I am an ACCA
Professional Stage student in Nigeria. I
work as finance manager for a small privately owned company but my real desire
is to work in audit for one of the Big four audit firms.
The challenge is how to get recruited by them as employment by these Big 4
firms here in Nigeria is highly competitive. I have submitted my cv at these
firms and I wonder if there is any advice you can give me in order to help me
increase my chances of being called for an interview at these firms.
Your starting point should be to get a strong handle on exactly what these firms are looking for, what they really value in their experienced hires at the relevant entry point for someone with your particular background. Your knowledge and understanding of the firms’ competency framework is vital to enable you to measure your current skills and experience against their basic requirements. Core competencies for the Big 4 audit will vary but are likely to comprise: communication skills (written and verbal), team work/relationship building, leadership, drive and ambition, problem solving and practical intellect skills, and ability to add value. This information should be readily available from recruitment literature, Human Resources and/or an informal discussion with a current employee.
But don’t overlook less formal research. An example would be investigating the background of successful part qualified entrants and experienced hires. This will help you build a modelling blue print to enable you to design your own recipe for success.
Once you’ve identified the essential requirements, you can move on to develop your personal USP (Unique selling proposition). You are looking for personal qualities and experience that make you stand out above other equally qualified candidates. Remember though, it is vital to map this across to the firm’s requirements. In other words, your particular USP has got to be something that the firm will value.
Your research will obviously involve acquiring information about the firm - from hard copy brochures and from their website. But I would also highly recommend ‘people’ research; try and get to know some of the incumbent staff to add a further dimension to your knowledge and understand the underlying culture. Use your own local networks to find employees of your target firms but also look out for open meetings (recruitment days, technical updates etc) where you can extend your network of contacts within the firm and request introductions to other relevant contacts. You can even consider contacting the firm direct and asking them for a work shadowing opportunity – invaluable in optimising your understanding of their requirements but it also gets you on the map in terms of them getting to know you. Don’t forget online networking too; you may be able to track down ‘insiders’ via blogs and forums.
Once you’ve grasped what the firms really want in their candidates you can then turn to your presentation to ensure you can effectively communicate it. You will have built up a checklist of competencies and you need to map your own experience and skills to match these. This is not just at the application stage; make sure you can clearly articulate these key qualities and be prepared to back them up with practical examples. You may find at this point that you’ve identified gaps in your skill set; depending on the degree, you may decide to seize the opportunity seek practical experiences or further training to fill those gaps.
Clearly your CV and/or application form will be your point of entry to the firm, so it is vital that they effectively communicate not only that you meet the firms basic requirements, but also in such a competitive environment, that you have even more to offer. Beyond the initial application stage, the networking activities that I’ve mentioned above will also be very useful in achieving that ‘foot in the door’, getting your face known and remembered, and possibly even short circuiting your application as a candidate ‘not to be missed’.
All in all, the key is patience. A highly competitive market place means you can’t necessarily expect overnight success. Instead, take a longer view and plan your medium term strategy – and this will maximise your chances of getting you to where you want to be.
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