KPMG Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – Applied through school website, got an on campus interview.

Interview Details – Phone interview mostly about my interests,what I knew about service lines. Behavioral questions.

Interview Details – You should realize that the recruiting, assessment, and selection process is decentralized and stratified at the very least by campus and experienced hires per service area Audit, Tax, and Advisory and then again per Management, Risk, and Transactions and Restructuring, and then again per practice area. Each may have its own standard (or not) process. You should also not, there may or may not be a specific job opening, position or role and I had a very hard time clarifying that.

I can't remember but I think I applied to an online posting. I was contacted by a contract recruiter, who I didn't know at the time was sourcing other positions for herself which caused a huge break in continuity in my process. I believe she was trying to do the right thing but was bound by the constraints surrounding her in terms of position, level, salary and namely engagement project in need of staffing.

I had a recruiting interview where I was told they were indeed actively looking for candidates for positions to fill but also for a big picture fit (turns out no one downstream could actually speak to the specifics of what exactly that meant). There was never an actual job, level, project or hiring manager identified so it made the process very nebulous (which, if you are in that business, you know its completely ineffective).

I had two phone interviews from a manager and senior manager (who's title is now a Director). I was flown in for two onsites, with a friendly, pleasant managing director, and was scheduled to meet with the partner (the one in charge though unfortunately I did not find that out until way too late). He no showed and no called. Then AFTER an offer was actually presented, I was told I had another interview with an engagement employee who needed staff. When I asked if this person could maintain input power for the job or only the project resources, I was sideswiped and told to take the interview seriously???

All the interviews were unstructured and more conversational. Easy to control and navigate, especially having experience as a targeted behavioral interviewer, though the climate, culture and actual work was not represented accurately. The major problem was the timing. I had successfully completed the process and told an offer was in the making. This took over a month and in the meantime had foolishly turned down another offer for a similar job with a competing firm as I was told this was the most people focused firm of the big four (big lie). I was strung along, to keep warm and interested, and when push came to shove started looking for other jobs. When I was finally made an offer a month later, a completely unreasonable start date was posed (at the time I had filled out the application, the date I noted for availability was no longer valid) I was expected to relo (unpaid) 350 miles and start in 10 days.

I was met with irritable resistance and complexity when attempting to negotiate a more appropriate date given the circumstances. I stood my ground and when it was finally worked out, onboarded though scheduled for and attending orientation, was told I was expected to be on client site. I again stood my ground (if you don't get orientation opportunity, you better forget it will ever happen--there are a gazillion new employee requirements and tons of "training") and instead of the project waiting another day (orientation was 2, and I only found out on day 2 I was expected elsewhere but not told) they never-minded me. Super childish and unprofessional however, to my benefit because I explicitly stated that I knew of an engagement (this one) in NB, NJ that would NOT be a good match for me and if they were sourcing for that project, it would be more appropriate for me to self select out. I had to dodge that project 2 more times before I got assigned to it 9 months later. A huge thorn in my side and one I never got over given how dysfunctional I knew the project was.

At the end of the day, I was very sorry I took the job

Negotiation Details – Arduous. I had stated up front that I was looking for 6 figures and when asked what's the lowest in the 90s salary I would accept (???? who says this) said 99 (of course). Negotiating the start date was even more of a nightmare given they provided only 10 days from written offer for a no relo job 350 miles away, I stood my ground on ample notice since I was willing to withdraw my acceptance.

Interview Details – Received in interview a week after submitting my application. It was very relaxed. Talked for about 15-20 minutes. It was short and sweet just a couple of behavioral questions such as "describe a time outside of school where you displayed leadership." If you play sports talk to them about it they like that.

Interview Details – I felt that the process was very smooth except that recruiters were very difficult to get in touch with and did not respond timely to questions.

Interview Details – First round interview - Most of the time, professionals from KPMG are pretty much laid back compared to other Big 4 companies. When she called me in for the interview, she greeted me with a big smile and walked into the room with me while making a small talk.

Interview Details – Interviewed with Partner, who was very helpful in answering my questions, and one other associate. And besides that, the interview process was pretty standard. I was asked some basic behavioral questions. Afterwards, some associates took all of the candidates out for coffee so they could ask more questions.

Interview Details – Asked detailed questions about financial services background. Accounting questions. etc

Interview Details – The overall hiring process was very quick and straight forward. (Unlike several other firms who made me jump through hoops - hours of personality testing, which makes me think culture fit is all they seem to care about...how is that good for the client? ) At KPMG's management consulting business,I had one interview with HR recruiter, one interview with a Director over the phone and two in-person interviews. Each interview lasted only 30 minutes. Overall it was a positive experience. The people seem to know what they are doing and what/who they are looking for.

Negotiation Details – Was required to put in my last salary in the formal application, which made me uncomfortable because I did not want to minimize my starting salary. They came in with a few thousand more than my previous base and I negotiated and was given more. I had 3 more interviews lined up with other potential employers so I felt I was in a comfortable place to negotiate.