Assurance Associate Review

I enjoyed my placement because the 10 months was very worthwhile. Especially because I was in audit the work was very varied and I could get a holistic idea of the world of finance. The only negatives was sometimes it could get quite monotonous and some of the work is boring, especially when you’re junior.

My colleagues always made me feel valued in every situation. Whatever engagement I was on, I would always have worthwhile work to do, something that made a difference to the audit. My birthday was celebrated by my colleagues which felt really good, I felt that people actually cared about me and when I left I was given a good sendoff too.

I was given fantastic support by everyone above me. Each senior associate, manager, senior manager, director and partner that I’ve worked with has tried to support me in any way possible. On top of this I had a buddy and career coach that was available to support me whoever I needed it. The only complaint I had was when my career coach went on secondment, I wasn’t given a replacement.

During busy season (which is after a client’s year end) each day would be very busy. I’d have work to do from the moment I get in till I left (which included 12-16 hour days). However, during off times, like summer, I could be twiddling my thumbs for most of the day because there isn’t much work to do.

I was really happy with the amount of responsibility I was given throughout my placement. I was given the chance to lead major parts of audits with strict deadlines. It allowed me to flourish as I felt I couldn’t let the team down rather than just being given intern work to do.

I believe that the skills picked up will help me in the accounting/business modules in my final year but as I study computer science I don’t think they’ll help that much. I’m terms of Microsoft Office, the skills learned will be extremely transferable and using PwCs programming software will help me apply certain techniques in my degree.

The atmosphere in the office is always very upbeat and lively. Times when serious work is going on, people are hard at work but there are always socials happening to interrupt the flow. As the office is open plan, it's easy to approach and talk to anyone, including partners so make the floor quite friendly.

The placement wasn't organised as such in the sense that the work I was doing was the exact same as graduates. There was no intern programme or scheduled intern work to do which I could understand as it was a placement year. I would have liked an intern project/set task to do.

In terms of personal training and development, I believe no employer beats PwC at this. The amount of training that you take part in, and ACA material that you are given, all paid for by the firm is more than enough and should equip you with all that you need to succeed.

Future employment prospects were quite appealing in the sense that you see what you'll actually be doing if you come back after graduation as you're doing the exact same job. PwC's conversion rate is very good as well so you are almost guaranteed a graduate offer at the end of placement.

There weren't that many placement students in my line of service and business unit (only 3 of us) but we knew each other well and were friends. We didn't see each other that much as we were working on different clients but when we met up for socials it was always nice.

I'm not really the person to answer this question as I lived at home (in my parent's house) during the placement period and I didn't/don't really go out much. From speaking to other graduates it seems like an expensive place to live but not too bad for socials and nights out.

Again I'm not really the person to answer this question because, as mentioned before, I didn't/don't really go out but judging by the socials held and the nights out had by my colleagues the office seems like a prime location for a good nightlife. There are many bars and clubs in the local area.

There were a lot of opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. There are a number of networks (which are like university societies) which you can get involved in, including religious groups and others, in addition to social groups and any sports teams you might want to be involved in.