Students are interviewed for articleship based on the firm that they choose . Each type of firm have their unique method of interviewing before taking any student for articleship. There are also few firms where articles are admitted with just a basic understanding about the individual and not delving much into their academic background.
Most of the small size firms select you based on your communication skills and getting to know your interests .There may not be any formal interview as such conducted by the startup firms and the interview is conducted by the Partner or proprietor himself. Mostly, in small size firms you maybe given the opportunity to join immediately without having much of a delay in the joining process.
In the case of mid size firms, a Chartered Accountant in the capacity of an audit manager conducts the articleship interview. As an audit manager, he or she maybe interested in knowing your basics in taxation, accountancy, your level of knowledge in handling MS Office applications, etc. This knowledge helps the audit manager in determining how soon you will be able to learn the work and achieve client’s targets since the audit manager under whom you will be assigned is responsible for your performance. Mostly, in mid size firms you maybe given the opportunity to join immediately without having much of a delay in the joining process and without having to wait much for the interview results.
In the case of Big fours, the interview process is a step by step process as in the case of any job interview. There would be a initial HR round where you will be asked to introduce yourself and the HR will explain you about the firm and its features. The next would be a written round of MCQ questions, which test you on Logical Reasoning, Quantitative aptitude, General Knowledge, English etc.. which pretty much resemble your CPT examinations. The third and the final round would be the technical round, which involves a face to face interview with the partner or the manager under whom you would be assigned to.
Also the interview questions would be asked based on the department in which you are recruited into. Mostly, the articles are taken into departments where there is a need for vacancy to be filled up and voluntary choice of departments maybe rare in big fours. Hence, prepare the interview questions according to the department in which you are going to be absorbed into. Mainly, accounting standards and few accounting principles and taxation aspects are tested as mandatory topics in the interviews to know how strong you are in your basics.
However, unlike the startup/midsize firms, the big fours take a considerable amount of time to declare your interview results and to convey if you have been selected or not via an e-mail or a phone call. Hence the waiting time to get your results might be a little longer than other firms. Do not feel down or upset if you do not get a return call from the firm.Simultaneously, apply for articleship in other firms as well to leverage your selection.
Whatever the case may be, there are a few basics that every student needs to know before joining for articleship, even without an interview, which are :
- Basics of MS Word, MS Excel and Tally ERP as learnt in ITT course
- Accounting and journal entry basics as studied in high school
- Basics of taxation slab rates of different types of entities
- Basics of Letter writing and business reports
Prepare yourself with good communication skills and present yourself neatly on the day of the interview.
Ensure you are aware of all the concepts mentioned above before you step in on your first day.