Recruiting 101

Well the recruiting season is upon us, and it’s sure to be a fun but hectic time! There are lots of things to do to prepare for the “season”, so the purpose of this blog is to try and provide you all with some tips and hints that may ease the stress a little!

Information Sessions/Office Tours
When you are at an information session or office tour, try to speak to any many people as you can. A lot of times students focus on just talking to the head recruiter(s), putting less emphasis on the other representatives who are there. It is to your benefit to speak to as many people as you can so that you can get a feel for the firm, which will help you to determine if it would be a good fit for you. Also, everyone will have something unique and valuable to say, so it is worth your while to hear different people’s perspectives!

Résumé and Cover Letter
By now you are preparing your résumé and cover letter.

The cover letter should be no more than 1 page. It should highlight your achievements, but present them in a narrative form. It will essentially reinforce what is written in your résumé, but it gives you the chance to elaborate on certain achievements and maybe even discuss some things that you were not able to mention in your résumé due to lack of space. Your cover letter should be informative and confident, but not arrogant.

Your résumé is your chance to provide the reader with an overview of your accomplishments. It should outline your academic, professional and extra-curricular achievements. Many students get worried about a lack of “professional” experience – for example, they think that working at a coffee shop or fast food restaurant  throughout university is not relevant experience.  However, it’s quite the contrary; I worked at a drugstore for almost 6 years, and PwC thought this showed a lot about me. My ability to multitask (keeping a part time job for a significant period of time while being a full time university student); experience in dealing with customers/clients (essential when working in audit as we are a client-based business); and so on. So be sure to include your work experience, and any campus leadership positions or volunteer work you may have had as all have taught you skills that can definitely help you in the future!

Your  résumé should be no more than 2 pages long, and most often is in point form. A good idea is to have your school’s career centre review your  résumé and cover letter to make sure that your formatting is appropriate, there are no typos and that you have written things clearly and concisely, etc.   Remember, your résumé should be a reflection of YOU!

I hope this blog will serve to be useful to many of you, and if there are any questions, please send them my way!

All the best during this recruitment season!

Comments

[Siddeeqah Abdullah]

Hi Nisha. I just wanted to let you know that the information in your blog was very helpful to me. I was always scared that the fact that I've only had one job throughout my university career would hinder my chances of getting a job. You really relieved some stress that I had. Thank you

[Nisha Sethi]

Hi Siddeeqah,

Thank you so much for the kind message. I'm so glad that you found my blog useful - I'm always happy to help! I know what it's like to go through recruiting, so any way I can ease your (and other students') tension definitely makes me happy!

Good luck during the recruiting season and please let me know if you have any questions/concerns.

Nisha

[Harvey Wald]

Hi Nisha,

Thank you so much for taking your time to help other students including myself. All I wanted to say on behalf of everyone is "good luck on your UFE!!"

Best regards,

Harvey Wald

[Nisha Sethi]

Hi Harvey,

Thank you so much for your kind message. I am more than happy to help! Please let me know if you have any questions as you go through the recruiting process. And I really appreciate the UFE support, very kind of you! :)

Nisha

[Michael Fu]

Hey Nisha,

Thank you for dedicating your time and effort in preparing this blog for us. It has definitely answered a lot of my questions and made me more confident about what I have to offer. Through this blog, I have also learned more about the culture and the people of PwC. This is a very effective way to connect with the applicants.

Thank you!

[Nisha Sethi]

Hi Michael,

Thank you so much for your kind message, it is much appreciated! I'm really glad that my blog answered some of your questions and that it gave you more confidence! If you have any questions please feel free to send them my way. All the best during the recruiting season!

Nisha