PwC Advisory Senior Associate Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – My firm got bought out by PwC.

Negotiation Details – Quick

Interview Details – First round of interview was over phone. Fairly straight forward. Had to fly down to Chicago for the second round interview. Having worked in Deloitte, i was very familiar with the company structure and a lot of people who were working at PwC. I had a cal with the HR with very good interview feedback but was put on hold due to international travel restrictions based on my VISA. I haven't heard back from them since and it has been more than 45 days.

Interview Details – Got an interview call from HR manager only because of a referral from my school senior who happened to be a manager in PwC now. Started with 1 HR interview (very simple and direct questions related to visa status and previous work experience), followed by 2 Telephone interviews (one by a director and one by a tech manager). Position was related to Insurance industry. I did not have any experience in Guidewire and PwC is specifically looking for candidates with Guidewire experience (or may be an indepth P&C insurance knowledge candidate). I did fine/well in the phone interviews and questions were in general (about prior work experience and some insurance related questions) . This whole process of 1 HR interview and 2 Telephone interviews took over a month and a half. Then a final in-person interview was scheduled a month and half later (after the 2nd telephone interview was done). In-person interview with 3 Directors and 1 Partner. Discussions sounded very casual (again related to the position/work experience) except for with one director who asked the typical behavioral type of questions like why PwC, why should PwC hire you..and also some questions related to a particular scenario in policy issuance. I thought i did fine(not extraordinary) but was positive & expecting an offer. After two and half weeks the HR manager replied that i did not get the offer :( .. The overall process was good, though veryyy slow. The HR manager responded well for any email/call, though a little late sometimes (lot better than other companies I interviewed with) .

Interview Details – 3 interviews (1 situational and 2 behavioral)

Negotiation Details – What were you able to negotiate? What advice would you give others considering an offer?

Interview Details – Initial Interview was on On-Campus. One 45 minute case interview (the case was structured by the interviewer and consisted of pre-prepared questions about the case), and one 45 minute behavioral Interview.

Second Round consisted of 1 case interview in similar format to the first round, 2 behavioral interviews, and a brief discussion with a senior partner

Negotiation Details – I didn't negotiate, but I did inform them of an offer I had from a competitor prior to my interviews, and PwC matched that offer

Interview Details – Several rounds of interviews. First HR assesses your past experience and discusses in high level your skills. After that phase, I had four separate interviews with four different Directors.

Negotiation Details – Non existent. Offered market rate.

Interview Details – Communications & Interview dates:
Next day after online job application, I got an email request from a recruiter to set up a 30 mins phone round with Recruiter for after a week, after that session happened & two days later, I was contacted to set-up a technical phone round which was eventually set-up for after 10 days, after phone interview I was contacted the next business day to set me up for an in-person round which at the earliest was available after three weeks, I attended that in-person round, and the next buisness day got the offer.
- Overall the recruiter were ok & professional, except there were times when they seemed to be beyond reach even in case of the need of reasonable updates. I guess in the end it was ok, I have seen a lot worse recruiters.

Interview rounds:
Technical phone round - Advisory Manager took the interview, it started 15 mins later because the manager's previous meeting went out.
In-person: First two 45 mins sessions each with two directors, then third with Partner.

Tips:
If you think you don't get opportunities like this everyday and want to do everything reasonable you can to achieve it -
a) read & understand the requirement as published, same goes with your resume (when we create resume it's different than when we actually read to defend it before the interview) - this will allow you to make sense between your profile & job requirement & also will help you list down the areas you need to prepare for the interview.
b) plan & prioritize; and always focus on the very next step in the interview process without losing the big picture
c) dig in your personality, your resume - and see how you can highlight you strengths & drive the interview in your favor.
d) Very important - dress very well including wearing confidence & stay calm - tip: after reaching the PwC building for in-person, try having a usual conversation with everyone you meet until you reach the interview room, this will help you calm down.
e) they may ask you behavioral questions and believe me it takes a lot of time to prepare for them - if possible involve a family member to help you with behavioral questions
f) in the interview process try making a connection (sports, fishing... whatever) - this will help them in remembering you when they fill their assessment after a day filled with interviews
g) Make it a point to send thank you notes after the interview perhaps within 3 hours and not more than 6 hours - you want to send that note & stand out from other candidates before the interviewers fill & send-out their assessment.

Good luck!!

Negotiation Details – First of all, my focus wasn't much on the compensation as I was very keen to start with PwC (as a brand) and the type I work I was going to do (as described in the interview process) -
Recruiter offered me a number, I asked for a 10k increase, she got back to me on the same day with approval for 5k.

Interview Details – I networked a lot with my college alumni who are working in PwC. One of my college alumni referred me in their internal referral system. A recruiter contacted me after more than a month asking me to apply for an open position. I had a phone interview with the recruiter. The interview was to know about my work experience and interests. After the interview i did not hear anything from them until 3 more weeks. After 3 weeks i got contacted by a recruiter on a Friday telling me that i'll have a phone interview with a Partner on Monday morning. The phone interview was again based on my work experience. Nothing difficult. One hour after the phone interview, the recruiter called me and invited me to onsite interviews for the following Friday. I had 3 interviews. First 2 are with managers and the third one is with a partner. The interviews are all behavioral and revolved around my work experience. They basically liked my work profile and wanted to see if i could fit into the PwC culture. They encouraged me to ask more questions. My advice is to be yourself and show a lot of interest in knowing about the company culture and the kind of work they do. Be confident and presentable. You are invited for the final rounds because they like your work experience. The final hurdle is to show them that you fit into the culture very well. Overall the interview process has been really smooth. The recruiters and the interviewers were very nice and approachable. I got the offer next monday but it took one more week to get the final approvals. PwC is undoubtedly one of the best companies i've interviewed with and i am looking forward to having a long career with them.

Negotiation Details – I did not try to negotiate. This was my first offer after graduation and the offer was very good.

Interview Details – The human resources team of the group I interviewed with found my resume on Monster and contacted me via phone to find out if I was currently looking to make a job change. He set up a phone interview with a Advisory Services Director currently in the group I would be interviewing for. The phone interview as about 45 mins long where he has behavioral questions as well as questions regarding my background.

I received a call back about two days later from HR stating they would like to have me come in for phone interview on one of their "super days". The assistant scheduled my interview and travel plans as well as answered any questions that I may have. My 1:1 interview was scheduled for about 2 weeks later where I interevewed with a Manager (within my line of service), Director (within my line of sercies, and Partner (of my group). I spent about half of my day in the NY PwC office. Recieved a phone call about 4 days later from NY Advisory Services HR stating I had recieved and offer and had about a week to give my answer.

Negotiation Details – I was able to negotiate my offer. Spoke with HR directly who talked to the team and got back to me with answers.