The Big Four (Online Application) Page 1
Online Application
You can apply for Big 4 positions online. The following is a recapitulation of the information required by these companies from applicants. Go through each item in detail. This will help you find out what the Big 4 companies are really looking for in you.
刪 Personal information o Provide valid email address and mobile number which employers can ALWAYS reach you. o Avoid using wacky email address names.
刪 Academic qualifications o Be thoughtful when you list your academic qualifications and avoid giving the impression that your studies lack a particular aim.
刪 Overseas exchange o Consider highlighting overseas exchange experiences that are relevant to your career development.
刪 Public examination results o Show your public examination results from HKCEE to CREs or BLTs
刪 Work experience o Focus and emphasize on work experiences that demonstrate your leadership, teamwork, and competencies. o Be specific as you describe your various work experiences by stating your responsibilities and achievements.
刪 Extra curricular activities o Extra-curricular activities can be a good indicator of some aspects of your values and personality. o Be elaborate in your presentations.
刪 Short questions o This section helps your prospective employers to know more about you in terms of your competencies, life orientation, and values. Try to answer these questions within the word limits. o There are two categories of questionsGeneral and Competencies-based. You will find sample questions of them in a section below. o This is a very important section as it evaluates whether your competencies are suitable for the posts you are applying. See Chapter 2 ¨Identifying Your Competencies〃.
The Big 4
PwC  Deloitte  KPMG  Ernst & Young - Recruitment Process 1 -
The Big Four (Online Application) Page 2
Finalizing your application
刪 Check Check Check
刪 Do not submit your application in a rushleave what you have written for a couple of days.
刪 Take time to go through it again.
刪 Do not rely too much on text-processing softwareˇs spell check. The spelling of words can be correct but the words may be wrong in context.
刪 Asking a friend to proofread what you have written is also a good idea.
刪 The cost of making small mistakes can be great! Itˇs not worth it.
Sample Questions
1) General Questions
You will be asked questions about yourself, your skills and competencies and your career goals and life orientations. Before your answer these questions, take time to think through them carefully. They may seem common and unimportant but in fact, for the experienced recruiters, your answers will help them to know and predict your future work behavior. Only a solid understanding of yourself, your goals in life, and your abilities will help you to answer these questions well.
Samples
刪 Please explain how your personal qualities, skills, knowledge and working experience will help you to be successful in the position for which you are applying.
刪 What divisions are you interested in? Please explain.
刪 What clubs, societies or community organizations do you belong to and to what extent are you involved?
刪 Please give a brief summary of your current recreational and leisure activities, including sports and hobbies.
刪 What factors have influenced your career choice?
刪 Why are you applying for this position?
刪 Please include any other information you may consider relevant to your application.
The Big Four (Online Application) Page 3
2) Competency-based questions
These questions are tailor-made to assess your competencies and adaptability to various work environments. To do well, you must be thoughtful with an emphasis on understanding company needs and requirements of specific work situations.
Samples
刪 Please describe two different learning experiences that have been significant to you in terms of your skills development. The following information should be included : Details of the experience, challenges faced, overall outcome and lessons learned. (PwC, 2009)
刪 Please describe a group activity that you have been involved in where you have contributed to the teamˇs success. Please provide details of the activity key objectives, individual contribution, challenges faced and overall outcome. (PwC, 2009)
刪 From a business perspective, if you were to join PwC, which organization would be your ideal client and what services do you think PwC would be providing to enhance the organizationˇs continued business success? (PwC, 2009)
刪 Please provide details of a situation and the outcome that you were engaged in a task/assignment that you took different approach or had different opinion from that of other people (any levels) involved. Please share how you reacted to the situation and the rationale of your reaction. (PwC, 2010)
刪 Describe an experience that you were learning or working in a new environment or adopting a new approach to learn or work. Please share specifically what was the experience, the challenges came across and the way you dealt with the issues, and the overall outcome. Furthermore, elaborate what you will do differently if you face similar challenges again in the future. (PwC, 2010)
刪 PwC offers services to diverse types of clients. If you were to join PwC, which industry/business sector/ clients or in particular a specific client would be interested to you? What services do you think PwC would be providing to enhance the clientsˇ success? Please note the industry or client you name does not have to be in current PwC client portfolio. (PwC, 2010)