Grant Thornton Interview Questions & Answers

The phone interview was super relaxed, it was the best one I've had - it felt like I was having a chat with a friend I haven't spoken to in ages and needed to catch up with.

Assessment day - There were 3 parts to this, a group case study, a partner interview about the case study and an one-to-one interview with all the competency questions.

I found the partner one the most difficult because they give you more information on the case study and I got asked about things in more detail, so, for example, I was asked to suggest some things the Partner may need to ask the CEO of this fictional company, I suggested knowledge of the 5 year plan, to which I was asked how you go about doing a 5yp.

I had absolutely no clue about the detail on how to do this, but they were fine with me saying I wasn't sure - you're not expected to know everything

Grant Thornton are all about the personality, just keep calm and be yourself - the reason I got the offer was because I was quite confident and relaxed. They also don't expect you to know everything so it's fine to admit gaps in your knowledge once or twice as long as you show a willingness to learn

We got about 20 mins to read the case study silently, then 30mins to discuss it as a group, with 5 to present.

We then got another 20ish mins to read the additional information before our partner interviews

The final interview is with a senior employee of GT. The environment is very relaxed and I didn't feel under pressure whatsoever. I was asked the usual Why GT, Why Tax, and then tested on 6 competencies. The interview lasted around 45 minutes and with good preparation is an enjoyable experience.

There weren't any. I don't think GT were trying to catch me out, rather they were being cooperative in the process.

Be prepared for the telephone interview questions and build on these for the assesment centre.

I was definitely nervous before but having visited the office, the calm and relaxed atmosphere eased my concerns. The day was split into three: case study alone, then a competency interview, then an interview regarding the case study, then a final group exercise.

The competency question was fine, they just asked general questions which I have already mentioned during the phone interview.
There was a group exercise/presentation and they expect you to talk. I was too shy and did not want to interrupt anyone and I was also afraid I was going to say something wrong but that is not what they expect from you. I obviously did not get the job and when they called to say I was unsuccessful they mentioned my lack of attitude in the group exercise/presentation.
The last interview of the day was with the manager of the area I applied to. They expected me to know too much about business, to give business advices and suggestions to the fictional company we were talking about. He asked questions which I believe only someone with a lot of knowledge in business would be able to answer, it was quite confronting and I lost all my confidence. I ended up not being able to answer anything correctly. Even though the questions itself were not actually related to the role I was applying to, you are still expected to know a lot about business.

What should (the fictional company) do in order to gain more profit?
What should they change?
What solutions would you give to the company?

Talk during the group presentation, no matter what!
When you go to the interview with the manager, be sure about what suggestions you are going to give to the company. They expect you to know a lot about business, regardless of the position you are applying to.

In the group presentation/exercise they gave us information on a fictional company. We were asked to find the issues with the company (which were very clear and easy to find) but also to give advices on how to proceed.