Work Your Way Up At PricewaterhouseCoopers

PricewaterhouseCoopers is one of the world’s largest professional services organisations, working with a huge variety of clients - businesses, charities and even governments – helping them measure their financial performance and improve the way they work. This could involve conducting audits of their company results, giving them tax advice, or pointers on how to manage their risks more effectively.

We’re the No 1 Graduate Employer of Choice (The 2005 Times High Fliers survey), recruiting over 1000 students into our firm each year. Not only this, but we also recruit around 150 school & college leavers to join us as Accounting Technicians, Tax Technicians and Gap Year placement students.

Our Technicians and Gap Year students started in September 2005 and we asked two of our new recruits to tell us how they have found life at PwC so far.

Rachel Preedy is an Accounting Technician in our Central London Assurance team. “My first impression of PwC was that it is a polished, highly professional, welcoming place. On my first day I arrived feeling excited, curious and of course very nervous, but I immediately knew PWC was going to be an amazing place to work and my opinions since that day have developed, not changed. Working for the firm really does feel like I am part of something very special. It is a Company I am not only proud to be associated with, but also comfortable within, and that I feel is an area which deserves real emphasis for anyone who is considering a career with us. The support, help, guidance, opportunities and encouragement given to joiners is really great. 

My expectations of the role of Accounting Technician, were however slightly different to the reality of my career. I knew that I would have to work and study hard to be successful in becoming qualified as an accountant, but putting this into practice is somewhat different. The learning curve is steep and the training to begin with feels intense, but I have never felt out of my depth due to the support from my colleagues and tutors - everybody is encouraging and helpful.

On a day to day basis there is a great deal of variety in what I’m doing and I love the fact that I am able to work in so many different environments, with varied clients. The list of things I have been doing since I joined is quite impressive within such a short space of time. The initial two week induction training was a great experience for me and most definitely made me feel at ease amongst my peer group. The learning during this period was thorough and challenging but always interesting, and most of the time fun, thanks to our tutors.

I have since worked on two different clients, being based at each one for around a week. This was invaluable experience for me, as I learned valuable new skills to take with me to future assignments. I know for sure, although it has only just begun I am on a journey to places I want to go.”

Philippa Hammond is one our 2005 Gap Year students, working as part of our Public Services team in Bristol. “On day one  I had almost no idea what to expect – a week to learn about the world’s largest accountancy firm, 50 new people and 101 different financial and audit terms certainly seemed a little daunting. Nevertheless, our induction week was fantastic!

As well as learning everything from what an audit entailed to intensive double-entry bookkeeping, we also mastered the ins and outs of ‘business casual’ dress code and practised client interview technique. And after completing a simulation of what a client audit would entail, we ended the week tired but with huge amounts of new knowledge, not to mention a laptop and a PwC hat!

In the evenings we tried our hand at dragon boat racing, a karaoke night and a pub-quiz, all of which were great fun. Everyone quickly got to know one another and we bonded immediately. It was soon obvious I had nothing to worry about and one of my first impressions of the firm was how open, friendly, down to earth and welcoming absolutely everyone was. The training week was a great opportunity to get to know new people and make new friends as well as developing the skills I needed to get started on my new career.

On my first day in the office, I was assigned immediately to a client job. This was daunting, but also exciting and challenging. Since then, I have discovered huge amounts about how individual businesses work and I have received a great deal of help and support when I’ve needed it. I have definitely developed a new perspective on the world of work - sixth form life seems so far away but I’m really enjoying the experience!”

If you would like to find out more about life at PwC visit our website. We also run a number of Schools Open Days for Year 12 & 13 students across the UK – check out events near you and register your attendance via our website. These events are a great way to develop new skills and expand your knowledge of PwC.

Visit www.pwc.com/uk/careers or call our Student Recruitment Helpline on freephone 0808 100 1500 for more information.