KPMG 2028 interview guide

For
2028 summer analysts
Sources
12 cited

Got a KPMG interview? Here is how the two live video interviews run, who you meet, the behavioral questions KPMG itself publishes, the technicals Deal Advisory and valuation teams add, and what the office visit is.

A small group of students in business clothes being shown around a bright open office floor by a young professional, with desks and plants behind them.
After the two video interviews, some KPMG candidates are invited to visit an office and meet the team before a decision.

Key facts

  • Format: Two live video interviews with business leaders, which KPMG uses to give you scheduling flexibility.1
  • Length: About 30 minutes each, often back to back.5,6,8
  • Who: Business leaders from the practice you applied to: associates in San Francisco Audit, senior managers in New York Economic Valuation Services.1,6,8
  • Content: Behavioral questions, which KPMG publishes samples of, plus an open question to see how you think. Valuation teams add a technical interview.2,5,8
  • When: Interview selections usually come within two weeks of applying, and interviews within one to two weeks of being selected, on a rolling basis.1
  • Setup: Use a laptop or tablet rather than a phone, keep it plugged in, and test your connection, audio and video with a friend first.1
  • After it: You hear whether KPMG is making an offer or inviting you to visit an office in person. It varies by office.1
  • Decision: Most decisions are made within two weeks of interviewing.1

KPMG describes one process for all its early-career roles. Within it, Audit interviews stay behavioral, while Deal Advisory and valuation teams go further into why the practice and finance technicals.1,5,7,8,11

What the KPMG interview looks like

  1. Before the interviews

    You apply online with a resume and an unofficial transcript. KPMG reviews on a rolling basis and usually tells you within two weeks whether you have been selected to interview. Many invites start on campus: San Francisco Audit applicants met recruiters in person first, and New York Deal Advisory applicants networked with alumni and met the firm at a meet-the-firms event.1,6,7

  2. The two video interviews

    If your application progresses, you have two live video interviews with business leaders, usually within one to two weeks of being selected. Expect about 30 minutes each, often back to back: two associates in San Francisco Audit, or a technical and a behavioral interview with senior managers in New York Economic Valuation Services.1,6,8

  3. What they ask

    Mostly behavioral questions about how you handled challenges, projects, teamwork, criticism and goals; KPMG publishes nine samples. Washington DC Audit added one open question with no right answer, to see your thought process, and San Francisco Audit asked how you had used AI in a recent project.2,5,11

  4. Deal Advisory and valuation

    New York Deal Advisory asked tell me about yourself, why KPMG, why Deals, the challenges you have faced, your CPA timeline and what makes you fit. Economic Valuation Services set a 30-minute technical interview with the same questions as investment banking technicals.7,8,11

  5. Offer or office visit

    Within about two weeks you hear whether KPMG is making an offer or inviting you to visit an office in person. On a visit you meet your potential colleagues, see the office and get a feel for the culture. Specifics vary by office.1

  6. If you join

    Interns spend a week of National Intern Training at KPMG Lakehouse in Lake Nona, Florida, and are paired with a mentor. The internship can lead to a full-time offer.1,2

A 30-minute KPMG interview, step by step

Introductions 3 min
Who you are, your school and year, and why you applied, in under a minute.
Behavioral questions 15 min
Three or four questions like KPMG's samples. About two minutes per answer.
An open question 5 min
One with no right answer. Narrate how you think.
Your questions 5 min
Two thoughtful questions about the role and the interviewer's work.
Close 2 min
Thank them and say what you took from the conversation.

Interviews run about 30 minutes, mostly behavioral, with an open question to see your thought process. The split above is Intervyo's pacing for that shape, not KPMG's.5,6,2

Before your KPMG interviews

  • Test your internet, audio and video with a friend, and keep the device plugged in.
  • Use a laptop or tablet, not a phone.
  • Answer KPMG's own nine sample questions out loud, with a real example for each.
  • Know every line of your resume well enough to go deeper on it.
  • Have one recent example of using AI or a data tool in a project, and what you checked.
  • For Deal Advisory or valuation: why the practice, your CPA timeline and the standard valuation technicals.
  • Prepare thoughtful questions about KPMG and the role, and send a thank-you message afterward.

