Hello,I just had my final interview with PA Consulting on Monday. I was wondering if anyone knows in general how long they take in getting back to you with offers / rejection? Thanks very much.

I've just interviewed there and I heard back with an offer within 24 hours after the final round. Good luck! Which practice are you going for?

hi,that was a quick response, they said to me that they would get back to me within a week. ive gone for a role in the government services practice. what practice have you been offered a role in?

It took them 2 1/2 weeks for them to get back to me even though they knew I had to accept/reject other offers within the following few days and had said they you get back to me! thankfully the interview process had convinced me that I didn't want to work for PA anayway!

I went for Strategy & Marketing practice - salary is really not very motivational though, so not sure if I will accept.

What is your educational and work background, Anon? What were they looking for in candidates for Strategy & Marketing?

Oxford graduate with 6 years experience in marketing consultancy & client side marketing. They're looking for experienced professionals, 2 years upwards I think - are you considering PA?

Yes, PA is one that I am targeting. I have done 2 years in Sales/Business Development and 2 years in Marketing. Have an MBA but not from Oxford, unfortunately! Struggling to find a way into consultancy. Should I be trying to get in as an analyst, project manager, other? Any advice would be useful. Thanks.

Have you applied to PA yet? They are recruiting for Consultant Analysts (one rung up from graduate) and Consultants, so you'd probably fit with either of those - though you may have to take a hit on seniority & therefore pay. You could also try Cap Gemini - they are recruiting at a more junior level too within Customer Management / Marketing.

hey anon... what was the starting salary that they were offering? and what was the interview process like? I have interviews coming up with them, and it'll be great if i could have a chat about u're interview experience at PA. BTW - my background have MBA and 5 yrs of wk exp.

Hi Jack, I have an interview coming up with them, too. What do you have experience in and which role have you applied for?

Interview process was reasonably straightforward - no case studies, couple of different rounds with partners to explore CV. However salary isn't great - early £40s plus sign on payment, which isn't as much as I was expecting. Doesn't sound like there's flex on it though.

I've had some interview experience with PA about 2 months ago, and found that they do not really consider you based on interviews, but will offer a job predominantly based on the results of the psychometric tests. I haven't really had this sort of experience with any other firms I applied to, I now have a job in another consultancy firm with better salary and although I didn't perform to the norm in the psychometric tests, my interview was excellent, and they offered me a job based on my skills and experiences - so I wasn't too impressed with PA's recruitment process. Anyone else had any similar experiences?

Hi Priya, Is it only me who can sense the fragrance of sour grapes in the air ?;0)

Was a consultant before the mba (well know consulting company) and have applied to the Strat & Mkting group. I just had the interview today. Went quite well.

Hey Anon, just had the 1st round interview for the SMP practice. Went fine. Were you being offered a principal consultant role at PA ?? in that case £40K is pretty low ..

Thats really interesting. I got a good offer from PA and I think I did pretty well on the psychometric tests, however I have never heard anything like this before. What are you basing your evidence on, did they actually say this to you?

Hi Jack, no it was Consultant level, but was told I was not far off PC. Thinking of taking it though.

Hi Toni,Well done on getting an offer! Yes PA did actually say it was due to the psychometric tests and that the interview went very well. It hasn't given me a good opinion of the company in that they only select people on these grounds and they may be letting go of the good candidates that have the potential and skills to deliver excellent work for the company. I now have a job with one of the big 4 and in a way am glad I didn't get it with PA, if their attitude is based on assessing people solely on their abilities to do psychometric tests and not actual real work!

Because you can talk the talk doesn't mean you should be given a job. Tests are there to make sure everyone is at a level of competency that PA require. If you fail this, then in their eyes you do not reach the standard required that their clients would most likely expect. That is not to say that you wouldn't add value to PA it's is just that on certain skills you don't reach the level their other consultants are on. From what I hear, the test is not all together that tough and with some preparation a candidate should be able to pass it!!!

