My internship interview at a Big Four global firm: What it was really like
Using the knowledge of my fairly lacklustre university careers advisor and with the luck of a Google search, I found myself in the lobby of a Big Four accounting firm in Sydney.
Seated on the ground floor was a group of uneasy, anxious and slightly perspiring students. This was the first round of the dreaded internship interview, so the nerves around the room were justifiably jangling.
One of my initial observations on the day was the flurry of rumours that quickly swept through the candidates: there will be a written test; there will be a numerical quiz; and there will be a group assessment!
Writing in retrospect, I wish I could have told them that they were all correct. The interview process did consist of these three things because literacy, numeracy and teamwork are all so important to an accounting and advisory business.
The HR team was actually an enthusiastic and warm bunch. They whipped the candidates through the mandatory tests in between short information blasts about the firm. What stood out amongst all the corporate jargon about work-life balance was the list of extraordinary career opportunities.
Doing an internship at a global firm, which provides services across a huge range of markets, would provide something truly invaluable: exposure. As a university student with a basic knowledge of the financial services industry and accounting profession, a great deal could be gained from working with the firm's vast client base.
Clients exist in different sectors including banking, property, mining, insurance and aviation to name a few. As you can imagine, when the candidates began to realise what a boost this exposure could give to their careers, there was a noticeable surge of enthusiasm to get stuck right into the one-on-one interviews.
The interview itself, speaking as a first timer, was a daunting process. A partner and senior manager of the firm asked questions chosen from a piece of paper drafted by human resources.
However, the crux of the interview was not actually these mandatory HR enquiries, but the unstructured conversations with the interviewers. From my experience, both of them were looking for, amongst other things, sincerity and transparency in the candidates. Achievements listed on resumes were no longer important.
At this point came my second biggest insight. Within the interview, I needed to consider the employer I was applying to and demonstrate underlying values relevant to the business. As a large organisation, this firm demands that candidates act with integrity, provide insight, and perform their duties with a healthy dash of scepticism. At future meetings that secured my internship, the sentiment that these values needed to be displayed somewhere during the interview process was shared with me.
What I ultimately learnt is that businesses represent people and that these people hold certain values. These values underpin their success in their respective discipline. As a candidate for an interview, you need to carefully consider your values and the way they match to an employer. If you can find a great fit to your personality, then as they say, you'll most likely get your foot in the door.
