Work Experience Student. Review

As part of the Business Insight Week 2016 (August during the Summer holiday), I was expected to help assist the PwC Audit team in daily work. This involved work with spreadsheets, talking to PwC team members (often to ask to ask for help), and researching clients, which for me involved one day at a client base (a golf club being audited).

Daily Microsoft Excel work meant that I quickly picked up this skill, because almost all of our work involved bank statements, balance sheets, and other data manipulation, all needing to be presented clearly. Communication was an important skill which although I didn't require for the first two days, I had improved a bit towards the end of the week.

I did enjoy a lot of the week. The first and last day were based in a London office with other work experience students. These days were great fun, since teamwork was required for the many activities we were tasked with. The work during the middle three days veered on the boring side, since it was slightly repetitive. However this was more than made up for by a great fun team to work with, who all got on incredibly well.

I do feel very valued by PwC- I was trusted with a laptop to complete all my work, and my team placed emphasis on the importance of work I was doing. This work wasn't at all 'made up' for me to do, but a part of the real experience.

The programme was fantastically structured with regards to the support given before and after the week itself, and during the first and last day in the London office. The days with the auditing team were less structured, with work given only at the beginning of each day.

A lot of support with regards to opportunities outside of the Business Insight Week was given. Support from my team was also very good- if I was stuck, the team (who were all under 30) were happy to help.

The HR team was quite helpful in assisting with a problem I had during the week about a mentor being ill when she was supposed to be with me. Other than that, not much support was necessary during the week.

All travel expenses to the London office were paid for, and journey's to my home office, Reading, were not paid, but this cost me very little. The wage was the living wage, which covered these very well.

One objective of the Business Insight Week was to inform us of the opportunities that PwC provided after school ended. A sponsored degree was the main opportunity here, as well as Internships.

Yes

A good wage and friendly team made this a very enjoyable and worthwhile programme for me. I have chosen not to take up the offer of the flying start degree, but it was useful having these opportunities available.

Research PwC, its core values, and the economic situation affecting the way it does business thoroughly, in preparation for an interview. I would like to have been told to ask as many questions as I could about opportunities after the Insight Week- they are very valuable.