The questions

Expect behavioral questions built on your own experience, an open question to see how you think, and why KPMG and why the practice. Deal and valuation teams add technicals. KPMG's advice: be concise, pause rather than stumble, and talk about your strengths instead of apologizing for what you lack.2,5,7,8,11

  • Behavioral: Challenges, difficult projects, teamwork, criticism, initiative and goals, from KPMG's own sample list.
  • Open question: A question with no right answer, to see how you reason out loud.
  • Motivation: Why KPMG, why this practice, and your CPA timeline.
  • Technology: How you have used AI or data tools, which the postings ask for.
  • Technical: Valuation questions like investment banking technicals, in Deal Advisory and valuation teams.

Which division question you get

Audit (Washington DC)
One easy 30-minute interview: behavioral questions, a goal you have been working toward, and one open question with no right answer (Aug 2025).5,11
Audit (San Francisco)
Two associates back to back, 30 minutes each, including how you used AI in a recent project (Dec 2025).6,11
Deal Advisory, Financial Due Diligence
Back-to-back interviews about a year and a half before the internship: tell me about yourself, why KPMG, why Deals, challenges you faced, your CPA timeline and your fit (New York, Jan 2025).7,11
Economic Valuation Services (associate hire)
A 30-minute technical video interview and a 30-minute behavioral one, back to back, with senior managers; the technicals matched investment banking ones (New York, Oct 2024).8,11
TaxBest guess
Expect the Audit pattern: behavioral questions from KPMG's sample list, plus why Tax and how you will reach CPA credit hours.

The Tax line is our best guess from the Audit pattern and the Tax posting's CPA requirement.

Example questions and how to answer them

Behavioral"Describe the most challenging situation you have had to deal with and the ways you dealt with it."2
  1. 1Situation: the challenge in one or two sentences, and why it mattered.
  2. 2Action: the two or three things you did yourself, in order.
  3. 3Result: what changed, with a number if you have one.
  4. 4Lesson: one line on what you would do the same way again.

Tip: KPMG's advice is to be concise, and to pause if you need to organize your thoughts: silence works better than stumbling.

Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)

Intervyo example.

In my junior fall I was taking 18 credits and working 20 hours a week at a CPA office when two of my four teammates on a group audit case dropped the class three weeks before it was due.

I told our professor straight away, split the remaining sections between the two of us by strength, and set two check-ins a week. I took the internal controls section and the final deck, and moved my office hours to weekends for those three weeks.

We handed it in a day early and got an A-minus, and the professor used our controls section as an example for the next class. The lesson I keep is to raise a problem early and replan around it, rather than hoping it fixes itself.

Behavioral"Tell me about a goal you have been working toward."11,2,4
  1. 1Name the goal and why it matters to you, in one line.
  2. 2Say how you broke it down: the steps, the timeline, how you track it.
  3. 3Give where you are now, honestly, with a number if you can.
  4. 4Link it to the role: what it shows about how you would work.

Tip: For Audit or Tax, a goal on the CPA path works well, because it also answers the CPA timeline question before it is asked.

Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)

Intervyo example.

My goal is to be CPA-eligible by the time I start full time. I mapped out my 150 credit hours with my advisor in sophomore year, which meant adding a summer session and the integrated master's.

I am at 96 credits now and on track for 150 by May 2030. I keep a spreadsheet of every requirement my state board lists and check it each semester.

It is the same habit I would bring to an engagement: know the requirement, plan backward from the deadline and check progress before anyone has to ask.

Open question"An open question with no right answer, to see how you think."5
  1. 1Repeat the question back and say what you are assuming.
  2. 2Lay out two or three ways to look at it before you pick one.
  3. 3Reason out loud through the one you pick, with rough numbers if they help.
  4. 4Give an answer, and say what would change your mind.

Tip: The interviewer is checking your thought process, not your answer. Narrate it.

Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)

Intervyo example, using "Should a coffee shop on campus stay open until midnight?"

I will assume it is a student-run shop and the goal is to cover costs. I could look at it by demand, by cost or by what students want; I will start with cost and demand.

Staying open four more hours means about two staff at, say, $15 an hour, so $120 a night plus power. If late customers spend $5 each, it needs about 25 more customers a night to break even, which feels possible near exams and unlikely in week one.

