Keeping Busy During Summer!

With school coming to an end, I'm hoping every one of you enjoy some well deserved down-time with your friends and family. Though during this down-time, there are plenty of ways you can begin to prepare for the fall recruitment season, giving you a leg up on the competition.

New Blogger's Introduction - Francis Claude

Hi, my name's Francis - I'm an Associate in the Consulting practice in PwC's Calgary office. I am part of the graduate program which is a 2 year rotational program between different areas of consulting at PwC.

Since I joined PwC in September 2012, I have had the chance to rotate between 4 competencies; operations, financial services, people and change and sustainability and climate change.

While rotating through different competencies, I got the opportunity to learn from the best and gain working knowledge including ‘Lean management’ implementation tools and techniques, team building through Catalyst, basic procurement development strategies and network design models. 

As with most of my colleagues on the program, I am not from Calgary. I grew up in Montréal, moved to Pennsylvania where I completed a degree in economics and played college football, before moving back to Montréal and Québec city.

When I heard about the opportunity in Calgary, I couldn’t refuse. I was offered to work for one of the top employers in Canada in a city where the economy is great and where I only need to drive 45 minutes before getting to the Rockies! Although I had to travel for 7 weeks to Montréal for a project this winter, I still got to ski Jasper, Sunshine, Banff, Lake Louise, Fernie, Whitefish and Kicking Horse!

I look forward to blogging and answering your comments and questions twice a week on Tuesday and Friday mornings.

What’s your brand? My take on the ‘ins and outs’ of personal branding

Whether you’re looking for a job or looking to advance your career, recognize this: Your personal brand is the key to achieving success. So, what does this look like? Your personal brand is your story revealed. The challenging part is communicating this and having it consistent across all platforms – in print, in person and across social media outlets such as LinkedIN, Twitter and Facebook.

To help job applicants enhance and maximize their brand on and offline, here are my personal pillars to successful personal branding:

Hear from the 2012 Consulting New Associates

My colleagues and I will echo that the Consulting New Associates have ignited our Consulting Practice with youth, enthusiasm, fresh and brilliant talent and they have simply been amazing to work with!  We have recently completed hiring for the 2013 Consulting New Associates and I wanted to say a special congratulations to all of you who have accepted your offer with us.  Continue reading below to find out more about what the 2012 Consulting New Associates have to say about PwC.

I've sent out 3 questions to the 2012 Consulting New Associates to obtain their feedback about their PwC experiences in the past 2 months.  Here are some of quotes directly from them:

PwC Acceptance Party

 

Last week I was invited to the PwC BC Region Acceptance Party for the candidates who accepted an offer to start with us in 2013.  What a party!  We boarded the bus around lunchtime, which whisked us out of drizzly, grey Vancouver, along the gorgeous Sea-to-Sky highway, and dropped us off at one of my very favourite weekend destinations – Whistler!  

Your Tips For An Excellent Group Assessment

First, I want to wish the individuals who passed the assessment process for the Brilliant Futures Program thus far a huge Good Luck!

The group assessment will be a unique evaluation process to allow PwC to gain a better insight on your personal aspirations and goals, your fit to the PwC values, your thought process, people interaction and presentation skills.  There will be 3 parts involved in the assessment process that will allow you to showcase these skills.

Here are some of the tips and tricks that I've used to survive the various assessment centers that I participated it either during my University Tenure during Case competitions or while interviewing for jobs after I graduated from the Asper School of Business.

1) Stay cool, calm and collected - It is ok to be nervous, but do not let your nerves get to you.  Take a deep breath before you start

2) Review your resume and cover letter - make sure to know the details of your personal brand depicted in your cover letter and resume.  Remember the stories you will tell to showcase your experiences and fit within the PwC culture

3) Avoid 2 major mistakes.  Key is to balance
a. Analysis Paralysis - this is when you have read your case study over and over again and you keep analyzing to a point that you burn precious time to develop your solution
b. Solution Polution - this is when you are already solutioning before you even complete reading the case
Simply put, the best way to manage a case is to read it, take notes of the key issues, outline your potential solution and pick the best one.

4) Manage your time wisely - the truth is that you will have a set time to complete your case.  Try to come up with an outline of your solution before going into details.  You want to showcase that you have a plan in solving the problem rather than have an incomplete case solution.

