PwC Assurance Associate Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – First round interview for campus hires is done at the educational institution, second round in the office. The second round interview consists of 3 back to back interviews.

Interview Details – I came onboard as an experienced hire, therefore my experience was a bit different than the standard hiring process. I was referred by a friend and had lunch with the HR Manager, a Partner, and my friend prior to going through the formal interview process. After that meeting I decided to pursue a position with the firm and was assigned a recuitment specialist to take me through the entire process. I was scheduled to meet a Manager and another Partner approximately one week after my first communication with the recruiter. Each interview lasted approximately 30 minutes and the standard questions were asked. I was contacted again by the recruiter a few days later (maybe 2 days), and was extended an offer. The offer was quite competitive and included a signing bonus.

Negotiation Details – No real negotiation to be had here. Salary guidelines for the Big Four Accounting firms are pretty rigid because they want to keep everyone within a set range based upon experience and staff level. The base salary was equivalent to what I had been earning with my previous firm and the signing bonus plus the benefits package put it over the top.

Interview Details – Submitted my resume for an on campus interview.

Interview Details – First had a phone interview (scheduled for 30 minutes but went over to 45min) where she asked the typical phone interview questions (google it, basically revolves around your resume) then got invited to the "SuperDay" in NYC.

It involved a "Q&A" with partners and managers (round table style with all other candidates, pretty relaxed), three 30min interviews (one on one, manager, partner, HR, in that order), and a lunch (which turned out to just be with our associate hosts and one manager). Surprisingly fun once I was able to shake my nerves. Everyone was very nice and understanding.

Interview Details – You meet with the campus recruiter on a one on one interview. Basic interview questions relating to teamwork and leadership. Superday is the same one on one interview with a manager, hr, and partner. Interview questions very easy but you have to stand out from the crowd of applicants to get a job. Best way to get hired is through a referral or through an internship.

Interview Details – I set up the interview through a partner at PWC, and from there I had a phone interview that lasted for about a half hour. The phone interview was informal and was geared toward weeding people out. After that, PWC flew me to New York from St. Louis to conduct three face to face interviews. The day started off with a group presentation followed by a panel discussion and then I was interviewed in a one on one format three separate times.

Interview Details – I applied for the position through my university's job board over winter break and got a call from the Chicago campus recruiter who scheduled my first-round (on-campus) interview with a San Fransisco Partner who would be coming down to my university to recruit for both the San Jose and San Fransisco offices. The on-campus interview was very comfortable; the Partner was very down-to-earth, and our conversation was not only job/career-related but was also about other things. It was very casual, and I really felt the PwC company culture through this interview.

Then I got a call from the San Jose recruiter, telling me that I had been invited for an office visit in San Jose, which was very cool! PwC paid for a hotel room for me at the Fairmont Luxury Hotel, which is one of the most expensive hotels in San Jose, as well as paid for the plane tickets to and from San Jose. The office visit started with a pre-interview dinner with some of the Associates/Senior Associates/Managers. There were about 15 interviewers and many PwC staff, and we were all divided into groups of 6 for the dinner. Each group consisted of 3 PwC staff and 3 interview candidates. Because it was such a small group, the dinner was more personal than most of the pre-interview dinners I had been to and they PwC staff made sure that we had our questions answered before the interviews.

The interviews on the next day took almost all day; It started with an introduction to the company, intro of ourselves, Associate/Senior Associate group panel (basically Q&A sessions), two 30-minute interviews (one with a Partner and one with a Manager), HR presentation, and lunch. The lunch was in the same format as the Pre-Interview dinner.

Everyone I met at the office visit and the Partner who interviewed me on campus were all very nice. They really cared about each candidate as a person, not just a number. One piece of advice for anyone interviewing for PwC, at least for the San Jose office: They really value your grades and accounting-related experience. Once I found out that I did not get the offer, I asked for feedback on my performance at the office visit, and the San Jose HR person was very kind as to call me the next day with very useful feedbacks, like positive and negative comments that the interviewers had written down on their evaluation form for me. And although the interviewers thought that I was "a hard-worker, a great person to talk to, and a very passionate person," I did not get the offer because the person they chose had a 4.0 GPA and more accounting internships than I had.

Interview Details – The entire process took a while but that was because of my school schedule. They were supposed to get back to me in several days but then they closed for the holidays so decision took three weeks. Originally interviewed in hometown and then flew to New York. People seemed friendly but distant to each other and nobody knew each other because the office is so large.

Negotiation Details – Pretty much set in stone no negotiation.

Interview Details – During the first interview, it is usually with a manager that wants to understand why you choose accounting and why you want to work at pwc. In the second interview, the partner would interview you asking really easy questions such as your hobbies and also why you want to work at pwc.