Business Insight Week Review

I was shadowing employees each day. This meant I was to complete tasks that they set me and watched how they worked in tax and assurance.

I have learnt new skills when using ICT, such as using programmes like Excel to create spreadsheets of information. I developed my existing 'people-talking' skills when I had to speak to clients.

I really enjoyed my programme as I wasn't really sure what to exactly expect, especially when working in tax. There was times where I had nothing to actually do, but with that time, I was able to just explore the PwC website and write my blog. Everyone I worked with were lovely and they happily answered any of my questions.

Every time I completed a task, each buddy always showed their gratitude and explained how much it would help them in the long run. It was all internal recognition, and by the people I worked with/shadowed.

You spend 1 day for induction where you learn how to use your laptop and learn more about the company. Days 2-4 are spent in an office where you shadow employees, or if you're lucky enough, get to go out to a client. Some days I feel had a clear structure and my buddy knew exactly what they wanted me to do, whereas some just 'found' tasks for me at the time. Everyone was very supportive, and happily answered questions. It felt relatively organised, but there was quite a few times when I was just sat around.

I had lots of support from PwC in the induction. They gave us lots of information on how to use our laptops and how to deal with common problems. They even did a section on first impressions and helped us portray our confidence.

When we worked in the office for the 3 days, we received a buddy who was to look after us and answer questions. They were the first person who we could ask to help us if we had any problems. They seemed generally interested in worked with us and trying to teach us some skills.

PwC reimburse any travel costs that aren't to your base office, which is quite helpful when you're booking train tickets that exceed £100. The salary is approx. £290 for the full week which I feel is extremely generous as I would have taken part in the work experience for free. It's nice to see that they reward our hard work.

I was told by my buddies that there are opportunities out side of work, as there are lots of social events which they all seemed to rate. I didn't experience any of these opportunities as I only worked for a week, but they did sound extremely fun!

Yes

This Business Insight Week that I attended allowed me to get to know PwC, as well as them getting to know me. Everyone was lovely and they all said they enjoyed their job, even when the days were long and there was lots of work. They had a great work ethic and really looked after you.

My tips would be to look on the website and gain as much information you can. The online tests are hard, but there is plenty of practice tests on the PwC website to help you and there is lots of advice too. The phone interview sounds scary but again, PwC have lots of information on what to expect on their website, which can really calm your nerves. Don't worry if you don't know an answer to a question, be honest and they will help you out. I would also recommend to start looking into business issues and watching the news so you have a basic knowledge on what's happening in the world.