5) Be articulate in explaining your solution - it is the combinations of your thought process, explanation and content that sometimes matter.

6) Interact and collaborate with other people in the session - in a group assessment your ability to connect, work with and leverage other people's point of view and skill-sets allows you to stand out.

Post-Recruiting Round-Up – Everyone is a Winner at PwC!

This year’s recruiting season, as with the case of many others, was very competitive. I personally met numerous outstanding candidates from a variety of universities across the country. As you can imagine, thousands apply and only a fraction of those get hired. However, one thing to keep in mind and what I like to personally believe is that everyone is a winner at PwC, regardless if you landed an offer with the firm or not.

Choosing between Multiple Offers

So – you were a social butterfly at the networking sessions, and built many meaningful relationships. 

Then – you completely rocked your first (and possibly second) interview, amazing your interviewers with your vast experience and distinctive responses to their questions. 

In the B.C. region, offers went out on Friday, and because you were such a superstar, you have received offers from more than one firm. Congratulations!  Now the tough part really begins – how do you choose between all of these great opportunities? 

Pour les indécis

L’excitante période du recrutement universitaire tire à sa fin. À ce stade-ci, vous devriez avoir effectué une première série d'entrevue avec  plusieurs cabinets différents. Cela implique donc que des choix seront bientôt à faire. Afin de m’assurer que votre choix s’arrête sur PwC, voici deux mentions qui devraient grandement vous intéressez qui ont récemment attribué à PwC.

The Wine and Cheese is Quickly Approaching

Hey Everyone,

It’s that time of year again on campus, the leaves are changing colour, students are filing in and out of classes, and the line at the bookstore is starting to die down (finally). For most students the school year is still just ramping up, but for accounting majors the busiest time of year has already begun.

That’s right, it’s recruiting season! PwC has already been on campus a few times this year meeting students and giving them important tips for recruitment, but a large event is still on the horizon. The annual CA Wine and Cheese is coming up in less than a week! This is an important event for potential CA recruits as they will gain valuable networking time with the staff at PwC. Nothing looks better on a CACEE form than being able to refer to a specific conversation about an interesting topic you had with a senior managers. Attending this event certainly will give prospective recruits an advantage going throughout the recruiting process.

The event will be held on September 27 in the beautiful lobby of Manitoba Hydro place, located on Portage Avenue. The event will be set up with booths from all participating firms and their representatives. They will be there to meet with you and give you promotional material, as well as to talk about their firm. The evening will start off with a meet and greet session from 4:30 to 6:30 pm, where you can check out each firm’s booth and introduce yourself. This is a fantastic way to learn about the culture and what the people are like at all the firms. Following the meet and greet session will be the wine and cheese portion of the evening from 6:30 to 9:30 pm. This is a less formal setting where you can have a drink, enjoy some excellent hors d’oeuvres, and get to know the staff at each firm on a personal level.

The wine and cheese is the part of the night where you can really make an impression on the people who will be doing the hiring at the firm. Just be yourself! Be sure to smile and give a firm handshake to people you meet. If you have a set of business cards, bring them! Hand them out to everyone you meet, this way the recruiters are able to put a name to the bright young faces of the recruits more easily. It also increases the chances that they will remember exactly who you were. Also, don’t just start asking a list of pre-made questions about the firm. The recruiters want to get to know you on a personal level, so talk to them about things you enjoy. For example, do you play sports? How do you feel about the NHL lockout? Are you into travelling? Working at a firm is all about the people you work with, so they will be looking for someone they will be able to get along with. In addition, be sure to get a business card from everyone you talk to! A quick thank you email the day after the wine and cheese will go a long way in the recruiters’ books, as it shows you really enjoyed meeting them. Try to even refer to a specific topic you were discussing with them, such as, “I really enjoyed hearing about your trip to California last summer!” 

Tickets for this event can be purchased from the ASBAA booth in the Asper School of Business, the Career development centre in Asper, and Dallas Hull at the University of the Winnipeg Faculty of Business and Economics. If you are an ASBAA member, tickets are only $15! The dress code for this event is business formal, so bring out the suits and ties!

Final tip of the day... Relax! Firms want to get to know the real you, so be yourself. Enjoy the event, it is a fantastic evening filled with delicious food, great drinks, and outstanding people. So enjoy the experience!

Hope to see you all there.