Women in Business Review

The Women in Business insight programme was enjoyable as not only was I able to meet other people my age experiencing the same programme but I was also privileged enough to work with two Senior Associates as well as a Managing Director. To top this all off, the managing director that I was working with took the Senior Associates and I out to dinner one night which was extremely fun and a great networking opportunity.

The work that I was doing was being used directly in part of a project that my department was involved in. Even though this was basic PowerPoint and data collection skills it still felt like my input was valued as I was able to contribute, giving me first hand experience in the work that PwC do.

The managing director who I was working with at the time was extremely busy with huge projects and so I did not really get to speak with her that much as she was constantly running around at meetings and in conference calls. However, I spoke a lot with the two Senior Associates who were on the same project team and they were extremely friendly and helpful!

In terms of skills for my degree, during the week I was mainly performing basic IT tasks and so these skills are not directly transferable to my current Law degree. However, in terms of communication skills, this week really pushed me out of my comfort zone in that I had the opportunity to speak with professionals in a field that I am interested in pursuing.

The insight was well structured, with half of the first day being dedicated to an induction where we were shown how to use the laptops. This was extremely useful as the people I was then working with throughout the week would have been too busy to show me this! The Friday afternoon also had an evaluation of the week with all of the other insight students,

Everyone was extremely friendly and there was a relaxed atmosphere and so I did not feel out of place at all.

The evaluation at the end was particularly useful as I could compare my experience to the other students who had also been on the insight programme. This enabled me to reflect on my time at PwC and assess the ways in which I had developed. The two employees who ran this evaluation invested their afternoon with us doing this.

It was an extremely eye-opening experience and particularly enjoyable too. From the week, I have learnt that this is a career which I would like to follow and PwC seems to be an absolutely excellent place to work and so I would be honoured if I was ever able to go back there to work.

When speaking to some of the employees I learnt more about the company, including the fact that one day a year everyone has the day off to do some volunteering or charity work. I also learnt about the wide range of sports and societies that the company runs as well as other interesting initiatives, allowing me to understand the company culture.

The insight week confirmed for me that consulting is an area which I would like to work in in the future, which is now really helpful in terms of applying for things in the future! Before the week, I did not really know a huge amount about this area of work, however, I now feel that I am extremely informed about this.

I was paid very well for the week!

I was very lucky in the fact that I was able to speak in depth with two employees in particular, learning about their career path and how they got involved with PwC as well as the reasons why they decided to work there. They also spoke to me about both the positive and negative aspects of the job which was very honest and insightful.

On the second to last day, I was privileged enough to be taken out for a meal with some of the other employees at PwC. This seemed daunting at first but in fact it was a fantastic networking experience in a relaxed setting. This is something which I didn't think would happen but am very grateful that it did.

I was informed a lot about this, from the cycling across the country to the company triathlon relays to watching the London New Years fireworks from the office building. There are also a wide range of sports clubs as well as charity work that the employees can get involved in. I was surprised by the such wide range of societies.

Absolutely, and I have already recommended it to two friends already. Even if a friend isn't sure about the career path that they want to follow I would still recommend it as it eye-opening to work in such a huge professional services firm. PwC also has a number of different departments so that people can narrow down the area of work that they want to experience in the insight week.