I've been invited for a first round interview with PA as an experienced hire. What can I expect? Any advice from those who have been there?

who is your interview with (hr/practice/etc) ?what route have you come thru ?

Two interviews as part of initial assessment - HR and practiceRoute = direct approach to PA, not through a recruitment consultant

so is this your 1st or 3rd interview?who is interviewing you next? level not names...

Its the first "round" and I'm not sure what level of person is interviewing me.

What the hell is wrong with this thread tonight? It keeps repeating the posts!Its not me, honest :-)

ok1st thing. get on the phone and ask what the format will be for the day. as an experienced hire you need to make the jump out of the expected routine.potentially expect a 'do you fit, is your experience real?' type HR interview followed by a numeracy and verbal reasoning test.not knowing which practice you have applied to makes it difficult to respond accurately.

it is kind of your fault and a lot more top-consultants fault. avoid refreshing the web page, navigate away and come back through the home page. refreshing appears to also 're-post'.no doubt a 'design feature'

Thanks for that .. its the Government practice.Does that make a difference?

potentially.a particular usp (amongst many) for pa is the fact that as a client you get experienced opinion and not a 'developed' opinionergo knowing how to pitch yourself to the relevant practice is important.having said that, if you don't fit with the practice you approached but they think you fit with pa, then they will send your details on.my advice would be... be yourself.

I recently went through this - the format was as follows:Firstly - 40 minute HR interview - quite basic questions around my CV, why PA, salary exectations etc.Secondly - Numeracy (25 minutes) and literacy tests (20 minutes).Finally - interview with a Managing Consultant. Standard format CV/competency based questions; e.g. "what do you think makes a good Consultant", "provide an example of a difficult decision you have made", "what are your strengths/weaknesses".

Thanks PADid you get called back? What happened after the interview?

You should hear in a couple of days if you're going through to the next stage, which is a day long assessment centre.Beforehand you'll have to do an online personal profiling exercise.About 4 or 5 people on the day, you start with an overview of the firm and the practice, all stuff you should know if you're an informed candidate but it gives a chance to ask some probing questions.A group exercise of some kind, limited time to go through a case study and come up with some recommendations. The attendees aren't in competition and there are a range of grade candidates so it pays to get a feel for the mix beforehand.Lunch is a buffet with some from the practice in to talk with, can be quite busy and difficult to get time to actually eat, subject to how many attendees.Three interviews, each an hour long; HR using the profile outcome as a basis for discussion with the usual 'give me an example of...' questions, MC interview going through the CV, work style, achievements etc and a case study interview.Long day.You'll be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the market as well as your own skills.

Thanks 'Random Acts of Language' - very helpful.Is the final round with a partner? How is that different?

With all due respect.I've not heard an experienced hire go through that.However, final stage is Partner interview