I applied through college or university. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at RSM (Raleigh, NC) in May 2012
Interview
Met with recruiters at a college campus recruiting event. Then was asked to lunch with one of the firm's partners and one of the directors. Was later asked to come to the office location and met with several of the senior staff, shook hands with partners. Also toured the office location and was taken out to dinner.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
General questions - Tell me about yourself. What made you decide to major in accounting?
I applied through college or university. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at RSM
Interview
On campus interview by a senior manager, who was accompanied by a few first years. The next day I was invited to head down to the office for more interviews. For the in-office interview, I interviewed with four people - a senior, a supervisor, a manager, and a partner.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Be prepared to ask a lot of questions during the interview. In my case, more than one of the interviewers essentially asked me to interview them.
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at RSM (New York, NY) in Oct 2013
Interview
I was not hired for what I applied for, but I record excellent detail that I'm willing to share. A McGladrey interview will almost be 80% based on your personality, a few behavioral questions, and lots of "tell me about yourself" stuff. They're definitely just getting to know you as a person. Your qualifications to do the job is the main reason the interview is provided--they know that you can do the job, because they'll most likely put you to a formal training program anyway.
It's as described by many: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner, by some employees of the firm, to help ease your nerves. Whether or not they have any power in your hiring, that's unknown. Better be nice to everyone. We had a nice relaxing lunch with all the other candidates. Learn a little bit about the firm, the benefits, all that jazz. After lunch, the candidates went their separate ways to meet their respective interviewers. They'll each tell you a little bit about themselves before they get to the real deal.
For me, I had an Audit Partner interview me. Nope. I can feel I sucked. Why? He did not seem very pleased to even be doing interviews, which was an immediate sign that I was not going do well, or have a fair chance. He was interviewing my INTEREST in the position by asking if I have any questions about the job; I had a few, but not enough to last 10-15 minutes conversation. But being that I've always dreamed about being a part of McGladrey and for my dream career choice, what didn't I already know? This was my fault; should've prepared better. It's not an interview about how much you want the position & company, it's about showing the ambition you want for yourself in YOUR career. He had NOTHING scripted, and it was all spur of the moment questions...well, in my case, expecting me to have questions for him.
Interview #2 was with a junior HR person. It was more formal, with the questions I've prepared for in personality questions and a few behavioral. Definitely felt I aced it. But again, I think most of the hiring powers come from Partners. If not, you probably need the approval of both. I already knew I was a lost cause, and accepted defeat after all this.
Below, I share with you some questions in exact form:
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
1) Tell me about yourself
2) Why do you want to work with McGladrey?
3) Why did you not apply for the Big 4?
4) Why public and not private?
5) Why do you like Audit? (or whatever your position is)
6) Tell me about a time you made a mistake, and how you dealt with this?
7) Run me down with your resume
8) Do you have any teamwork/leadership skills?
**Have some questions ABOUT the position you're applying for, even if you know most of it already, to show interest. Be ready to wing random moments of conversation**