Business Placement Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my work placement year in Assurance with PwC. I worked with a lot of great and talented people in a great work atmosphere. The work was not easy and the hours were sometimes very long (latest finish was 2am), but the atmosphere and people I worked with made this easier than it could have been.

Throughout my placement I was treated as if on the graduate scheme, meaning the same was asked of me as it was of graduates in terms of work to be performed. Because of this, I was valued just as much as any fulltime employee.

The level of support offered by PwC for its employees is superb. Each new joiner is allocated a buddy and people manager who are able to assist with day-to-day queries as well as long term career ambitions. Also, in the Assurance line of service, the work placement students sit a number of ACA exams along side the graduates and the level of support given for these is incredible. A number of weeks are spent in college studying the content for exams as well as self-managed learning days where we were able to study at home.

The busiest few months in Assurance are January - April. During this period I would regularly finish at around midnight with my earliest finish during this period being 8pm and the latest 2am apart from Fridays, where a 5:30 finish is practically a given. Throughout the rest of my placement I was still busy and had work to perform but never consistently worked past 6:00pm.

Initially I was very green to the world of Assurance and a lot of handholding was required. Gradually, after a few months experience and a large amount of training a lot more responsibility was placed at my doorstep. Eventually I was given work to do by myself and on a number of occasions I was performing work that would usually be performed by more senior colleagues.

Over the period I have developed a number of skills from how to deal with clients to writing reports. I have also developed a solid understanding of excel and am significantly better with the programme following my placement.

The general atmosphere in the office was positive. There is an emphasis placed on maintaining a work/life balance and a number of work socials were organised throughout the year. Part of the benefit of joining PwC was the large intake I was a part of. Some of the people I started with are now very good friends and this certainly made life in the office much more enjoyable.

Fantastically so. Work placement students are very much treated as graduates and go through the same pathway as the graduates. Given that PwC is one of the top graduate employers (in terms of numbers) there is a solid structure in place that deals with graduates and work placements alike.

PwC invested a huge amount in me over the work placement. During my placement I sat 8 of the ACA exams with all expenses (textbooks, college etc) all paid for by PwC. I also undertook a number of internal training courses designed to improve my productivity within the firm which also comes at a cost to the firm.

I have already been offered a full time position on the graduate scheme with the firm, which is pretty much a given for all work placement students.

Absolutely. As I mentioned, the work placements from part of the graduate intake (around 120 in my business unit) and so September reminded me very much of freshers at university as the firm encourages socialising, laying on a number of organised events. The social aspect remained a constant them throughout my placement and I even went on a ski trip with a number of colleagues over the Christmas period.

I worked in the London office and so of course the area is very expensive. However, most of the people I hung out with were also just starting at the firm and so everyone is on a similar salary and similar budgets and, therefore, you all tend to want to have affordable nights out. This can be done in London but rent certainly leaves a massive dent in your monthly salary and nights out can escalate rather easily!

"A man who is bored of London is bored of life. For all that life can afford, London has to offer".

During busy season there is very little chance to get involved in activities during the week and I was often too exhausted at weekend to do any real physical exercise (I did put on a lot weight during my placement). However, anything you could possibly want to do is offered in London and, apart from when the hours, it's usually fairly easy to take advantage of the opportunities.