PwC Higher Apprenticeship Review

Management Consulting Apprentice: 8 month rotations through internal and some clinet facing departments in the Consulting Line of Service My current rotation is in the Operatoinal support of the graduate programme - running utilisation reports and sending on analysis to the senior partner for the competency, organising and facilitating focus groups for the graduates, attending and participating in leaderhship meetings for the graduate programme, liaison with associates for recruitment events and final assessment at the end of the programme, liaison with student recruitment to maintin diversity and ethical standards in the progress to inform senior people in the business, orgaising away days and informing associates of any new initives in the business that affect them and the contact for any issues around Retain (resouce booking system) and GFS (on-line timesheet).

3 Qualification whilst in my 2 year apprenticeship: Higher Apprenticeship in professional services through EOS, Diploma in Consulting Practice - workbook and evidence based and the MCA ( Certificate in Management Consulting) through BPP. Extensive Learning and Development training available - Excel, GFS, Iris, Retain etc. on technical software training Extensive personal development networking events with leaders in industry and informaiton events/lectures about sectors and comeptencies

It is a great programe that has given me the opportunity to gain a real insight into what it is to be a Management Consultant in a leading professional services firm. So far, I have worked in a small team with a very nurturing line manager. She has invested so much time into my development and takes a real interest in what I want to get out of the rotation and helps me to find areas that might interest me in the future. It has far exceeded any expectations that I had for the Apprenticeship - to be honest I do not think I expected anything as I had no idea what it was going to be like, being such a new programme I feel that some of the things that I do on a day to day basis are more adminstrative than consulting but this may be due to the specific rotation - we often are encuraged to give feedback at any point. This has been feedback and steps have been taken to change this perception.

Yes! We are valued thorugh feebdack from a variety of grades in the busines - I do feel that people take an active interest in my development and genuinley want to help me further my career.

It is still a very new progamme. I feel that the overall organisation of the programme is good but there can still be improvments especially with the liasion and communication from the professinal qualificatoin providers and PwC especially the EoS department! The support is great as we are given protected time every Tuesday afternoon where we can focus on our studies in order to pass our exams and maintain a work life balance The induction could be more detailed but we have fedback on this also and we have been invited to set up a focus group to do this.

BPP on the whole are very good and have a good open door policy although the teaching stand is vaired There have been significatn teething problems with our diploma qualification provided through EoS. We only were allocated our assessor for the workbooks in lat January when we had already completed 3 taskbooks with no direction and there is often 3-4 days before she contacts us and readily will cancel meetings and not propose new times - this has also been raised to the firm and they are dealing with it.

What ever I need - people will wokr hard to do what they can or point me in the right direction of the best person to talk to. EG) My parents have recently seperated. I spoke to my Line Manager who suggested I speak to our HR department. They spoke to me in confidence, gave me a contact of an impartial conselling service provided by the firm and gave me 4 days paid leave to care for my mother who was taken very ill under the circumstances. This was above and beyond what the firm was required to do and what they lay out in their contract or on any information for time off.

On the whole - vey well they tailor the salary to the region and therefore, living in London, it is ok. I live at home and am looking to rent but I am worried that I would not be able to afford anywhere where I would feel safe and comfortable as a woman with my salary at the moment. I am fortunate that my parents are willing to assist me with this.

Company Events and information about industries/services etc Voluntary days (paid 4 x a year I think?) - very supportive Community Affairs department encouraged to go into local schools and companies to promote apprenticeships (I have met Boris Johnson, Nick Clegg and spoken at a conference as a result) I have been given the opportunity to be quoted for an article in the Times. Great variety of sports clubs and networks thorugh our internal socail network outside work: see friends who are home from uni, play and train (x3 a week) for a high standard Ladies 1's hockey team, coach U16 boys team, Vice President of my hockey club, sing in a community choir, go to the gym, relax at home, spend time with family

Yes

The focus on “its people” really attracted me to it and I was sure that I would be supported in every way possible to achieve my dream of having long-term success in business.

The application process was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I was applying to university at the same time and so I think this made the difference even more apparent. Whereas the UCAS application process is all based on one application, with a personal statement, the application process for the Higher Apprenticeship programme was far more rigorous. There were 5 stages to my application process (Application form, Psychometric testing, Telephone interview, Assessment day and Final Interview). This meant I had to be consistently strong in a variety of different areas to exceed. This was only made harder by the competition being so high with, an average of 12 applicants of every place in the nationwide framework. PwC however, did provide a lot of support and the careers website was a great resource. The firm also contacted me after my assessment day in order to help me prepare appropriately for my final interview. I found the assessment day a really interesting experience as it enabled me to meet other candidates and start to understand more about the firm. From my experience and talking to colleagues the crux of the application is the psychometric testing. In some instances, the applicants are such high achievers academically; they tend to assume that they can do the test with no or little practice. This causes a lot of failures at this stage as it is not a lack of intelligence, it is, like any other exam, a lack of technique and awareness of what is required. The best tip I would offer is to advice the young person to practice 1 or 2 tests of numerical and verbal each day for 2 weeks before the test. This will help the candidate understand what is required and feel confident going into the test and pass to the next round with ease. I believe that the application process is the area that school leavers may require the most support as it is so different to anything young people have encountered before. In my case, I found that my school had really helped me to be prepared for the application as the firm focused on my extra-curricular and leadership experiences as well as my academic qualifications. They emphasised that they were not looking for the finished article but for candidates with potential who were eager to learn. As the Apprenticeship programme is relatively new, school leavers will need support to help them make the most of their skills and experiences, so that they can demonstrate their potential to employers.