Assurance Intern Review

The introduction to the internship was very good fun. A hotel was hired for us and we had a number of events including with Partners and Directors fitted around our classes. Then when reaching my office we had more introductions and even had a meal arranged for us with the interns from the previous group. Because there is so much to learn the internship is enjoyable.

I was able to do some very meaningful work that had a large impact on the entire team. For that they were very appreciative as I saved them a lot of time. Interns are also allocated a Career Coach who will look through feedback and review it back with you.

My Career Coach gave me lots of advice about my development within and outside of PwC. I was considering the different Lines of Service available and my Career Coach put me in contact with Managers from various departments. Most Managers will be very happy to sit down with you and give advice.

As an intern the responsibility for an audit does not fall on you. I found that I was never working crazy hours, just the standard 9 to 5 is plenty. Most of the time I had some work to do, and if you ask for more work there is always something that you can do. I found that I had to be a little proactive to get work, and I would advise networking with colleagues surrounding where you sit who could potentially also find things for you to do.

I have had one to one meetings with clients to collect data within days of joining PwC. The responsibility is very good. You have to manage your own time, as throughout the working day you will have emails from other employees and other things to do. The internship is not just shadowing somebody.

I was able to cement my knowledge in accounting which will help with the final year in my Management degree. Additionally, regardless of the direction of my career, accounting is always a very useful skill to have. By auditing you get to look at the big picture of organisations and understand what makes them tick. I now have an insight into multiple different businesses, a great skill to have.

The office is amazing. It is very modern but also perfectly thought through. I have worked for many businesses in the past with messy and old fashioned offices, this is certainly not the case. It is open plan so you can sit near the colleagues who you work best with. There are also events that take place after work, such as Quiz Nights. This together creates a really good atmosphere.

The introduction was perfectly organised. In the hotel the team had though of everything, even food for those of us arriving late on the day before. The training sessions were following a structured agenda, and taught by great people. The work and organisation from then on depends very much on who the manager is.

PwC invest highly into making sure we are knowledgeable before we begin our job. They provided us with a brand new laptop to borrow and all of the equipment. This meant that we could get involved in the job as permanent staff do. The time that Management put in to ensure that the interns were happy was great.

PwC seem keen for interns to stay with them. We have already gone through the recruitment process, and therefore if we prove ourselves on the internship we are likely to get an offer without further applications. PwC have a really good structure in place for development within the firm. If we receive an offer and take it we will be on the graduate scheme.

All of the interns from my office were taken for a meal on the first day. This is a good opportunity to bond and exchange numbers. I bumped in to other interns on projects and around the office. It is good to have others around who are in the same boat and can be spoken with.

Bristol is a city and therefore the prices are not so low as surrounding areas for living. There are great train links into Bristol if the living costs are too high. I still live with my family so commute by train, with a Rail Card the prices are reasonable. There are so many places to eat for lunch or go out for a drink after work in the surrounding area. Even every Thursday there is a food market with great lunch food.

Bristol is in my opinion the best city for nightlife in the South West. People come to Bristol from surrounding areas such as Bath because it is so good. Aside from clubs, there are a lot of bars and all of them are relatively good value. Bristol is very well linked, and has Uber, so to get home is easy even if you live far from the clubs.

My internship was over the summer and I just missed the summer party. There are social clubs and sports clubs within the business for staff to take part in. Although interns are not there for long I see no reason why we could not take part. We also have events in the top floor of the office, which is a large social space. This includes quizzes where they also provide food and drink for example.