Business Placement Review

The placement overall was a very enjoyable year at PwC, the work was interesting, the days busy, and the responsibility was high. Business Placement students are able to become accountable for their work and are treated not as placement students, but instead as adults at the same level as those who have graduated already.

On a whole, the staff at PwC are very friendly and extremely welcoming from the get go. Placement students are provided with a great support network that allows you to feel comfortable and air any doubts you may have quickly and get the required help quickly. Managers also make you feel very valued for the work you produce and will always give credit where credit is due.

Management and other supervisors are present throughout the whole year when a business placement student at PwC. From day 1 you are assigned a personnel manager that looks after you throughout the year and has regular check-ins to provide any help necessary. Management are also very keen to see you improve throughout the year and are very approachable at all times. Management never fails to recognise hard work.

Work was very busy from the get go, as soon as you are assigned to a project, there is work to be done. Although there are less intense periods, mostly the days a packed full of work with plenty to keep placement students occupied with. There is always more work if you ask for it.

As mentioned previously, you are not treated as a student, but as every other employee at PwC. PwC provide plenty of responsibility throughout the year and you are accountable for your own work. Having said that, there is always help provided if it is needed, which is a great balance to have.

Since being on placement, I have been able to develop many hard and soft skills throughout the year. Your analytical skills are tested and improved everyday, whilst your soft skills such as interactions with clients, or conducting presentations are also improved through coaching during the placement. All these skills are transferable to university when attending final year.

The general atmosphere at PwC is very calm and relaxed. Staff are always able to help whenever you may have a problem, and even in busy periods, employees will make time. However, sometimes when there is a lot of overtime worked, the atmosphere can drop at times but this is to be expected of long hours in busy periods.

The placement was very well organised, I was placed on a project from the get go and provided with the relevant specialist training that would be necessary when moving onto this project. There was also plenty or organisation surrounding the end of placement presentation that we were made aware of months in advance. There was slightly less communication than would be desired towards the end of placement but it does come in the final few weeks.

Within the first few weeks of the placement, I was provided with specialist training to move onto my first project, of which was very practical and necessary for the project. Placement students also received coaching sessions in soft skills throughout the year that helped both on projects and with the end of placement presentation. There are also on demand training sessions offered throughout the year and virtually.

PwC is a great firm to have a placement year, as they provide you with increased commercial awareness on a daily basis and you are given responsibility from day 1. This makes PwC a very attractive place to work in the future and their grad schemes are definitely worth applying for.

Throughout the year, there were several business placement socials held both inside and outside of work. These allowed to us to mingle with each other and develop friendships, which are especially beneficial if you are far from home. PwC do try and create a great placement environment and do regularly connect students together throughout the year.

In belfast the cost of living is lower than in England, of which was a nice surprise when coming from England. There was also a great amount of events and opportunities to socialise throughout the year to the university life in belfast and the placement events held with PwC throughout.

The nightlife in Belfast is good as it has a very university like feel to it. However, as a placement student you sometimes want to move away from that and there are more expensive bars to cater for that in Belfast as well. However, bars close earlier in Belfast which took some getting used to.

PwC offer many out of work activities that you can get involved in outside of work, such as sport clubs, sports tournaments, volunteering and music related events. These are advertised throughout the year and participation is encouraged as a placement student, but completely voluntary. Time outside of work can be easily filled.