Yes but lets someone someone has had a bad or rough day that day, and if they did the test on another day then they may pass with flying colours. Anyway, my perception is that tests as a whole in general are a bad way of assessing someone's abilities. Its not whether they are easy or hard, when you come to a client meeting, delivering a report etc they won't ask whether you can answer 20 maths questions in 10 minutes, they want to know whether you can provide them with what they want, and meet their needs.

Hi Anon, just thought i'd let u know I have a 2nd round set of interviews x2 and Tests next week at PA. When the HR lady asked what my salary expectations were at the 1st round, I mentioned £60K+ - her eyes popped out !! She said that I may have to set my expectations lower. Anyways hope the 2nd round goes well. I may have a case to do, so do let me know if u have any tips. cheers, Jack

Tests may seem like a poor method. However interviews are just as unreliable and prone to how you feel on the day. Whatever means of assessment are used there will be good candidates rejected and poor candidates offered jobs. I guess if candidates are expected to do well on both interview and tests then this may be more predictive than either in isolation.In my personal experience I find the more different types of assessment then the more I feel they are making an informed decision based on what I am really like not just how I performed in a 30 minute chat.

partially agreed but going by that then any form of assessment is failed as anyone can have a bad day! Can you think of an alternative - if not quit moaning and move on - we are all subject to the same tests and interviews. Theres no fool proof way of deciding and hiring candidates!

Hey Jack,How did you get on with the 2nd round? Sounds similar to mine, not too stressful. Not surprised her eyes popped out - they'll be thinking more like £40-45k as they've said that's top whack for Consultant level. Are you interested enough?

Rachel - Would you please take a minute to briefly talk through the set-up of the final partner interview at PA. If you have the time, please also provide examples of the questions asked during this stage.Thanks

I joined PA two years ago at CA close to C level and my pay was in the ball park discussed above. Over the last two years my pay has gone up by £27k and this year I got a 42% bonus. If you do well at PA it can be a financially rewarding place.I am not claiming this is the average - it's simply what I got. Equally (and before the sceptics reply) if you don't believe me - no stress - I certainly won't be trying to prove or further justify it.

His figures are incorrect. I would know as I work within the finance team. Its a pity when ppl like to lie abt a place just to promote it. Little do they understand they also delude others and their expectations. CA = 40-50 C 50- 60PC 60 -80The above are rough figures. Naturally all depends upon whether you are homegrown or external hire. PA pays less to homegrowns. Thus we can catch him out on his lie.

The salary figs above exclude the annual bonus, which could run in the region of 10-30% for the grades identifiedAs a PA-er, I've been to speak with our competitors, and while they might offer a higher base salary, they can never really touch the total package once bonus is taken into account

Valid point - bonuses can be high at PA, obviously depending upon practise. However who are PA's competitors that your trying to compare to? Afterall marketing didn't even know who to put in ? Some put in the likes of Mck whereas the other put in Acc and the big 4. However these are well established and revered and also in some degrees blue chip firms. How can PA really compare how much it pays to them ?

PA doesn't compete with the strategy houses and doesn't pretend to. It's main competitors would be the consulting arms of ex-big 5 and yes, Accenture would be in there. It also competes with other firms depending on practice (anything from technology specialists to government consultancies).Pay isn't just linked to the size of the company you know! PA compete for projects with many other consultancies and wins its fair share of them, therefore it should benchmark its pay against the companies it competes for work with regardless of size as they all draw on similar talent pools.By the way, PA and many other consultancies meet annually to benchmark salaries, I've seen the results and pretty much every consultancy pays pretty much the same. PA's base is often a little below competitors, but bonuses in good years can more than compensate for that. Of course, in lean years it doesn't stack up as nicely, but remember that PA remained very profitable even during the last downturn.

These figures are not correct.You shoudl look at basic salary figures and CAs do not get more than 40K!!Bonuses vary amongst practices