Financial Crime Analyst Review

The work placement was enjoyable at times. Throughout the year I received a variety of training sessions that improved my soft skills and project specific skills. The client work lacked variety and I struggled to stay interested. The placement advert was misguiding and I was not allowed to rotate projects or service lines as promised. On the other hand I can take away a number of positive things from this year. I have experienced working for one of the Big Four and I was given the opportunity to interact with the client daily.

I liked how I was treated as if I was an associate. My team were very welcoming when I joined and I got on well with them. Most of the people on the project were enjoyable to work with. Managers are quick to praise those who do well and it is easy to stay unnoticed. On the final day the goodbye should have been in front of everyone.

My progress was regularly checked by my career coach and team lead. I was given support and guidance all year by a number of people. They showed genuine interest in what I said and they wanted me to do well and improve. There was always help available if you proactively searched for it.

I was either training or on a project for the whole year except for one week. For the majority of the year I was kept busy. During the busy periods there was more work if you asked for it. There was always the opportunity to work overtime hours but sometimes you were forced to work it.

I was mainly responsible for my own cases whilst working for the client. The checker and team lead also had some responsibility. The amount of responsibility you are given is partly dependent on your quality whilst on the project.

I have developed presentation skills and valuable soft skills (communication, teamwork and integrity) which will greatly assist me in the future. The knowledge I gained about the client's systems will not assist me in the future.

The atmosphere was chilled for most of the year and there was plenty of banter in the office. The atmosphere became stressful nearer to the deadlines which is to be expected. Some people talked too much and needed to calm down during these times.

We were well informed of fellow placement students in order to organise a place to stay. The organisation of the training and support was very good and I was put onto a project after a month. The BP Project was organised months in advance. The leaving process was rushed and we weren't told what we needed to do on the last day.

I was provided with project training which helped me to understand the policy and the background behind the project but not the systems or the procedures. I received soft skill training sessions that helped both on projects and with the end of placement presentation. I wasn't given the chance to complete a professional qualification though.

Doing a placement year at PwC will be very beneficial for my future employment prospects. I'm not sure if PwC is the right organisation for me - I will have to explore different lines of service.

On the first Friday of every month PwC hired out a bar for employees to socialise and there were also a couple of separate social events throughout the year. The social scene can be good if you are willing to get involved in it. I have been lucky enough to make lifelong friends who are both placement students and colleagues.

Accommodation is considerably cheaper than in England. Everything else was similar in price.

I had a lot of fun nights in the Cathedral Quarter and the Botanic area. There were pubs, clubs, events and festivals in close proximity to the city centre and office which weren't too expensive.

There are plenty of opportunities on offer, you just have to get involved in them. For example there were regular football games and you were able to run in the Belfast marathon with colleagues.