KPMG Cadetship or UNSW COOP? (2 Viewers)

[gq430]

Hi Guys, just wanted to ask for your opinions. What is a better option, a cadetship with KPMG or a UNSW COOP scholarship?
Many Thanks.

 

[seremify007]

You signed up on BoS just to ask that question.

The two things are totally different. One is a job, and one is the opportunity to get work experience whilst studying at uni on a scholarship (i.e. money comes in).

Also it depends what coop.

I'm biased, but with good reason and support. That being said, if you really have no idea what you want to do and just wanna float around and try new things, but be starting on an equal footing later on at grad recruitment time, go the coop route. If you know where you are more interested, willing to commit and wanna put in the work, the cadetship will reward you infinitely more both now and later on if you choose to change paths.

 

[rubin]

You signed up on BoS just to ask that question.

The two things are totally different. One is a job, and one is the opportunity to get work experience whilst studying at uni on a scholarship (i.e. money comes in).

Also it depends what coop.

I'm biased, but with good reason and support. That being said, if you really have no idea what you want to do and just wanna float around and try new things, but be starting on an equal footing later on at grad recruitment time, go the coop route. If you know where you are more interested, willing to commit and wanna put in the work, the cadetship will reward you infinitely more both now and later on if you choose to change paths.

I agree. The essential question is whether you want to primarily work, with some uni on the side (cadetship) or do you want to do uni with some work in between (coop). If I had the choice I would go coop. That said a cadetship can be very rewarding if ur in a rush career-wise. I know two cadets who just graduated and were promoted straight to senior consultants (although this would be exceptional cases). I dont know their salaries but they are in tax so I wouldnt doubt if their grad starting salary was around 75 grand straight out of uni.

 

[seremify007]

I agree. The essential question is whether you want to primarily work, with some uni on the side (cadetship) or do you want to do uni with some work in between (coop). If I had the choice I would go coop. That said a cadetship can be very rewarding if ur in a rush career-wise. I know two cadets who just graduated and were promoted straight to senior consultants (although this would be exceptional cases). I dont know their salaries but they are in tax so I wouldnt doubt if their grad starting salary was around 75 grand straight out of uni.

There are definitely advantages to both so weigh up what you're more interested in focussing on and go for it. Keep in mind one of the issues which I've heard is with a cadetship you are a real full time employee which means you are really integrated into the firm/company. On the other hand, the coop experience is several internships so you are able to see and hear different companies and their cultures, but you will never really get that deeply into it and the employer is aware of this.

 

[Tronester]

Im going for coop instead of cadetship, mainly because I don't think I could handle the workload of a cadetship and uni. My main question is how much harder will it be to get into the UNSW coop sholarship than a cadetship? (I know most/all cadetships have already been offered, id just like a comparison).
Thanks.

 

[barbecuedflava]

^apparently for unsw coop there are about 2000 applications, for i think over 100 placements? but only around 8 for business courses

whereas big 4 get around 500 applications, i think
and take on around 50ish

 

[lsdpoon1337]

Some of my friends who went to the KPMG interviews said the people there were kinda rude and had a 'don't give a shit' attitude compared to the other big 4.
Is there any truth to this or is this complete bs?

 

[billbro]

Hi Guys, just wanted to ask for your opinions. What is a better option, a cadetship with KPMG or a UNSW COOP scholarship?
Many Thanks.

I think the question has been answered pretty well by the others, but I would like to add a few points.

I know of a number of people doing cadetships and co-op, what I found interesting is that quite a few of the co-op students I have spoken to said it wasn't actually that easy to secure a graduate position. With a cadetship you are pretty much guaranteed a graduate position, moreover one that is typically fast tracked - with co-op it seems like a lot of the students will have to go through the graduate recruitment process like everyone else.

Also, different universities structure their co-op programs different, which is something to consider. Personally, I haven't really looked into the program structures, but it was something that one of the academics I work for had mentioned.

Some of my friends who went to the KPMG interviews said the people there were kinda rude and had a 'don't give a shit' attitude compared to the other big 4.
Is there any truth to this or is this complete bs?

I actually really like the KPMG culture, with that said I have only been there on a few occasions and haven't actually worked there.

 

[Vagabond]

Why not have both

1. Take KPMG job
2. Work 2 years at KPMG
3. Return to uni with 2 years of your degree left
4. Join the UNSW Co-op midway through from your 3rd out of 4 year

I mean honestly, people always seem to drop out of the UNSW co-op. I've heard of them advertising vacancies every year to mid-degree students with good grades.

Though more likely than not if u worked 2 years at kpmg by the end of it you'll just want to be a full-time student and rest on your work experience laurels and blow all of your hard-earned trainee cash on hussies and belvedere vodka.

So either way its pretty win.

 

[akqjt]

co-op any day of the week and it isn't close

 

[gq430]

Hi all, thank you for all the advice. I'm yet to make a decision, as I was offered a cadetship at KPMG recently.

 

[gq430]

Why not have both

1. Take KPMG job
2. Work 2 years at KPMG
3. Return to uni with 2 years of your degree left
4. Join the UNSW Co-op midway through from your 3rd out of 4 year

I mean honestly, people always seem to drop out of the UNSW co-op. I've heard of them advertising vacancies every year to mid-degree students with good grades.

