A year after an uncertain time for employees, how are the Big Four firms now attracting new blood?
\nThis time last year, Ernst & Young revealed that around 1% of its workforce were on notice of redundancy following job cuts at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Deloitte. At KPMG, 85% of staff were signed up for flexible working to avoid job cuts.
\nBut in 2010 there\u2019s a different horizon, with reports that some Big Four firms are keeping student intake numbers up to avoid a recruitment gold rush when the economy lifts more decisively out of recession.
\nSo, using word clouds to look at the top-level pages of their graduate recruitment websites, how are the Big Four appealing to graduate talent?
\nKPMG plays on its enviable status as \u2018Sunday Times Best Big Firm To Work For\u2019 above all else, with the rather anodyne words such as \u2018people\u2019, \u2018clients\u2019, \u2018environment\u2019 and \u2018working\u2019 in supporting roles.
\nAt PwC the focus is on \u2018career\u2019, \u2018work\u2019\/\u2018working\u2019, \u2018objectives\u2019 and \u2018skills\u2019 – a pretty black and white proposition for any graduate.
\nDeloitte, however, lays its cards audibly on the table, as \u2018training\u2019 dominates, followed by \u2018help\u2019 and \u2018professional\u2019.
\nAt Ernst & Young, the pitch is weighted in favour of \u2018different\u2019, \u2018service\u2019 and, critically \u2018opportunities\u2019 and \u2018succeed\u2019.
\nThinking of each page as a stall at a university milk round, this is enough to help form an idea of personality …or lack of it.
\nBy contrast, looking at similar pages for \u2018experienced hires\u2019, is the emphasis any different?
\nKPMG is all about \u2018opportunities\u2019 and \u2018people\u2019 who \u2018flourish\u2019 in \u2018business\u2019, making that Sunday Times award seem well deserved.
\nPwC cuts to the chase with \u2018work\u2019 dominating, but with \u2018funding\u2019, \u2018balance\u2019, \u2018benefits\u2019 and \u2018package\u2019 all equally weighted – perhaps more aligned to experienced professionals\u2019 expectations.
\nDeloitte plays a rather uninspiring game here, with \u2018people\u2019, \u2018business\u2019, \u2018work\u2019 and \u2018clients\u2019, whereas Ernst & Young is focused on \u2018clients\u2019 (which Big Four firm isn\u2019t?), but also on \u2018helping\u2019 \u2018professionals\u2019 \u2018achieve\u2019 as well as \u2018opportunities\u2019 and \u2018challenges\u2019.
\nFor candidates with more expectations, these opening pitches are much more revealing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Firm Friends A year after an uncertain time for employees, how are the Big Four firms now attracting new blood? This time last year, Ernst & Young revealed that around 1% of its workforce were on notice of redundancy following job cuts at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Deloitte. At KPMG, 85% of staff were signed up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[453],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archived-content-us"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n