I recently had an interview with Deloitte and decided that I needed some extra help to ensure that I did well in this interview. I had heard too many horror stories from friends and acquantances about the difficulty of doing well at an interview with a BIG4 Accounting Firm.
Upon my search, I stumbled across a book called Accounting Interview Domination and decided to purchase it because it promised to help me at my interview at Deloitte. I was skeptical at first but my skepticism did not last long as I was thoroughly surprised at the amount of valuable information presented in this book.
The book is around 40 pages long, which I really liked because it really has a no-bullshit kind of writing style and get straight to the point. I worked through all the interview questions and answers and a lot of them were asked during my deloitte interview. Needless to say, I did extremely well and have received a job offer to begin my Deloitte co-op work term starting this May.
Accounting Interview Domination begins with the introduction of the authors background, story and experiences which I found very helpful in understanding their points of view. The book than goes on to talk about the 10 Core Competencies that BIG4 interviewers are looking for in a candidate. This is the most important part of the book after the actual interview questions and answers. I really found this part helpful because now I knew what the interviewer is actually looking for so I made sure to demonstrate that in the interview.
After this, the book presents the 5 Key Client Service Principles which I spewed out in the interview and made me look very knowledgable, the authors use these principles throughout the book.
After that, the book prepares you for the pre-interview get together and dinner – I did not actually have one of these but from what I read it looked very thorough and useful information.
Afterthat, the book presents the Winning Interview Preparation Combo Secret, the basis of the book and something that allowed me to stand out in my Deloitte Interview. I highly suggest you get this book for only this reason.
The authors then go on to talk about what to do in the BIG4 Interview and what not to do and lastly presents the actualy interview questions and answers that the BIG4 Accounting firms use. Overall, it is a very good book and well written and it is a must for anyone that has an upcoming interview with Deloitte, PWC, E&Y and KPMG.
The only downside I experienced was that Robert replied to my e-mail in a day and a half while I was hoping he would respond in a few hours – I guess he must receive a lot of questions. Nevertheless, I highly highly recommend this book to anyone who has an upcoming interview with a BIG4 Accounting Firm.
I hope this helped,
Patrick L.
