Assurance Summer Intern Review

Overall the summer internship has been a great experience. I was able to get stuck in very quickly and given much more responsibility than I imagined. I have been able to follow a project through, which has given me a greater understanding for the audit process and given me a chance to be able to speak to clients.

My colleagues could not have welcomed me any more! They always took the time to explain things when I did not understand and they trusted that I could get on with the work and ask questions when I needed to. They were friendly and always happy to give me advice.

I was assigned a 'career coach' and a buddy throughout the process. This has given me someone that I can always turn to and ask for advice. We were also able to set goals and request feedback from colleagues which has given my the chance to learn and grow from my experiences.

Throughout the internship, the team have general utilised me as much as possible. Excluding the odd occasion, I have always had work to be getting on with. Occasionally I had to stay late nights to help finish on tight deadlines. Although this was not something i particularly enjoyed, it gave me an accurate insight as to what a graduate job at PwC would involve.

I was generally given a lot of responsibility to complete tasks (known as EGAs). On my first day on client site, I was already going to speak to the client. This was a bit daunting but the steep learning curve meant I quickly adapted which has given me a greater resilience for the future.

Without a doubt, the skills I have learn from the internship will help me for the future. The technical work allowed me to quickly assimilated information which will be valuable to my final year at university. The non-technical skills, like building relationships, communicating and leading myself and others will also benefit my degree and beyond.

The office has a 'dress for your day' scheme which I really liked.. This meant you could come in casual clothes when you weren't on client site. The office as a whole was friendly and there were always other associates to talk to and learn from. Overall a positive environment.

The internship is very well set up. You attend a 3 day residential course for the first three days, which gave me a great chance to network with other PwC interns from up and down the country. Following this, I was assigned work where work was available and help required.

The career coach assigned to me took time to ask how the internship was going and allow my to ask any questions I wanted to. If you do well on the internship, the firm may offer you a graduate job which is a great incentive for the future! However, as it is a big firm, it is sometimes hard to get to know people personally.

I have seen both the positive and negative to working at PwC. It is a fast-paced and competitive environment, which is very exciting and good salary. However, employees often complete a lot of overtime, particularly in the busy season which is somewhat unappealing to me. This makes revising for exams very difficult for the associates.

Colleagues were always happy to socialise. I was based on an away job which meant I had to stay in a hotel. The colleagues always had dinner with me every night and this was a great way to get to know them and helped build the team environment at work.

I was based in and around London and so prices generally tend to be expensive here! Although this isn't desirable, it is somewhat unavoidable if you want to live and work in London! Other offices are available throughout the country if you do not wish to live in the city.

The office is near London and so the nightlife is generally very good. There are plenty of bars, pubs and clubs which provide an excellent chance to socialise the PwC colleagues and get to know them. I didn't have much chance to go on socials as my placement was only for 6 weeks.

As my placement was only 6 weeks, there were limited opportunities to get involved with socials. However, I am aware that there are plenty of social activities when you permanently join the firm (sports clubs, social days out etc). This is an attractive place to work if you enjoy these sorts of things. P