It's Almost Time... Interview Time that is!

This was a blog of mine last year, but I think it's so important, that I'm going to re-post it for you guys this year!  I’m going to go back six years or so and put myself into your shoes and reflect on how I felt the interview process was like with PwC.  Then I’m going to give you a few tips that I think are key for interviewing.  Oh I feel a little ancient when I say I interviewed six years ago now.  But it’s true… I interviewed for a co-op position and had no idea what to expect or how to act.  Here’s how my interview went.

Private Company Services... my focus can be yours too!

At PwC, I primarily work in Private Company Services (‘PCS’) which means most of my clients are not publicly traded on an open market.  I think there are misconceptions out there sometimes that by working in PCS, you only work on small company files.  However, I don’t think a synonym for small is “Private”.  Some of my PCS clients are actually some of our biggest files in the office.  Did you know that over 65% of our Canadian clients are private companies?  One reason I really like working on PCS clients is because I get a good variety of big and medium size companies as well as different industries.  I’ve worked in oil and gas, manufacturing, retail, and real estate development, just to name a few!  Keep reading to see why working in PCS is so great.

All about recruiting!

As September is now upon us, so is the recruiting season for accounting jobs. You have probably already noticed that recruiting for jobs at a public accounting firm is a bit more involved that simply filling out a form, attaching your resume and clicking “submit”. I’m going to try and help break down the key components of recruiting to help you best manage your time and ensure that you don’t miss anything during this next month.

The Art of Networking

Today is our first official recruiting event of the season in Edmonton and I thought it may be beneficial to talk about what I see the 5 most important things to networking are.  Firstly – what is networking?  It’s a word used ever so much in the business school and professional business environment.  So I thought I’d Google it.  This is what came up for me:  “Business networking is a socioeconomic activity by which groups of like-minded businesspeople recognize, create, or act upon business opportunities.  A business network is a type of social network whose reason for existing is business activity.”  (Source – Wikipedia, the first thing Google shows results for)  Whoever wrote this for Wikipedia, I agree with.  At our recruiting events, we are all like-minded people shopping for the right fit to join our firm, or the right fit you see yourself in a firm you want to join.  Read further to see what I think my key networking tips are.

CASB or MPAcc?

As you enter the recruiting season, you are probably finding yourself starting to think about life after University. If you are pursuing a CA designation in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan or Manitoba you might be wondering whether the CA School of Business (CASB) or Masters of Professional Accounting program (MPAcc) is right for you. In this post I will discuss each program to help give you a better idea of your options.

UFE support... It’s everywhere at PwC!

I’m in the middle of marking some practice UFEs for a couple of our UFE writers and thought that it was a great idea to share with you the amount of support we offer at PwC to our UFE writers!  I remember when I was going through recruiting.  There were so many of us asking questions about the UFE process, the UFE support, and what the UFE is really like.  At that point in life, I just remember the UFE being this big, scary, unknown exam and it seemed next to impossible that I would ever be ready to write such an exam!  However, PwC resources were there right from the beginning.  Keep reading to hear about some of the support we offer.

Meet Jasmine from Edmonton!

Welcome to the new and exciting challenges of becoming a CA!  My name is Jasmine; I am a manager in the Audit and Assurance Group.  I graduated from the University of Alberta in 2007 and have been working full time with PwC since then.  I graduated with Cooperative Education and did all three of my terms at PwC – which is when I met some of my best friends and had some of the greatest summers of my life!

Building Client Relationships

One of the main parts of my job as a senior associate is being the main contact to the client while we are out doing the field work of an audit.  I am out at the client site with the whole team and we are dealing with the client face-to-face on a daily basis.  That means, us as team members, working out in the field, are the impression of what and who PwC is to our clients.  Therefore, one of the things that I enjoyed developing the most and what I enjoy helping other associates develop, is that ability to develop a solid client relationship for two reasons:  we have really great clients and I am proud to be part of PwC and want my clients to see that image.  Read more to hear about some of the great clients I have…

PwC - The Team Based Approach to Audit!

Last night, we had a little celebration at our Art Gallery to show appreciation to some of our staff members for accomplishments made during the year as well as welcoming our new staff members that are starting with the firm.  It was great to re-meet them (I met most of them during recruiting last year) and put a face to the name of some team members we see in the scheduling database.  Even though this celebration was great and really nice, I think the best way to get to know your team is during the audit when we are out at a client, all sitting in an audit room together.  The team based approach that we take in audit is probably one of my favorite parts of the job.  Read a little bit further to see how I have developed some great relationships with my audit teams which allows us to all have a positive, fun working environment while out at client location.

It's Almost Time - Interview Time that is!

I’m going to go back six years or so and put myself into your shoes and reflect on how I felt the interview process was like with PwC.  Then I’m going to give you a few tips that I think are key for interviewing.  Oh I feel a little ancient when I say I interviewed six years ago now.  But it’s true… I interviewed for a co-op position and had no idea what to expect or how to act.  Here’s how my interview went.