So I would try it for exam weeks only, track sales per hour, and keep it if late sales cover the extra cost.

Technology"How have you used AI recently in a project?"11,3,4
  1. 1Name the project and what you used the tool for, in one line.
  2. 2Say what you did yourself: the prompts, the data, the checks.
  3. 3Say how you checked the output and what you caught.
  4. 4Close on the result and what you would do differently.

Tip: KPMG postings ask for comfort with AI, Alteryx and Power BI. Show judgment about checking the output, not only that you used it.

Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)

Intervyo example.

In my cost accounting class, our team analyzed a year of a bakery's sales and costs. I used an AI assistant to draft the Excel formulas for cost per product and to suggest ways to chart margin by month.

I checked every formula against three products I had worked out by hand, and caught one that double-counted packaging. I fixed it and wrote down where the tool had helped and where it had not.

Our final margin analysis matched the owner's own numbers within 2 percent, and I now always test AI output on a small sample before trusting it.

Motivation"Why KPMG, and why Deal Advisory?"11,7,2
  1. 1Start with the practice: what it does and one kind of work you want to learn.
  2. 2Give one reason that is specific to KPMG, such as a person you met or a program you took part in.
  3. 3Link it to your story: a class, a job or a case competition.
  4. 4Close with your CPA timeline if the practice asks for CPA eligibility.

Tip: In New York Deal Advisory, why KPMG and why Deals came together with your CPA timeline. Have all three ready.

More KPMG interview questions

Behavioral

  • “How effectively do you balance your course load with any jobs or extracurricular activities?”2

  • “Describe a situation where you thought of a new or creative way of dealing with a problem.”2

  • “Describe a time when you encountered an especially difficult project. What did you do and what was the result?”2

  • “What do you consider your greatest personal or school-related accomplishment, and what steps did you take to achieve it?”2

  • “Describe your most successful effort in promoting teamwork within a group, and how they responded.”2

  • “Describe a situation when your work or one of your ideas was criticized. How did you respond?”2

  • “Describe a situation in which you have shown a great deal of initiative.”2

  • “Describe a goal that you have set for yourself in the last year.”2

Motivation

  • “Tell me about yourself.”11

  • “Why KPMG?”11

  • “Why Deals?”11

  • “What is your CPA timeline?”11

  • “What makes you fit for this position?”11

Technology and open questions

  • “How did you use AI recently in a project?”11

  • “One open question with no right answer, to check your thought process.”5

    Wording ours; the question itself was not given

Technical

  • “Investment banking style technicals in a 30-minute technical interview.”8,11

    Economic Valuation Services, New York, Oct 2024

  • “Walk me through a DCF.”8

    Best guess

    Our expectation of the most common IB-style technical

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How long to hear back after the interview

KPMG interviews on a rolling basis until roles are filled. The two SHL online assessments arrive automatically once you apply; interview selections usually come within two weeks of applying, interviews within one to two weeks after that, and most decisions within two weeks of interviewing.12,1

  1. Dec 2025

    Audit Intern, San Francisco

    Met recruiters in person, then two back-to-back 30-minute interviews with associates; 1 to 2 months in all.6

  2. Aug 2025

    Audit Intern, Washington DC

    Applied online and had one 30-minute behavioral interview; the whole process took under a month.5

  3. Jan 2025

    Deal Advisory FDD intern, New York

    Back-to-back interviews about a year and a half before the internship; 1 to 2 months from first contact, ending in an offer.7

  4. Oct 2024

    Economic Valuation Services, New York

    HR reached out shortly after an online application; technical and behavioral interviews back to back; under a month in all.8

Specifics vary by KPMG office, but you hear promptly whether KPMG is making an offer or inviting you to visit in person.1

Best guessIf two weeks pass after your interviews with no news, a short, polite note to your recruiter is reasonable. Around year-end and busy season, expect the longer end.

