This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
Personally I didn't love the job. I was working in audit which can be quite repetitive and involves a lot of sitting behind a laptop looking at spreadsheets. I think that it was a good insight into the working world and there were some aspects which I didn't mind, but overall I don't see myself working in audit.
I could not have felt more valued. I wasn't treated like an intern at all. There were two managers in my time who both had different approaches, but who both were the nicest people you'd ever meet. I went through a bit of a hard time outside of work during my internship and my manager could not have been more helpful. 10/10, a really great company for building relationships.
Again, my managers were very helpful and guided me throughout the internship. I had absolutely no experience in audit before this, and so no one expected me to be an instant genius in every aspect of the job. When I was doing a good job, I was told that that was the case, making me feel like my work was being valued.
Very busy. The company we were working on had just passed their year end, and this is the busy season for audit workers. My team regularly stayed until after 10pm. This was not entirely expected of me, but there were a few weeks in which I stayed from 9am until 9pm in order to help the team out. I think I got quite a realistic introduction into what working for PwC in London would be like.
I was given as much as I could be given. As an intern, my knowledge in audit was limited. I was given a lot of tasks which were explained to me clearly, but I was not solely responsible for any of the tasks I was doing. This is understandable as I have absolutely no qualifications.
I'm not sure how applicable the skills I have learned will be in my degree studies, but I think I have gained invaluable life and work experience which will assist me greatly when trying to get a job after university. I have definitely learned that in the workplace absolutely everyone makes mistakes, it is more to do with how you deal with the mistakes you make.
The Company
This is hard to say as my specific team was in the middle of a very busy period, but the general vibe which I got from the rest of the office was that it is a very friendly and inclusive place to work. I could see that lots of people in different teams were good friends and a lot of people seemed to do things together after work too which is good to see.
I can't really fault PwC in how they set up my internship. I was always given work to do and was told why I was doing each task. When I came in to work I knew what I was supposed to be doing most of the time, and when I wasn't sure I was immediately led in the right direction.
In the first 3 days of my internship I was put up in a lovely hotel for training. After that, I felt that when I was in the office my superiors always had time to help me out whenever I needed it. The team really cared about my personal and professional development.
Financial Bonus
Company Parties/Events
Above 25 days holiday
Working from home
Within my line of service, not overly appealing. Within the company however is a different story. I think that PwC would be an absolutely brilliant place to work. The atmosphere and incentives offered are amazing, and after starting off on a relatively average salary you can make quite a lot of money if you stay further into your career.
The Culture
In my office there were around 60 interns, so yes. With that amount of people it is easy to find people with similar interests and I found that everyone was keen to make friends throughout the duration of the internship. I'm sure I will keep in contact with a few of them.
Expensive. My internship was in central London. I got lucky in that I have a friend who goes to Imperial who let me stay in his flat for the duration, but if this was not the case it would have been an incredibly expensive 6 weeks. I think everyone knows this about London though.
There were a few good student bars close by in which you could get reasonably priced drinks and food, but in general the places available were quite expensive. Certainly different from what I was used to, but not terrible. I'd definitely prefer to go for a night out in Belfast or Edinburgh.
Initially I inquired about some of the sports teams within the company, but I never heard back from anyone. I did hear of some of the interns getting involved in the badminton team, but I never got the opportunity to join an activity which I really wanted to do. I think the opportunities would be there if you really searched for them.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
London
July 2019