How to prepare for an interview in Big 4?

Swati Shankar , Last updated: 10 March 2018
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How to decide what to do after CA?

CA is considered as one of the toughest exam in the country and it takes hell lot of efforts and some amount of luck to actually get through it. But what lies after that is even tougher than the exam.

The real struggle begins once you clear the exam because the decision you take post the success of the exam is going to influence your professional life to a great extent.

What next to do after clearing the exam is the question that crops in each candidate's mind. You should choose between Job or Practice. Suppose you have chosen job then let me just help you with some pointers to keep in mind.

Try to complete all your trainings like Advance ITT and GMCS if you haven't done that before as soon as possible to be able to eligible for placement.

In the meantime prepare your resume and try to incorporate all the special assignments you did during your articleship which would be able to distinguish your CV with other candidates.

Give a thought and decide for yourself as to which job profile you would be interested to join. This is the most difficult decision and you should think and decide very wisely since it's going to greatly effect you in the long run. You should think of minimum two job profile.

Try to apply at every possible firm or company off-campus according to the job profile you decided in your mind.

Appear for all the interviews you are called for because even if you don't get a job you will end up with a good experience which can help you get closes to cracking your dream job.

I request everyone to create your profile on LinkedIn because in our professional networking is very important and you never know who can bridge the gap between you and your dream job. It is even helpful if you have chosen to opt for practice after CA.

What can you expect at the interviews in Big 4?

Now I would like to talk about how to prepare for an interview or rather what can you expect to be asked in an interview in Big 4 to be specific from my own experience since I appeared for all the big 4 interviews and even managed to crack one.

There are generally 3 to 4 rounds if you have applied off-campus.

First is the telephonic round where you are asked a thing or two in general and asked to visit the office at a scheduled date and time.

Next is the HR round, where you can expect questions like your family background, tell me about yourself, how soon can you join, are you comfortable traveling (in case you are applying for audit profile), no of attempts and what you know about the company. You might be asked about few basic things about your articleship.

HR round is generally to check your communication and presentation skills and if you are fluent in English, you would be taken to the next round. Generally, no one is rejected in this round.

Next is the technical round where you would be badly grilled on each and every word you have written in your resume. So prepare really well on this part and don't try to bluff.

You might be even asked about your hobbies that you have mentioned in your CV so prepare well for this part. Suppose you have written about reading books then you might be asked to discuss about the latest book that you have read.

In addition to this, you would be asked about IFRS or Ind AS if you are applying for audit profile.

You would be asked about the recent amendments in tax and some important provisions if you are applying for taxation profile.

The technical round lasts for around 30 to 45 mins.

You might even be asked to write a test in the technical round. For instance, I was given a case study based question paper and 1 hr time to properly analyze each question then we had a discussion regarding the same and I was even cross-questioned and I had to pacify the interviewer quoting various provisions.