What happens after the interview

  1. Online application

    About 10 minutes, a resume and an unofficial transcript, and two active applications at most.1

  2. Online assessment

    Two online assessments on SHL, sent automatically once you apply: an untimed skills assessment (allow about 20 minutes) and a 36-minute cognitive assessment of numerical and logical reasoning.12

  3. Two live video interviewsYou are here

    This page. With business leaders, about 30 minutes each, mostly behavioral.1,5,6

  4. Office visit, some offices

    After the video interviews, some offices invite you to visit in person before a decision: you meet your potential colleagues, explore the office and see the culture. Specifics vary by office.1

  5. Offer

    Most decisions are made within two weeks of interviewing. Interns start with a week of National Intern Training at KPMG Lakehouse in Florida, and a mentor.1,2

Audit vs Deal Advisory and valuation interviews

Both run through KPMG's two live video interviews. Audit stays behavioral; deal and valuation teams add practice questions and technicals.

Who

Audit

Associates, two back to back in San Francisco.6

Deal Advisory and valuation

Senior managers in New York Economic Valuation Services.8

Length

Audit

About 30 minutes each.5,6

Deal Advisory and valuation

30 minutes technical and 30 minutes behavioral, back to back.8

Behavioral

Audit

A goal you have been working toward, how you used AI in a project.11

Deal Advisory and valuation

Tell me about yourself, why KPMG, why Deals, challenges you faced.11

Technical

Audit

One open question with no right answer, to check your thinking.5

Deal Advisory and valuation

Investment banking style technicals in Economic Valuation Services.8,11

Timing

Audit

Under a month in Washington DC; 1 to 2 months in San Francisco.5,6

Deal Advisory and valuation

About a year and a half before the internship in New York Deal Advisory.7

2028 summer analyst status

Audit and Tax post far ahead, with Summer 2028 roles up in fall 2026, and KPMG interviews on a rolling basis within one to two weeks of selecting you. So interviews can come in the fall you apply, about a year and a half before the internship.9,10,1,7

FAQ

What is the KPMG interview process for interns?

After you apply, KPMG sends two online assessments on SHL automatically, and interview selections usually come within two weeks. You then have two live video interviews with business leaders, and within about two weeks hear whether KPMG is making an offer or inviting you to visit an office.12,1

Does KPMG have an online test or a HireVue?

There is an online test: once you submit your application, KPMG sends two online assessments on SHL, an untimed skills assessment and a 36-minute cognitive assessment. The interviews that follow are two live video interviews with business leaders, so prepare for those next. Read every email after you apply in case your office or practice adds a step.12,1

How long are KPMG interviews?

About 30 minutes each, often two back to back. Valuation teams have run one technical and one behavioral interview of 30 minutes each.5,6,8

Are KPMG interviews technical?

In Audit, mostly not: they are behavioral, with one open question to test your thinking. Economic Valuation Services in New York ran a 30-minute technical interview with investment banking style questions.5,8,11

What questions does KPMG ask?

KPMG publishes nine sample questions, such as the most challenging situation you have dealt with, a time your work was criticized and a goal you set in the last year. Recent US interviews also asked about a goal you are working toward and how you used AI in a project.2,11

What is the KPMG office visit?

After the video interviews, some candidates are invited to visit an office in person instead of getting an offer straight away. You meet your potential colleagues, explore the office and see the culture. Specifics vary by office.1

How soon do you hear back from KPMG after interviews?

Most decisions are made within two weeks of interviewing. US processes have run from under a month to about two months from first contact to an outcome.1,5,6,7

Interview at other firms

Sources

Firm pages first, then dated candidate reports. Last checked Nov 4, 2026.

  1. 1KPMG: KPMG Careers: Early Career & Student Opportunities
  2. 2KPMG: Program - KPMG Careers
  3. 3KPMG: Tax Intern | Multiple Locations Summer 2028
  4. 4KPMG: Audit Intern | Multiple Locations Winter 2028
  5. 5Candidate report on a public forum: Intern - Audit interview, Washington DC (Aug 2025)
  6. 6Candidate report on a public forum: Audit Intern interview, San Francisco (Dec 2025)
  7. 7Candidate report on a public forum: Deals Advisory FDD intern interview, New York (Jan 2025)
  8. 8Candidate report on a public forum: Economic Valuation Services Associate interview, New York (Oct 2024)
  9. 9KPMG: Job Search, internships (Nov 4, 2026)
  10. 10KPMG: Job Search, internships, page 2 (Nov 4, 2026)
  11. 11Candidate reports on a public forum: KPMG interview questions (Nov 2026 listing)
  12. 12KPMG: Application process (graduate)

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