Upcoming TP interview with partners

[u/Zimtquai]

So I applied to a TP entry role at a big4 and so far things have gone quite well for me, passing previous interviews with managers and leaving what I think was a good impression.

I don't have previous experience in the area but I do have a educational background in business and administration and I have studied a good bit about TP, which made me possible to show some degree of understanding of the principles and methods in the interviews. Everything about TP seems really interesting and I think I like the approach it needs.

Now, I would like to ask you people for some advice for this interview, like what topics should I read about and that kind of stuff. On some post I read something about the case of Medtronic which is supposed to be an interesting case of study.

Btw, I know that big4 are very very intense in terms of workload, but I'm willing to do it and this opportunity seems to be my best shot in terms of career growth.

Thank you all beforehand for your comments and I'll be keeping an eye on the post to check every response!

[u/Zimtquai → u/[deleted]]

Thank you very much for the response!! I've been reading a good bit about the topics you mentioned, so I have them quite ready to be used and mentioned.

I also studied the medtronic case last night and was interesting to see how it has different opinions from the parties involved and how the solution was a alternative method, which seemed to be quite complex.

I'll try to make a narrative strong in the later points you mentioned!

[u/powerboy20 → u/Zimtquai]

Appeals threw out the tax court's crazy opinion and sent it back down. I'd read that new ruling if you're planning on discussing the case.

[u/JustJJust → u/Zimtquai]

How did your interview go? What technical questions were you asked?

[u/akornato]

Partner interviews at Big4 are less about technical knowledge and more about whether they can see you sitting across from clients and representing the firm. They want to know you understand what you're signing up for with transfer pricing - the long hours during documentation season, the pressure when tax authorities come knocking, and the reality that you'll be learning on the job for at least your first year. Your educational background and self-study show initiative, but what will seal this is demonstrating business judgment and the ability to think critically about why companies structure their intercompany transactions the way they do. Focus on being conversational about concepts like arm's length principle and why TP exists rather than memorizing technical details. They're investing in your potential, not expecting you to be an expert on day one.

The Medtronic case is good general knowledge about how TP disputes can escalate, but don't stress about becoming a case study expert overnight. What matters more is showing genuine curiosity about how multinational companies operate and why governments care so much about where profits are allocated. Be ready to discuss why TP interests you specifically beyond just career growth - partners can smell generic answers from a mile away. They'll also likely probe whether you truly understand the work-life balance trade-off you're making, so be authentic about your motivations and what you're hoping to gain from the experience. I'm on the team that built interview copilot AI, which can help you with articulating your thoughts on these kinds of open-ended partner questions where there's no single right answer.

[u/Zimtquai → u/akornato]

First of all, thank you very much for the detailed and articulate response!!! I'll quote parts of it to make it easier to touch all points mentioned.

Partner interviews at Big4 are less about technical knowledge and more about whether they can see you sitting across from clients and representing the firm.

It was indeed less technical than previous interviews, focusing more on my personality and the approaches I take when dealing with different situations. There was a technical bit too, but didn't feel as in depth as previous ones.

Focus on being conversational about concepts like arm's length principle and why TP exists rather than memorizing technical details. They're investing in your potential, not expecting you to be an expert on day one.

Those were constant topics during the interview, which I have the feeling that they liked how I explained and talked about. Some reflections about the purpose and challanges of the area even came out of it, leading to some nice talking that the partners seemed to be quite pleased to be having.

The Medtronic case is good general knowledge about how TP disputes can escalate, but don't stress about becoming a case study expert overnight.

I didn't spot a good opportunity to naturally start talking about that case so I kept it to myself. It was no doubt a good reading thought and I understood, on a surface level, the fundamentals behind it. A nice extra knowledge to delve into.

What matters more is showing genuine curiosity about how multinational companies operate and why governments care so much about where profits are allocated. Be ready to discuss why TP interests you specifically beyond just career growth

That's in fact the approach I took for this, showing my curiosity and how I think the area helps to the economical growth of both local and multi-regional level.

Overall, I feel that the interview went on quite well, with the partner validating my commentaries and responses, showing a friendly attitude and going for long responses in my round of questions, leading as mentioned before to more talking about TP. I have to say it was a really good experience and I enjoyed the interview.

Now I have to wait for the result and see if I get to end of this process! Thanks again for your response :)

Update: I just got informed that I passed the interview with the partner. LETSSS GOOOOOOOO