Company interview guide
PwC interview process and practice questions
PwC's interviews usually mix behavioural questions with technical or case questions for the line of service you've applied to: assurance, tax or advisory. For many entry-level roles, candidates commonly report an online assessment first, then live interviews, with a case common for advisory roles. PwC publishes five values, from 'Act with integrity' to 'Reimagine the possible'.
As candidates commonly report it; it varies by team, level and year. Last reviewed 18 October 2026.
The interview process
- 1Online application, with an online assessment for many entry-level roles
- 2Screening call with a recruiter (for some roles)
- 3Competency or behavioural interview on your experience and motivation
- 4Technical or case interview for the line of service (often a case for advisory)
- 5Final conversation with a senior manager, director or partner
What interviewers listen for
- Act with integrity
- Make a difference
- Care
- Work together
- Reimagine the possible
- Curiosity about clients' businesses and how they're changing
- Clear, structured reasoning in technical and case questions
Behavioral questions
Tell me about a time you spoke up about something that wasn't right.
A good answer covers
- What was wrong and how you checked before raising it
- Who you spoke to and how you put it
- What happened next and what you learnt
Tell me about a time you helped a teammate grow or get through a hard patch.
A good answer covers
- What they were struggling with and how you noticed
- What you did, without taking over their work
- How things changed for them and the team
Describe a time you found a better way of doing something everyone was used to.
A good answer covers
- The old way and what it cost in time or errors
- Your idea, and how you tested it and won people over
- The improvement, measured if possible
Tell me about a time a group you were part of met a tough deadline. What was your part?
A good answer covers
- The deadline and what made it tough
- Your specific contribution and how you worked with others
- The result and what you'd do the same way again
Role and technical questions
A client's costs have risen faster than its revenue for two years. How would you structure the problem?
A good answer covers
- Clarifying the business, its markets and which costs have grown
- Splitting costs into fixed and variable, then by area: people, materials, overheads
- The likely drivers, the data you'd check, and practical first steps
What's the difference between profit and cash, and why can a profitable company run out of cash?
A good answer covers
- Profit is recorded when earned; cash moves when customers pay and bills are settled
- Working capital: slow-paying customers, high stock, or big investments
- A simple example and what a business can do about it
How would you test whether a company's expenses are recorded in the right period?
A good answer covers
- Cut-off testing: invoices and payments either side of the period end
- Searching for unrecorded liabilities after the year end
- Checking accruals and prepayments for reasonableness
A client wants to automate its invoice processing. What would you check before recommending it?
A good answer covers
- Volumes, how standard the invoices are, and where time and errors go today
- Data quality, system links and the controls that must stay in place
- Expected savings against cost, risks, and a pilot to prove it
What does a cyber security review of a company look at? Name the main areas.
A good answer covers
- Who has access to what, and how access is granted and removed
- How systems are patched, monitored and backed up
- How the company would detect and respond to an incident, and how staff are trained
Estimate how many laptops are sold in Bengaluru in a year. Talk me through your assumptions.
A good answer covers
- Splitting buyers into groups such as students, working people and businesses
- How many own a laptop and how often they replace it, with round numbers
- A final figure and a quick sense check
Why PwC? Fit and HR questions
Why PwC, and why this line of service?
A good answer covers
- What the line of service does and who its clients are
- Why it fits your skills and interests, with an example
- Something specific about PwC you learnt from its people or work
Which of PwC's values matters most to you, and when have you shown it?
A good answer covers
- One value, named once
- A short, specific example of you living it
- Why it matters for the work you'd do here
What questions do you have for us about the team or the work?
A good answer covers
- Specific questions on clients, the first year or how people learn on the job
- A question that follows from something said in the interview
- Nothing you could have found on the careers site in a minute
Tips
- Prepare a story for each of PwC's five values; behavioural questions often map to them.
- For a case, ask what the client wants to achieve, lay out your structure, and end with a recommendation and next steps.
- Know the basics of your line of service: accounting and audit for assurance, tax principles for tax, a technology or process area for advisory.
- Online assessments are timed; practise similar numerical and reasoning tests beforehand so the format isn't new on the day.
- Read one or two recent business stories about the industry you'd like to serve and be ready to say what they mean for clients.
Practise it out loud
A mock interview asks the way PwC's interviewers are known to, follows up on your answers and gives you a report. The warm-up is free, needs no account and checks five of these questions as you answer.
About this guide
Written by Orbit from PwC's own public pages and what candidates commonly report. Orbit isn't affiliated with PwC. The questions are practice questions in the style of its interviews, not questions taken from them. Processes change, so check the job post and what your recruiter tells you.