When Orestis accepted a role within our Risk team in London he could never have forecasted how his first few months would hold. As a Greek-Cypriot he moved to London to study his Masters in Cognitive and Decision Sciences. Having written scientific papers on neuroscience and the human brain you might wonder how Orestis landed on a career at PwC.

Following his own research into our graduate programmes he saw an opportunity to continue making an impact and a lasting difference to the world, and as a psychology student this was really important to him. 

Fast forward to the summer of 2020 and the world of business had changed entirely. Throughout the pandemic our Student Recruitment teams kept in touch with our incoming student joiners to provide reassurance over the security of their jobs and to provide updates about starting their careers virtually. 

During the first few weeks of Orestis starting at PwC, he took the opportunities to join the different virtual socials to meet his new colleagues. Of course this was different to his expectations, but on reflection he believes it’s worked out well. 

“There’s been a lot of engagement and with different virtual events and socials to be part of I’ve been able to ‘meet’ people from across my business unit and also from the London offices. We’ve even agreed that it’s helped us meet people from different business areas more quickly too, some we may never have met given the size of the London offices. 

“All of my training so far has been engaging in different ways; from interactive group discussions where our trainers encouraged us all to be involved, to scenario videos requiring us to select our own responses which gave us actions to complete. Coming from a science background this way of learning was completely new to me, but I’ve enjoyed it so far.”

One of Orestis’ biggest challenges was moving to the UK from Cyprus to start his graduate role in September. Having a small network of friends in the UK encouraged Orestis to really get involved with the social aspect of joining a large firm and he’s glad he did that from the outset.

Despite starting in a new team, virtually, and starting at the very beginning of his career, he’s already received positive feedback on two of his projects, giving him the encouragement to keep pushing his learning and taking on new challenges. It’s no wonder he’d describe his first few months of joining PwC as surprising, versatile and interesting.

Outside of work Orestis is a keen baker, and once he’s back in the office full time, hopes to bring some of his baking delights in for his colleagues - he’s particularly proud of his lava cakes and traditional greek desserts.

Adapting to virtual learning has been different for everyone, and starting your career in a virtual world, or in an office you’ve never stepped foot into, can feel daunting. But we’re here for you, working together, staying connected and helping shape our future.