Though more likely than not if u worked 2 years at kpmg by the end of it you'll just want to be a full-time student and rest on your work experience laurels and blow all of your hard-earned trainee cash on hussies and belvedere vodka.

So either way its pretty win.

Hi Vagabond, are you sure that I can join the coops yr 3 and 4? I thought they were open to year 12 leavers?
Thanks

 

[itadakimus]

Some of my friends who went to the KPMG interviews said the people there were kinda rude and had a 'don't give a shit' attitude compared to the other big 4.
Is there any truth to this or is this complete bs?

I went to the KPMG interviews and the people there were all very nice, open and friendly So for me, it was a pretty good experience.

 

[akqjt]

Hi Vagabond, are you sure that I can join the coops yr 3 and 4? I thought they were open to year 12 leavers?
Thanks

He's assuming people drop out so you can take their spot. I wouldn't consider it a realistic option, because first people have to drop it (I think ACCT co-op only need to maintain a C average) and then you'll have to interview for the position again

 

[Vagabond]

He's assuming people drop out so you can take their spot. I wouldn't consider it a realistic option, because first people have to drop it (I think ACCT co-op only need to maintain a C average) and then you'll have to interview for the position again

People have dropped out every year that I've been at uni. I think its D averages for all.

Almost nobody goes for them mid-course, its pretty mind-boggling given how competitive they are pre-uni.

Obviously its not something you could reliably plan for, but if you're honestly keen to do half a co-op degree after your cadetship... then may god help you.

 

[lsdpoon1337]

People have dropped out every year that I've been at uni. I think its D averages for all.

Almost nobody goes for them mid-course, its pretty mind-boggling given how competitive they are pre-uni.

Obviously its not something you could reliably plan for, but if you're honestly keen to do half a co-op degree after your cadetship... then may god help you.

Whoa, I didn't know getting a co-op in uni is very easy compared to high school lol.
But why do so many people leave?

I have never heard people leaving cadetships like that, since I'm assuming its pretty damn hard to get one during uni.

 

[Vagabond]

Whoa, I didn't know getting a co-op in uni is very easy compared to high school lol.
But why do so many people leave?

I have never heard people leaving cadetships like that, since I'm assuming its pretty damn hard to get one during uni.

Why do people leave? My guesses would be

a) Accounting wasn't what they expected
b) Couldn't manage the workload

Plenty of people leave cadetships for the same reasons.. difference is accounting firms don't really 're-hire' midway through your degree.. they just take a new batch of trainees from the following year, vaccies, etc. etc.

-----

To answer your earlier question about KPMG people, I didn't work there but the big4 is, as the name would imply, pretty big... One of the nice things about it is that after some time you'll most likely be working with people that you get along with, and its very easy to avoid people you don't like/don't get along with. This is a massively underrated benefit when comparing big4 to say... mid-tiers or corporates...

 

[gibbo153]

I went to the KPMG interviews and the people there were all very nice, open and friendly So for me, it was a pretty good experience.

yeah same here. we like talked personally with the HR person. she's getting married later this year and going on holidays soon. the day was fantastic. i could not disagree more with the impression of KPMG having a 'we don't give a shit' attitude.

^apparently for unsw coop there are about 2000 applications, for i think over 100 placements? but only around 8 for business courses

whereas big 4 get around 500 applications, i think
and take on around 50ish

hmmm big 4 get more applications than that. at the cadetship info night there were a couple of thousand. i think its safe to assume at least 80% of the people there would apply for big 4. i know plenty of people who only applied at big 4, and while there are some who, for whatever reason, don't apply for big 4, i reckon they're the minority. i think its safe to assume between 500-1000 for big 4.

in regard to how many they take on, i'm one of 29 for KPMG. Deloitte only took between 10-20. PWC took somewhere in the 40s or 50s, and i'm not sure about EY, but probably a bit less than PWC.

To answer your earlier question about KPMG people, I didn't work there but the big4 is, as the name would imply, pretty big... One of the nice things about it is that after some time you'll most likely be working with people that you get along with, and its very easy to avoid people you don't like/don't get along with. This is a massively underrated benefit when comparing big4 to say... mid-tiers or corporates...

this is true. depends on the division, but take audit for example. the median age for audit employees at KPMG is in the mid 20s. whereas a lot of mid-tier or smaller firms have a median age well into the 30s and 40s, so as youngens theres a much greater prospect of being with young fun people.

and yeah, when I went to smaller firms, I could tell that if you got stuck with a particularly lame bunch of 40 year olds, you weren't going to be able to get away from them with ease.

 

[seremify007]

and yeah, when I went to smaller firms, I could tell that if you got stuck with a particularly lame bunch of 40 year olds, you weren't going to be able to get away from them with ease.

Worth a massive LOL.

 

[puffiijamii]

I went for UNSW Co-op in 2009 (was unsuccessful, damn) but on the briefing day they said they expected Credit average for all, with the exception of Finance, which was Distinction average.

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone know the chances of them offering a position in Marketing Co-op? Considering they said they only offered about 5 scholarships in 2008 :/