Associate Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at PwC, I felt the work I was given was varied which allowed me to get an insight into different aspects of the company. The people I worked with were very welcoming and made me feel at ease throughout my internship making it a much more enjoyable experience.

Every member of staff I worked with at PwC were all extremely welcoming to the extent that even from day one I wasn't made to feel like a new starter. I felt I was given a lot of responsibility on certain jobs and had quite a lot of interaction with the client, this made me feel valued and as though I was making a significant contribution to the work.

On day one of my internship I was assigned a People Manager, this is someone who you can talk to about any questions you may have throughout your internship. I had regular meetings with my People Manager and he was able to advise me on how to go about getting experience in different areas that I may be interested in with in PwC. The amount of guidance on each job varied, some jobs I felt a bit more thrown in at the deep end, whereas others my supervisor would show me step by step what I would be doing on the job. If I had any questions people were more than happy to answer them, allowing me to do my job to the best of my ability and gain a greater understanding as to why certain tasks are carried out.

The amount of work I had varied from job to job, The first week of my internship I spent down in London on a client site. I was very busy in this week as I had to collect evidence from the client. All evidence had to be gathered before we left and hence meant for more work in a shorter time frame. When I was working in the office, I had a little less work to do, however this was useful to complete e-learns to further my development and also complete other admin tasks.

I feel I was given quite a lot of responsibility throughout my internship, on day one I was working directly with the client, asking them questions and gathering evidence. When in the office I found the work to be very independent, you are expected to manage your own workload and complete tasks to set deadlines. There isn't anyone continuously looking over your shoulder making sure the work gets done. This responsibility is good as it allows you to manage your own time and get tasks completed more efficiently.

I will be going into my final year at university after my internship. I feel the skills learnt at PwC will be transferable to my dissertation. For my degree my dissertation is more of a group project. I feel I am a lot more confident working with different groups as I have had a lot of experience with this at PwC. I also feel I will be able to show good leadership with in the group and feel more confident in putting forward my ideas.

The general atmosphere in the office is very relaxed, the use of large tables to work on means you can communicate with your colleagues whilst you're working. This has many advantages especially when you first start as you generally have lots of questions so this makes it easy to ask those to the people around you. There are also lots of booths around the office so if you want some quiet time to really concentrate this allows you to do so.

The first few weeks of my internship were very organised, I was on allocated jobs and spent the whole week working on them. However the last two weeks of my internship have been a little less organised, at times I have found myself with no work and have had to ask other colleagues if they have anything I can help with. This has been difficult at times as it is hard to fully get to grips with what you are doing if you are only carrying out a small task for a certain client.

I think PwC offer great employment prospects, at the end of the internship there is the opportunity to get a graduate job offer. The graduate scheme seems very well structured and allows you to gain your ACA qualification whilst also working and gaining experience within PwC. Career progression seems good within PwC, I feel the correct guidance and support is available allowing you to progress your career and take control of what you want from working with PwC.

I have made strong friendships with all the interns I have worked with, we regularly would communicate in a group chat and arranged an end of internship meal out. It was nice to have people to speak to who are experiencing the same thing as you. Also one Friday the team I was working with all went out for drinks after work, I feel this is a nice way to fully get to know your colleagues and helps you integrate within the group.

The cost of living depends very much on where you are staying, I personally commuted from home every day which meant I spent quite a lot of money on travel. In terms of eating, there is an M&S below the Leeds office, however if you are on a budget there is also a coop opposite. This is good as there is choice around the office meaning you don't have to spend a lot of money on food if you don't want to.