KPMG scraps multi stage interview process

KPMG has scrapped its multi stage interview process in response to feedback from graduates.

KPMG has introduced Launch Pad, a new streamlined approach which combines the traditional three stages of first interview, assessment centre and final interview into a single day. Students will also get the chance to gain new skills, network with existing KPMG staff and partners, as well as their peers.

It is the only Big Four professional services firm to offer this type of graduate recruitment process, which was introduced following in depth discussions with its current and prospective graduates.

Onerous recruitment processes and poor communication by businesses are leaving millennials disillusioned and frustrated when applying for graduate jobs, research by the Big Four firm found.

KPMG and independent market research company High Fliers Research surveyed over 400 of this summer’s new graduates and asked them about their experience of applying for a graduate job at UK businesses.

The results make for grim reading, with millennials frustrated by lengthy recruitment processes (34%) and poor communication from their potential employer (43%), with over half complaining they never received any feedback when applying for a role.

This frustration could impact big businesses’ future ability to attract talent, with graduates opting out of traditional job schemes in favour of roles in smaller companies, which are more in line with their personal passions and interests and offer a faster and simpler recruitment process.

Simon Collins, chairman of KPMG in the UK, said: “Our own graduates have given us some hard hitting, but really useful feedback and we’re using this to overhaul how we recruit. From now on a candidate’s final interviews and assessments will take place over the course of just one day and we will make them an offer or give feedback explaining why they were not successful within two working days.”

KPMG is recruiting for 1,000 graduate positions across the UK.