To : All
students who are interested in applying to PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PWC) for a position as:
1)
Assurance
and Business Advisory Services Associate
2) Tax and Legal Support Services Associate
3) Corporate Finance & Recovery Associate
Click here
for job details and requirements: <http://www.jijis.org.hk>
PWC requires
applicants to submit these documents:
- cover
letter,
-
resume,
-
examination result slips (Yr.1 & Yr.2 university transcript,
HKCEE & HKAL result), and
-
company's application form.
Deadline
for application is 17 October, 2002.
Tips on PWC Application Form
The
questions that you are being asked in the application form are:
Q.
Please describe briefly why you have chosen the position for which you
are now applying and refer to any alternative careers you may have considered.
Tips:
The
recruiter wishes to know how well you know about yourself and your
criteria in choosing a career. You need to have an understanding of
the job duties, the career and requirements for the candidates. Find
out which part of the job inspires or interests you most, ASK YOURSELF
WHY and provide evidence to illustrate it.
The
part on alternative careers is to test your career clarity and knowledge.
Tell the recruiter your other career options and in what way they
fall short of meeting your needs, which reflect your values.
Q.
Please explain how you believe your personal qualities, experience,
skills and education will help you to be successful in the position
for which you are applying.
Tips:
What
qualifications, experience, and personality are PWC looking for? Can
you find out the answer from the job description?
List
these on a piece of paper. Against each one list your own qualities,
experience and skills that are relevant to PWC's requirements.
Examine
the match between the two lists.
Elaborate
on the finding, quoting specific past experience and achievement to
illustrate your attainment and suitability for the position for which
you are applying.
Q.
What are your specific career goals after achieving your professional
qualification?
Tips:
Your
career goal can be either occupational competency or responsibility,
i.e. state in the answer what you would like to be able to do in future,
or what responsibility you would like to have.
For
example, you may want to set up your own audit firm in PRC after achieving
your professional qualification or you may want to stay in PWC with
special responsibility in staff training and development.
There
is no right or wrong answer. The purpose of the question is for the
recruiter to know what sort of person you are and your aspirations.
Q.
Please describe the extent to which the employment detailed in (3) has
helped in your development as an individual.
Tips:
Technical
knowledge and experience is not the only nor the most important thing
to campus recruiters. They wish to meet candidates who have an all-round
development, mature personality, positive attitude, commitment to
work and generic skills in communicating with people, managing relationships,
prioritizing work and solving problems etc..
You
might have held just a part-time job as a receptionist or done work
which seemed trivial. Tell the recruiter how the experience learned
and insights gained helped in your development as an individual.
Q.
Describe a specific achievement of which you are particularly proud,
outside of school, university or college, and describe how has this
contributed to your development as an individual.
Tips:
This
specific achievement does not have to be glamorous. Little things
like finally learning to ride a bicycle, cooking for a large group,
winning the trust of a vulnerable person etc. are relevant examples
to quote. From whatever accomplishment you quote, the recruiter will
get to know you better. Do not worry about the status of your accomplishment,
just name your most significant one. Allow the interesting and worthwhile
'you' come across.
When
quoting your specific achievement, describe what you did, how you
did it, why you did it in that manner, the results that you achieved
and the lesson learned or insight gained. Tell the recruiter how the
experience learned and insights gained contributed to your development
as an individual.
Q. What personal goals do you have of a non
career nature?
Tips:
A
personal goal can be anything ranging from protecting the environment
to providing a good living environment for your family to preaching
the gospel. Again there is no right or wrong answer. The purpose of
the question is for the recruiter to know what sort of person you
are and your aspirations.
Tell
the recruiter what you want to do with your life. If you do not have
any answer to the question, you should start asking yourself as it
is a serious matter. Never give standard answers which, you think,
the recruiter might find acceptable.
Q.
Have you ever undertaken any public speaking? If so, what?
Tips:
The
employer wants to see proof of your confidence, presentation skills
and community network. Speaking to 200 people would be relatively
stronger testimony of your confidence than speaking to an audience
of 10 people. Difficulties of the topics of your speech could reflect
your analytical, organization and persuasion skills. The situation
and setting of the talk could indicate your problem solving capability
e.g. an impromptu talk. And the audience you talked to gives an idea
about your social circle.
Q.
Have you had any previous contact (including job application) or do
you have a connection with PricewaterhouseCoopers or any of our staff?
If so, please describe.
Tips:
The
answer could reflect your interest in PWC and, in turn, show your
motivation in applying. If you have relatives or you care to maintain
contacts, be they your senior at HKU or friends, it may indicate that
you care to keep abreast with accounting professionals and PWC. However,
obtain the permission of the person you want to mention before putting
their names down. It also serves to sound them out that you intend
to apply for PWC positions.
Q. Please provide any additional information
about yourself to support your application.
Tips:
Review
the overall structure of the application form again. What else do
you think the employer would like to know about you in relation to
the job? Highlight other achievements which have not been covered
in the previous sections. The information provided here should be
able to show that you are a suitable person for the position(s) that
you have applied for. Take the opportunity to initiate a conversation
with the employer and carry it through at the interview.
e.g. (1) I knew that PWC is recruiting in XXX country. I have residency
in XXX country and is ready to relocate if necessary.
e.g. (2) I have heard that PWC is the consultant for XXX company on
YYY issues. I have done a similar project and have come up with slightly
different findings... I would like to discuss with you...
Some
other examples include final year projects, your hobby, what teachers
or referees had said in your reference letters...etc
Tips
on Cover Letter and Resume
Visit <http://www.hku.hk/cepc/NEW/forstudent/appwriting.html>
for guidelines on application letter.
Suggested
content:
- State
clearly which position you are applying for and from where you learnt
about the vacancy.
- Give
a brief introduction about yourself, i.e. your field of study, outstanding
or relevant achievements and strengths.
- Quoting
past evidence, state which aspects of the job you can do well.
- What
do you like about PWC? Spell it out in the letter.
- End
the letter with a general closing statement.
Check
your written application to see if it meets the following criteria:
- the
letter is error free
- it
is concise and easy to read
- it
is clear and specific about which aspect of the job you can do
- it
is convincing, i.e. the reader is persuaded that you can do the job
- your
statements and claims of competence are supported by quantitative
and qualitative past results
Careers and Placement, Centre of Development and Resources for Students (CEDARS)
