Michael Trass: Hi my name is Michael, I’m from business advisory and I’ve been at KPMG for one year.
Jing Liu: Hi my name is Jing, I work in the audit division and I’ve been at KPMG for a year.
Chris Wills: My name is Chris and I work in KPMG’s Tax division and I’ve been with the firm for just under a year now.
Why KPMG?
Jing: The culture and the people are the key factors that attracted me to join KPMG, they really value and respect each individual, so you will feel like you’re part of this big family from day one.
Chris: Right from the first interview I had with a partner here at the Tax division, the interview was relaxed, he was very friendly.
Michael: They’re still really skilful and really good at their work but they make you feel like you’re part of a team and it makes it a really good environment to work in.
Jing: My fellow colleagues and my seniors gave me all the support that I needed, which made a real difference to my time here at KPMG.
What happened in your first week?
Michael: First week at KPMG we had an induction.
Chris: The induction week was split into three sections, the first two days we spent here at the KPMG offices learning about the systems and the technical skills we needed to get started here at work.
Michael: And that’s really good because everybody’s new and they don’t know anyone and you get to know who’s around.
Jing: The values, the culture and what’s expected of us.
Michael: We also headed out to a client site; we got to see what value KPMG provides to their client.
Chris: For the second two days we headed out to Waihiki Island with the other grads.
Michael: Where we had some team building exercises and it’s really good because we get to build relationships with those graduates and senior management team.
Jing: It was a great time for us to get together, laugh together, play together, learn together, and know a little bit more about each other.
What is it really like to work at KPMG?
Jing: Being as a part of the audit division I work closely with my clients and really get to understand their business, my portfolio ranges from manufacturers to some of the largest finance companies in New Zealand, so for some months of the year I will be exploring the complexity of the finance world while for the others I will be going up and down a forklift in a warehouse counting up boxes or uniform.
Chris: For me the best two things about this year have been the variety of the work and more importantly the people here, you can tell that everyone is switched on and easy to get along with.
Michael: And it’s really easy to fit in because there is a lot of people who are just like you who have gone through it the year before you and so they’re really eager to be friends with you really.
What are the development opportunities?
Chris: There is a fantastic training program which runs over a two year period, I’m now halfway through and despite there being a steep learning curve you learn a truckload.
Michael: Well they’re really supportive in helping you getting your CA qualifications, they help you through your PC1, and they pay for the fees, they hold little training session with all the other graduates so it’s a very good environment to really help you get through as easy as possible.
Jing: KPMG is a global firm so there will be a lot of international assignment opportunities to places like Vancouver, Amsterdam, Luxemburg and many others.
What advice do you have for people who want to apply?
Jing: Start your research early; really understand the firm’s culture and what they’re really looking for.
Michael: The one thing I have to say is come to talk to the KPMG staff at the careers fair, because they’ll be able to point out what sort of areas you’d look into and the different things we do here at KPMG so you get the best fit.