How to Write a Graduate CV for the Big 4 in 2026: KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC Compared

The Big 4 — KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC — collectively hire thousands of UK and Irish graduates every year. They are one of the largest graduate employer groups in either country. They are also among the most CV-conventional, which is both good news and bad news.

Good news, because there is a clear template. Bad news, because if thousands of applicants submit the same template, your CV has to do something specific to survive the first scan.

This article explains what each of the four expects in 2026, what they share, where they differ, and how to write a CV that can work across all four firms.

All four firms use structured graduate recruitment systems. That means your CV needs to be easy for an applicant tracking system to parse and easy for a human recruiter to scan.

For a Big 4 graduate CV, keep the structure simple:

Contact details
Profile or summary
Education
Work experience
Skills and interests

Avoid sidebars, text boxes, unusual graphics, hidden information in headers or footers, and two-column layouts. These may look clever, but they can confuse automated systems and slow down human scanning.

All four firms expect quantified achievements. A line like:

Led a team of 12 student volunteers, raising £4,200 over three months.

is much stronger than:

Demonstrated leadership skills in extracurricular activities.

Numbers help recruiters understand scale, responsibility and business impact.

All four firms also expect UK English spelling for UK applications. For Irish applications, the style is functionally very similar. Do not include a photo, date of birth, marital status or full home address. City and country are enough.

Where the four firms differ

PwC

PwC has often positioned itself as more open and potential-focused. The early CV screen may feel less rigid than some competitors, but the later assessment stages are demanding. PwC values evidence of leadership, adaptability and performance in unfamiliar situations.

Good CV signals for PwC include:

leading a society or student project
customer-facing work under pressure
volunteering with measurable responsibility
examples of learning quickly in a new environment

Deloitte

Deloitte tends to reward commercial awareness. Your CV should show that you understand business, not just that you want a graduate scheme.

Good CV signals for Deloitte include:

relevant commercial reading
business society involvement
consulting-style projects
evidence that you understand the service line you are applying for

A line such as “Regular reader of the FT and The Economist, with particular interest in digital regulation and public sector transformation” may read well if it is true and relevant.

KPMG

KPMG is usually the most conventional in CV expectations. Keep the structure clear, standard and easy to scan. For audit and tax applications, academic evidence and numeracy signals matter.

Good CV signals for KPMG include:

strong quantitative modules
accounting, finance or economics coursework
bookkeeping or finance-related experience
detail-heavy work under deadline

Do not get creative with layout for a KPMG application.

EY

EY, especially where EY-Parthenon or advisory work is involved, often responds well to problem-framing and strategic language. Show how you analyse problems, compare options and recommend action.

Good CV signals for EY include:

case competitions
strategy society involvement
market research projects
evidence of structured thinking

For example:

Analysed market entry options for a student consulting project and recommended a phased approach based on regulatory and customer adoption risk.

That is stronger than saying you “worked on a team project.”

The profile section

The profile is the highest-leverage 50 to 70 words on your CV. It is the one place where you can connect your background to the role before the recruiter starts scanning bullet points.

A good Big 4 profile should cover three things:

What you are now
What you are applying for and why
What evidence you bring

Example:

Final-year BSc Economics student on track for a 2:1, applying for audit graduate roles with a particular interest in financial services clients. Brings experience in part-time bookkeeping, strong quantitative modules and society leadership, including coordinating a 20-person sponsorship team for a university business conference.

Avoid generic lines such as:

hardworking graduate
motivated team player
excellent communicator
results-driven individual

Recruiters have seen those lines thousands of times. Specific evidence wins.

The education section

For each degree, include:

university name
degree type and subject
classification or predicted classification
graduation year

Then add relevant modules or dissertation only if they help the application.

For audit, include modules with accounting, finance, economics, statistics or quantitative content. For consulting, include strategy, organisational behaviour, economics, analytics or research methods. For tax, include law, finance, accounting or regulation-related modules.

A strong dissertation line can help:

Dissertation: “The Impact of IFRS 16 Lease Accounting on Retail Sector Reported Profitability,” graded 72/100.

A vague dissertation line does not help. If the title is not relevant or the grade was not strong, leave it out.

Include A-levels or Leaving Certificate results if they are strong. If they are weak, do not draw attention to them unless the application specifically requires them.

The work experience section

Every bullet should follow this logic:

strong verb + specific action + measurable result

Weak:

Helped with social media for a local business.

Stronger:

Designed and scheduled Instagram content for a local bakery, growing followers from 200 to 1,400 over three months and increasing weekend footfall through targeted promotions.

You will not always have a perfect number. That is fine. Use scale where you can:

number of customers served
money raised
size of team
number of events delivered
percentage improvement
weekly workload
deadlines met
reports produced

If you have limited experience, do not panic. Big 4 recruiters understand that graduates are early-career candidates. They are looking for evidence of judgement, responsibility, accuracy, learning speed and communication.

The skills and interests section

This section should not be a dumping ground for generic skills. Use it for evidence.

Technical skills

Be specific. Instead of “Excel,” write:

Excel: PivotTables, XLOOKUP, basic modelling
Power BI: dashboard basics
SQL: basic queries and joins
Python: pandas and data cleaning basics

Only include tools you can discuss in an interview.

Languages

Use honest proficiency levels:

Native
Fluent
Professional working proficiency
Conversational
Basic

Interests

This is your chance to sound like a person. Avoid “reading and travel” unless you make it specific.

Better examples:

Member of university chess team; competed in inter-university tournaments.
Built a personal blog analysing UK fintech news.
Trained in classical dance for 10 years and performed at community events.
Completed three half-marathons while working part-time during final year.

Specific interests can support your application because they show commitment, discipline and personality.

Quick differences for Ireland applicants

If you are applying to Big 4 firms in Ireland, the structure is almost identical. Use Irish degree language where appropriate:

H1
H2.1
H2.2

Use euro symbols for financial figures and include Leaving Certificate points if they are strong and recent. Dublin offices are closely connected to UK-style graduate recruitment, so you do not need a completely different CV. You mainly need local terminology and sensible formatting.

Application timeline for 2026

For September 2027 starts, many Big 4 graduate applications open between August and October 2026. The strongest schemes can become very competitive quickly. By late autumn, some routes are already crowded. By early 2027, you may be applying to remaining places rather than the full market.

If you are targeting Big 4 roles, your CV should be ready before applications open, not after.

Final check before submitting

Before sending a CV to KPMG, Deloitte, EY or PwC, check these five things:

Is the CV one or two pages, with a simple readable font and consistent spacing?
Does every work experience role include at least one quantified achievement or clear signal of scale?
Does the profile name the service line you are targeting?
Have you removed generic phrases like “team player,” “hard-working,” “motivated” and “results-driven”?
Does the CV sound like a real person when you read it aloud?

A CV that passes this check has a much better chance of reaching a human reviewer. From there, online tests, assessment centres and interviews do the rest of the work.

If you want a second-pair-of-eyes check before submitting, use GradSharp to test whether your CV is clear, specific and targeted enough for the Big 4 graduate route you are applying for.