Step three - making an impression

Step three is all about making a great impression on a prospective employer and demonstrating in person how you meet the job requirements. Larger employers have longer recruitment procedures, with online applications, telephone interviews, assessment centres and final interviews. The majority of employers, however, have a mix of these.

  • Three important words for this step: prepare, prepare, prepare! 
  • You're applying for an ACA vacancy so make sure you know all about it - the ICAEW careers website can help you here.
  • What’s currently happening with the organisation and industry? Have they featured in the press recently? Go back over the the commercial awareness tips in Step 1 and above all read through your application again and make sure you are consistent with what you’ve written.
  • Assessment centres are where a number of candidates are invited together to perform tasks designed to demonstrate the attributes most relevant to the job vacancy. You might be asked to take part in icebreakers, discussion groups or in-tray exercises. These help employers assess the following: participation; encouraging others to contribute; reviewing and summarising; analysis and presentation; communication; listening skills and negotiation and cooperation.
  • Interviews might be arranged on a one-to-one basis, or with a selection panel. Know your audience - think about the type of questions you might be asked and come up with a couple of relevant ones of your own – but try to avoid just asking about company benefits!
  • ICAEW's Student Recruitment team run business games at university campuses around the UK - these are similar to the sort of challenges you might find at an assessment day - check out our events page to join up.