Business Insight Week Review

Business Insight Week mainly involves shadowing 'buddies' across the different lines of service that PwC provides, experiencing the work that is done for clients and even having the opportunity to try some actual client work yourself. There is also the opportunity to network and get to know lots of people with different backgrounds, and develop communication, presentation and employability skills. We were encouraged to blog about our experiences, and on the final day we created a business presentation that we presented to the other Business Insight students, the student recruitment team and PwC associates.

I was able to develop my business skills, having gained an insight into how audit works and what services different clients require. I gained networking and communication skills as we were always encouraged to get to know people and were given guidance on how best to network and leave a good first impression. As well as this, the client project allowed me to develop my confidence and presentation skills, and again we were given very helpful and relevant advice on how to present in a confident and engaging way.

Business Insight Week was a very enjoyable experience in every way. It was great to be able to work on real client work from the get-go, as well as having the opportunity to meet with professionals and build networks. Everyone I met was very professional but also friendly and showed an interest in my background, and our buddies even took us out to lunch on the final day - a fantastic experience!

From the beginning it was clear that PwC value Business Insight students very much, having offered to cover expenses and even entrusting us with £1000+ laptops! Everyone's (even a partner!) willingness to give up their time to talk about their career and PwC highlighted this even more, and being allowed to work on an actual client's project showed that we really were valued. It genuinely felt like we were part of the team for those few days, and our buddies at the Birmingham office taking us out to lunch to a local restaurant made this certain.

The whole experience was quite well organised from start to finish. Before the week we were sent detailed descriptions of our timetables, what we would be doing, what to expect and what would be expected, and I was contacted by the people I was expecting to meet, which alleviated my fears in the run up to the week. During the week, my buddy scheduled my meetings and tasks which meant there was always something to do.

The induction we received was insightful and detailed, and I felt what I learnt was enough to complete the rest of the week successfully. It was useful to get to know our coordinators and how we could contact them should we need to, as well as what we should try to achieve by the end of the week.

My buddy was always open to answer any questions I had about PwC, career opportunities or the work we were doing, and the guidance we received throughout the week on employability, presentation, making impressions and networking was very valuable. The support and guidance we received on all the routes into a PwC career was very helpful too.

The pay for the week was excellent and more than enough to cover travel costs.

Since we were at PwC for only a week it was difficult to experience anything else, however everyone I spoke to from the different departments all agreed that PwC is a very social place to work with plenty of social activities and clubs to get involved with, as well as the company's huge voluntary initiative. Personally, with the Birmingham office being in the city centre it was great to be able to go out for lunch, and there was plenty to see/do while waiting for trains.

Yes

Business Insight Week is a unique and insightful experience that will motivate and inspire you. You will be able to build a network of professionals, as well as develop important skills for life and in the workplace. You will meet ambitious professionals and people that have already achieved a huge amount, and be able to fast track yourself onto one of PwC's school leaver/degree programmes.

Practice verbal and numeric reasoning tests before attempting the actual tests - plenty can be found online. For the telephone interview be well prepared. Research in depth the company and the services it offers, and know why you want to apply to PwC and what you hope to get out of Business Insight Week. Try to always use the STAR structure in your interview answers.