This time last year, Ernst & Young revealed that around 1% of its workforce were on notice of redundancy following job cuts at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Deloitte. At KPMG, 85% of staff were signed up for flexible working to avoid job cuts.

 

But in 2010 there’s a different horizon, with reports that some Big 4 firms are keeping student intake numbers up to avoid a recruitment gold rush when the economy lifts more decisively out of recession.

 

So, looking at the top-level pages of their graduate recruitment websites, how are the Big 4 appealing to graduate talent?

 

KPMG plays on its enviable status as ‘Sunday Times Best Big Firm To Work For’ above all else, with the rather anodyne words such as ‘people’, ‘clients’, ‘environment’ and ‘working’ in supporting roles. Add in copy from its pages aimed at experienced hires and the emphasis shifts towards ‘opportunities’ and ‘people’ who ‘flourish’ in ‘business’, making that Sunday Times award seem well deserved.

 

At PwC, the new graduate focus is on ‘career’, ‘work’/‘working’, ‘objectives’ and ‘skills’ – a pretty black and white proposition for any graduate. When we add more senior recruitment pages to the mix, PwC cuts to the chase with ‘work’ dominating, but with ‘funding’, ‘balance’, ‘benefits’ and ‘package’ all equally weighted – perhaps more aligned to experienced professionals’ expectations.

 

Deloitte seeks to attract graduates with promises of personal development. It lays its cards audibly on the table, as ‘training’ dominates, followed by ‘help’ and ‘professional’. Bulk out the word cloud to incorporate pages aimed at experienced hires and it plays a rather uninspiring game, with ‘people’, ‘business’, ‘work’ and ‘clients’.

 

Last but by no means least, at Ernst & Young the new graduate pitch is balanced between the work it does – ‘different’ and ‘service’ are to the fore – and, critically, what’s in it for new joiners – ‘opportunities’ and ‘succeed’ are prominent. Thinking of each page as a stall at a university milk round, this is enough to help form an idea of personality... or lack of it. For candidates with greater expectations, these opening pitches are much more revealing. Whereas Ernst & Young is focused on ‘clients’ (which Big Four firm isn’t?), its promises are based on ‘helping’ ‘professionals’ ‘achieve’ as well as ‘opportunities’ and ‘challenges’.

 

Word clouds generated using wordle.net