has two levels; one is the Fundamental level that includes 9 papers from F1 to F9. And the other Level is called Professional level that include a total of 7 papers from P1 to P7 but you will be given a choice to attempt any two papers among P4 to P7. Choose among the papers from P4 to P7 wisely as you may get stuck in one or two papers in the end and it can waste your exam attempts, time and money.

Learning material

Choosing your books from which to study for the exams is a very major step as it can determine your success or failure from the start. ACCA's new Approved Content Providers are:

• Becker Professional Education
• BPP Learning Media
• Kaplan Publishing

Exam Paper Analysis

After when you have finished your course well at least once you are ready to take a look at the exam papers. Analyzing exam papers for trends is very important as it can give you clues about which topics to give more weightage and which topics demand less preparation. Try to attempt the full paper in actual time bounded exam pressure simulated scenario. This will give you a very good idea of where you are lacking. Do you need to concentrate more on few topics or you need to grasp the important topics well so as to finish the paper in time.

On Exam day

Sleep well before exam day is a cliché we hear from our seniors and teachers. This is actually very important for your performance on exam day. If you will feel relax you will perform and deliver in a much better way. ACCA exams have 15 minutes reading time for reading the question paper. Use this time efficiently. Plan the first question you have to answer when the reading time is over. Also you can arrange the questions in the in the order of difficulty during that time. Attempt the easy questions first and then go for the difficult ones. When answering questions, understand the requirements of the question and write only to the point answers. Remember DO NOT leave any question unanswered of you have time remaining. There is no negative marking in these exams and writing one or two important concepts well, even if you don’t know the complete answer will secure you the minimum marks that will help you to cross the minimum passing threshold for the whole paper.

After the exam

Try avoid discussing the paper if you are going to attempt another paper in a day or two as all you have in your hands now is to get ready for the next paper and try not to repeat the mistakes which you have committed in today’s paper.

In the end I would share this beautiful quote with you.

The reason why most people face the future with apprehension instead of anticipation is because they don't have it well designed." -- Jim Rohn.

Sources:

• http://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/discover/about.html
• http://www.accaglobal.com/ca/en/student/your-study-options/alp-content.html
• http://www.accaglobal.com/us/en/student/exam-support-resources.html

Disclaimer:
"This group is not associated with or approved by ACCA and the views expressed on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of ACCA".

Audit Firm: Recruitment

Are you a recent accounting graduate and want to get hired at any of the big accounting firms? Here are some tips that will prove to be helpful in your search.

Curriculum Vitae: An employer will first meet you on paper through your CV. Prepare a good professional CV that defines your career goal, your education, past experience (if any) and your skills and expertise. CV is a marketing tool for a job seeker and you should use that tool to the greatest effect.

Cover Letter: The purpose of constructing an effective cover letter is to demonstrate your suitability for an organization by identifying how your past academic background and employment make you a top candidate.

Interview: Before going for the interview research the firm and understand the organization and job description. Dress appropriately for the interview, generally this means business professional dress. As it is rightly said that your energy introduces you even before you speak so try to make a good first impression on the interviewer. Ask some intelligent questions during the interview when asked about having any questions from your research conducted earlier on about the company.

Follow up: After the interview send an email to the employer and thanks them for the interview opportunity. This will not only enhance your image as a good communicator but will also ensure that the employer keeps you in the queue for potential selection. 

Some of the key soft skills that employers these days are looking for are:

• Problem solving and analytical thinking
• Initiative and drive
• Team player
• Communication skills (written and verbal)

Some of the key technical skills employers look for in young graduates aspiring to join the auditing profession are:

• Financial accounting and reporting
• Tax strategy, planning and control 
• Risk management and internal control
• IT Skills

Additional Thoughts

Some very useful information can be obtained from the websites of the big Four firms about their recruitment process and policies.

• EY
• PWC
• Deloitte
• KPMG

Audit Firm: Personality of Auditor

There are a few personal characteristics that are important for an auditor to have:

• Auditors should possess a strong ethical framework and report on issues (or anticipated issues) as they come across them. There is a temptation to "let things go" as further investigation may require more work or reveal embarrassing processes, performance and/or fraud.

• Good communication skills allow auditors to have a rapport with a variety of employees, managers, directors and external parties. As auditors establish good rapport with a variety of individuals, however, they should keep in mind the objectives of the audit (for instance, the reliability, verifiability, accuracy and timeliness of information), as they can often be tempted to not report on issues discovered.

• Strong interpersonal skills are important, due to the variety of informational requests - and often, resistance to those requests - required from a variety of sources. Strong and/or ambitious types may attempt to dissuade auditors from revealing embarrassing findings.

• Auditors need to be team players. As the scope of the audit can be fairly large, it is beneficial to help in other areas of an audit when resource constraints warrant it.

• Finally, "professional skepticism" is an important trait to have, especially when reviewing a company's internal controls. One needs to assess how perpetrators of fraud can beat a company's controls, and auditors need to design and implement a system that can effectively protect the organization's assets.

Audit Firm: Big4 Interview Questions

Here is a list of top 10 interview questions for all the young specialists who wish to join any of the Big four audit firms (in fact any consulting firm) in their future career.

1. Tell me a little about yourself or background?
2. Why KPMG/Deloitte/PwC/E&Y?
3. Why audit/tax/advisory?
4. Are you interviewing with other firms? What’s the response from them?
5. Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
6. If your friends could pick three words to describe you, what would they be?
7. Do you prefer to travel?
8. What is your biggest weakness/strength?
9. Tell me about a time when you improved a process (or came up with a creative solution)?
10. What do you like best about a career in accounting/auditing?

Week-end: Dialogue with manager

I found a funny video on Youtube. May be it is not very attractive in terms of special effects but dialogue does reflect the communication patterns with audit managers in some cases J

Recommended for all audit firm new joiners J