The process took 2 days. I interviewed at PwC (San Jose, CA) in Nov 2010
Interview
It is now standard practice that the Big 4 firms will invite you to a dinner the night before the interviews. Don't be fooled- dinner is an interview. A lot of your time as an associate will include luncheons with clients and they want to make sure you can be comfortable, relaxed, intelligent, and most importantly neat.
My dinner was done as a group of 6 people (3 candidates, 2 associates, 1 partner) at a local restaurant. It was a very nice dinner. Making conversation is important, but it's equally important not to be a conversation bully. Be active but not overbearing.
The next morning started with presentations by several employees of varying levels in audit. PwC did a great job of selling themselves. After the presentations, each candidate was matched up with a "buddy" associate to take us to our interviews. I met with a Sr. Manager and a Partner- some people met with two partners. All interviews are conversational. They hardly ask anything that could be considered behavioral, it was all about having a smooth dialog with someone you just met. My experience was that you should still have several good questions to ask before you get there, but that you may not need them if you can listen to what they tell you about themselves and ask questions based on that.
After the interviews, they took all the candidates to a room to have another meeting on benefits at PwC and then out to lunch. Lunch was also done in groups of 6 (3 candidate- 3 buddys) and it's really casual. Just keep in mind that if you say something especially stupid, they WILL tell the partners and managers, so use your brain.
I got a call from the partner I interviewed with about 3 hours after lunch. I accepted my offer.
I applied online. I interviewed at PwC (Londres, Inglaterra)
Interview
Immediately after submitting your application you will be invited to the first stage, an online assessment involving maths and logic problems, similar to other companies.
About a month later I was notified of the second stage, an online virtual assessment centre. The VAC lasted about 4 hrs and has three parts: a group interview where we discuss a fictional consulting problem, an individual task writing a report based on given information, and a one-to-one interview that mainly focuses on your experience in the group session, along with some motivational/behavioural questions.
The third stage is a one-to-one in-person partner interview. Before your interview they’ll invite you to a coaching call where they tell you some things that may come up and how to prepare. They’ll also give you some idea about how you did in the VAC and what you can improve. At the actual interview, the style really depends on your interviewer and it felt more like a coffee chat. Although my advice is to study some PwC values and your own motivation beforehand. The interview was nice and I was notified about my result in only about 3 weeks.
lot of stages of interview. i need to take a test. then go through the first stage of interview. then 2nd interview is quite tough as they the questions are more very high thinking level which i am underprepared. but it was a great experience.
The process was well-structured and professional overall. It included behavioral questions, discussions about audit/accounting concepts, and questions focused on teamwork and problem-solving. Interviewers were friendly and made the conversation comfortable. The process was moderately challenging but fair, with clear communication throughout.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you approach identifying risks or material misstatements during an audit engagement?