From our research
What this interview looks like
EY GDS campus hiring typically opens with an online assessment that tests aptitude, logical reasoning and English, with a spoken-English or Versant-style component in many drives, and some technology drives add a coding section.
Shortlisted candidates typically face a technical or domain interview with a manager from the service line: accounting, audit and tax basics for tax and assurance analysts, SQL, Python, data concepts and the final-year project for technology consulting roles.
A managerial round with a senior manager or associate director follows, often on the same day, and an HR conversation closes on service line, location, overlap hours with the client time zone and any pending professional exam attempts.
The EY India member firm runs a similar pattern for its own audit, tax and consulting intake, usually with a partner or director in the final round. Round counts and durations vary by centre and drive, so verify them against the invitation.
ExamPilot compresses the loop into a 17-minute panel: HR screen, a hiring-manager round, a domain or technical round in your chosen post, a short STAR behavioural round and a closing on expectations, scored on role knowledge, problem solving, communication and attitude.
How it is weighted
The assessment shortlists and the interviews decide. The domain interviewer checks whether accounting and tax basics are understood rather than memorised. The manager checks reliability under busy-season volume and overlap hours. HR checks location flexibility and any CA or CMA attempts planned.
Here each round is scored against the corporate rubric (role knowledge 30, problem solving 25, communication 25, attitude 20).
Who this is for
Candidates who have cleared the EY GDS online assessment for tax or assurance analyst roles, which typically tests aptitude, reasoning and English, with a spoken-English component in many drives. The interviews typically probe accounting fundamentals, basic direct and indirect tax, audit procedures for assurance support, attention to detail, and comfort with supporting UK, US or Australian engagement teams from India.
Process pattern as of recent drives; check the invitation for the current cycle.
The panel focuses on
- The three financial statements and how a transaction flows through them
- Direct and indirect tax basics: TDS, advance tax, GST input credit and reconciliation
- Audit assertions and procedures for assurance support work
- What EY GDS does for a UK or US engagement team and what an analyst prepares
- Attention to detail: tie-outs, reconciliations and what you do when numbers disagree
- Honest answers on CA or CMA plans, busy season and overlap hours
Step 1
Pick your domain
The expert on the panel probes these areas at the level of this role. Optional here; you can choose during setup.
Step 2
Choose how you want to be interviewed
1:1 interview
One interviewer runs every round and adapts the focus as you go. Lower pressure; ideal for a first attempt.
Mr. Arvind Raghunathan
Hiring manager
Panel interview · 3 members
Most realisticEach member leads their own round and hands over to the next. They hear each other, so a weak answer will be revisited.
Ms. Anjali Pillai
HR member
Mr. Arvind Raghunathan
Hiring manager
CA Nikhil Bhatnagar
Technical lead
What to expect
5 rounds · 17 minutes
A private-sector hiring loop compressed into one sitting, the way most Indian companies run it: HR screen → hiring-manager round on your actual work → role/technical round led by a lead → communication & behavioural (STAR) round → closing on expectations and your questions.
Works for software, product, sales, finance, HR, support and campus hiring by swapping the role bank.
- Round 1
HR screen
· 3:00Understand background, motivation for this role and company, and basic logistics; check that the resume story holds together.
Ms. Anjali Pillai2–3 questionsup to 1 follow-up each - Round 2
Hiring-manager round
· 4:00Assess ownership, judgement and how the candidate actually works: what they shipped, closed or ran, their specific part, and how they would approach this job.
Mr. Arvind Raghunathan2–3 questionsup to 2 follow-ups each - Round 3
Role / technical round
· 5:00Test role knowledge and problem-solving in the chosen specialisation: fundamentals, one scenario to think through aloud, and trade-offs.
CA Nikhil Bhatnagar3–4 questionsup to 2 follow-ups each - Round 4
Communication & behavioural round
· 3:00Assess collaboration, conflict handling, resilience and clarity of expression through Situation–Task–Action–Result examples.
Mr. Arvind Raghunathan2–2 questionsup to 1 follow-up each - Round 5
Expectations & closing
· 2:00Cover practical expectations and let the candidate ask questions; close professionally.
Ms. Anjali Pillai1–2 questions
Meet the panel
Your AI interviewers
Distinct personas, voices and questioning styles, briefed on this role.
Ms. Anjali Pillai
ChairHR member
Campus recruiter, Big 4 global delivery centre (Kochi and Bengaluru); runs fresher intake for tax, assurance and technology teams
Warm, brisk, process-literate, allergic to rehearsed lines.
Female voice · 3 languages
Mr. Arvind Raghunathan
Hiring manager
Audit & Assurance Partner, Big 4 firm (Mumbai); hires articled trainees, associates and CA freshers
Precise, unhurried, allergic to bluffing, generous with a candidate who reasons honestly.
Male voice · 4 languages
CA Nikhil Bhatnagar
Technical lead
Senior Manager, Audit, Tax and Risk Advisory, Big 4 firm (Mumbai); chartered accountant who runs the domain round for audit, tax and risk associates
Precise, patient with gaps, unforgiving of bluffing.
Male voice · 3 languages
Languages
Answer in the language you think in
The panel asks in your chosen language. Switch mid-answer if you like.
- English
- Hinglish (Hindi + English)Hinglish
How scoring works
A report you can act on
Every round is scored on the rubric
Each interviewer scores only the criteria their round covers. Weights add up to your overall score out of 100.
Only what you actually said counts
Feedback quotes your own answers. Rounds you skip show as “Not assessed” rather than a zero.
Communication is always measured
Fluency, clarity, confidence and structure are tracked across the whole interview, in any language.
Pass mark, then a plan
You see the pass mark for this interview, your gaps, and the courses that close them fastest.
Scored on
- Role knowledge30%
Depth and accuracy of role/domain knowledge; understands the tools, concepts and trade-offs of the job; grounds claims in real work.
- Problem solving & structure25%
Breaks problems down, asks clarifying questions, reasons about trade-offs and edge cases, structures answers (context, action, result).
- Communication25%
Clear, concise, confident; listens and answers the question asked; adapts the explanation to the listener; professional register.
- Culture & attitude20%
Ownership, honesty about limits, coachability, collaboration, motivation for this role and realistic expectations.
Pass mark 65 / 100 · Corporate interview — HR, hiring manager & role round (panel)
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