Summer Intern Review

My six weeks in tax at PwC have not been an unenjoyable experience. They have been characterised by a variation of challenging tasks within different departments, and a great team and friendship group. However they have been let down by a lack of business. Overall I have given a 5/10 - the weeks have not been bad, but neither have they inspired me or captured my interest.

I was fortunate to have a great team to work with in tax. At PwC, you are paired with a "buddy" - a recent grad who will be generally supporting you. My buddy made the effort to introduce me in person to everybody in our area (approximately 25), and has supported me throughout the full time. My team leader also organised a welcome breakfast for me on the first week in the office, so I got to know everyone very quickly. I will say that the team experience rather depends on which line of service you apply to. Speaking to interns in assurance, they are often out working at client sites, meaning that their team will changes with each client they visit.

Alongside a buddy, interns are also assigned a "people manager" who is a more official (and more-qualified) supervisor. My people manager was very supportive, easy to talk to, and made sure we caught-up every fortnight. I also found that those who delegated work to me were good in their supervision and explanations. Nine times out of ten I understood the task that I had been given and was able to quickly contact the supervisor for any queries.

Workload is where I was most let down with PwC. My internship began well: during the first two weeks in the office I was given a good amount of challenging work. However the final three weeks have been severely lacking. Most days I have had at most two or three hours work; one day I had nothing at all. Worryingly, my buddy claimed that I have been busier than interns before me; speaking to other interns I know this to be true. I am disappointed that PwC don't make more of an effort to set up a programme that ensures that their interns are busy. While I comprehend that interns have little technical knowledge, I don't think it's acceptable to allow them to be idle, with the hope of a (near-guaranteed) graduate job offer at the end. I would like to see PwC improve this by creating some example tasks specific to each line of service that interns could complete - for example, making a mock-client case that interns can work on, which would teach them about their line of service in a hands-on way.

Of the work that I was given, it was often a good amount of responsibility. A highlight was creating a diagram that would be shown to explain a scenario to a senior partner in tax. If this workload had continued consistently throughout the internship, the ranking would be 8 or 9 stars, but sadly I find it hard to give more than 5 (with reference to my answer to the previous question).

I have developed a much greater understanding of tax in my time here, and this will of course be relevant to a job or degree related to tax. I was also able to do a presentation on a piece of work I have been doing which pushed me out of my comfort zone. However, other transferable skills (technological abilities, time-management, problem-solving etc) have not been developed as much as I would like them to be. I realise though that without a base knowledge in tax it is very difficult to give tasks that will be challenging in these areas, so overall I am pleased with PwC's approach to development.

Although most people in the office have a lot of work on, people are always able to stop and have a chat, be it work related or not! The office I have worked in is open-plan, so it is very easy to pop across to a table close by if you need or would like to speak to somebody. Every Thursday my team also do a 10-minute general knowledge quiz. Although small, I can see that it helps the dynamic of the team, as it gives people a chance to do something together, and is also a good talking point for the rest of the week!

The internship begins with a three-day residential for all the interns nationally. This was extremely well organised, with good content and opportunities to get to know each other. I was encouraged to see that the "networking" (social) activities that were put on at the residential weren't simply huge drink-ups, as I know induction events sometimes can be. We also had a two-day local induction at our office, which was also well run. I have been fairly happy with how the day-to-day office work has been set up. As referenced to before in my answer about workload, I was disappointing that more was not in place in terms of activities to do. However overall I think the internship is well structured.

Possibly the best thing that PwC do is try to invest in the people that they have. I was well taken care of by my buddy and people manager, and challenged to develop in the technical areas of my work.

As mentioned earlier, PwC do invest in their people well - once you are in the door they don't like to let you go! It's very likely that as an intern you are offered a job at the end of your six weeks. I have chosen not to stay with PwC, but this is more due to personal preference than a particular gripe against the company.

Yes - both the interns and the team had social events going on at least weekly. On the first week we went bowling; this week people are going to see a band. There's also a running club of our team members, sports teams, a PwC pantomime... the list goes on!

Live at home - sponge of the parents as long as you can! The social life in Birmingham is great - not as cheap as some more Northern cities, but it's more than manageable, particularly as PwC pay their inters pretty well.

The nightlife in Birmingham is excellent. I also go to university here so have had more than six weeks to explore. If you're looking for straight-up clubbing, Broad Street and the surrounding area has something going on every night. There's student nights at certain clubs on different days of the week, so you may be able to get some cheap entries with a tiny bit of research. If clubbing isn't for you (it's not for me), then there are still many other options. I probably go to a gig at least once a week - lots of the big acts come and play the O2, NIA, NEC, but I'm much more for the smaller venues (try Hare and Hounds, The Jam House, The Spotted Dog). There's also lots of theatre, dance, spoken word, etc. Pubs and bars near the office are great. The office is in the Colmore Business District of Birmingham, so on a Friday evening the bars are overflowing with young professionals, and there's a great atmosphere. If you're struggling for ideas, Google "livebrum" - it's got all the listings you'll need.

There were the social opportunities. I can't think of anything else though.