Associate 1 Review

I work in the Investment and Insurance division within the Assurance area of PwC. I am at an Associate 1 Level. My daily interactions involve working as part of a team in order to complete tasks and record evidence required by ISA's. Being a less experienced member of the team, many of the tasks I complete are quite basic such as selecting items for testing, reviewing board minutes and other administration tasks in order to keep the Audit file clear and easy to follow.

I have learnt how to navigate through the programme called Aura that is used to record all tasks and evidence that we obtain, and is the main programme that we use at PwC on a day to day basis. This programme performs many different functions and has lots of different views, so there is a lot to be learnt. I feel my skills in Aura will develop even further as I go through further placements. In addition to this, before I started on placement I had a basic knowledge of how to use Microsoft Excel. Since beginning placement, my skills in Excel have improved greatly and I am able to perform a number of functions that I was not able to before. Working in a team has also made me become more flexible in terms of adapting to different peoples work styles and personalities.

I enjoy my programme very much. I feel the teaching we receive at University is to a very high standard and we are given a huge amount of support. I feel the combination of lectures in the Autumn term and Placement in the Spring term enables us to gain the most out of what we learn, as we gain knowledge and are then able to apply it to the real world of accounting. I sometimes feel the tasks I have to complete on placement can be quite tedious but this is to be expected when you enter a team as the least experienced member. I also feel there is a great sense of community and friendship amoungst the students on our course and everyone is very supportive of eachother.

I enjoy my programme very much. I feel the teaching we receive at University is to a very high standard and we are given a huge amount of support. I feel the combination of lectures in the Autumn term and Placement in the Spring term enables us to gain the most out of what we learn, as we gain knowledge and are then able to apply it to the real world of accounting. I sometimes feel the tasks I have to complete on placement can be quite tedious but this is to be expected when you enter a team as the least experienced member. I also feel there is a great sense of community and friendship amoungst the students on our course and everyone is very supportive of eachother.

I feel the course id very well structured and organised. We received a lot of training and support pre placement which eased our nerves as it can be quite daunting entering a very large office for such a huge firm when you have no previous experience of working in a work environment.

Every student on our course is assigned a People Manager when we begin placement who is our point of contact whilst we are on placement if we have any issues or concerns. I have already had two meetings with my people manager with whom I have agreed objectives against which I will be assessed at the end of my placement. In addition to this, I receive a lot of support from Flying Starts who are in years 3 and 4 at Univeristy. I have been assigned a buddy who is in year 3 at Univeristy who is very helpful. In addition to this, there is a flying start champion within my office who I can go to if I have any problems.

As above (my training provider and my employer are the same company)

I feel the salary we receive at PwC is very generous, but deserving taking into account some of the long hours we have to work. The transport costs in London are generally quite expensive but the effect of this is mitigated as I do not have to pay for my accommodation in London. I have found that general living costs in London are much more than I spend when at University in Reading. I hope to have saved some money by the end of placement, however I am unsure if this will happen!

There are many social events that take place outside of work such as Final Friday drinks etc. However, I feel as a Flying Start that it can sometimes take a lot of courage to go to these events as we are much younger than many other employees and it can be hard to find common conversation, especially as the conversation seems to revolve around work experiences and we have only worked for the company for such a short period of time. In the evenings after work, there is a gym within the building that we live in so I go about 2/3 times a week.

Yes

I feel PwC is very supportive and they invest a lot in you and want you to succeed. However, saying this, they expect you to work hard in order to receive the benefits and rewards that they offer.

I would encourage people to be well prepared for their assessment days, through finding out background information about the company and through preparing answers to the core competencies that PwC seeks to find in all its employees. I would also encourage people to believe in themselves and be confident and not to be put of by other people who appear to know more or who appear to be more self assured than you.