Flying Start Degree Programme - Year 3 Review

Flying start 2. This is within audit at PwC. You are mainly involved in the testing and preparation for clients financial statements at year end. This involves interacting with members on your team from associate to partner level. You will also interact with the clients for the job you are engaged on. Each day contains various tasks, from testing the clients controls throughout the business across different financial statement line items and preparation of the annual report.

- Throughout this course I am on progressing to become a qualified accountant, therefore each year I am learning new subjects and skills, whilst taking some professional exams. - We have some internal training for PwC, to gain an understanding of the PwC systems and relative testing strategies. - I have learnt about the work environment through interacting with my colleagues and team members.

I really enjoy this programme. Whilst it is very challenging due to the fast tracked time to become a qualified accountant, it is definitely worth it. The course provides a strong/close cohort at university, allows you to live in/experience different city's as you can do your placement in a different city to your university and home. PwC is a great company to work for due to its size and large amount of opportunities available in it.

As Flying starts, we go into PwC in busy season, so the firm is especially busy across this period. The level of involvement within the tasks can vary based on the time and job you are on. This is also true for the level of responsibility you are given. As a part of PwC, I feel very valued and there is definitely a strong recognition culture throughout, from carrying out a single task and at the end of each job.

The programme is structured very well. They have a strong support structure in place, from the course we have peer mentors, friendly lecturers always willing to help, student committee etc. We have an induction week before each placement to ensure we know what to expect and prepare us.

We receive a lot of support from our training provider, this is across newcastle university and pwc. There is always someone you can contact.

We receive a lot of support within PwC. We each have a peeople manager, who we can contact regarding any queries/issues we have at all over our placement. The HR team is easily contactable and really good at accommodating you regarding your jobs and locations you need to be. We also have a course leader who works with both PwC and the university who we can contact for any problems. Each team has a strong support system in place from the managers and other associates on the team, there is always someone around to help.

Currently my salary/package meets my costs due to PwC covering the accomodation costs whilst on my placement in London. Therefore, I have my salary for my living costs in London and to cover my university costs whilst not in Newcastle for the 3 months.

Yes, this can vary depending on the team you are working for. Especially working in london, we have a lot of social events, including friday work drinks with either the team I am working with, or my university cohort in London. PwC also offer a lot of social activities throughout the firm, from football and netball teams, to the christmas events. They also offer a lot of offers and discounts for acitivities such as gyms etc outside of the office.

Yes

It is such a large business to be a part of with many opportunities available. Due to the size, you create a lot of friendships and business relationships.

Applying for my course I had very little past experience. I had not done any work experience therefore I had very little idea of what to expect. The application process and interviews were daunting for me, but there was no reason for them to be. The staff interviewing were very lovely and welcoming. Ensure you know about the course you are applying to, and research the requirements for the course and ensure you know ways in which you are able to demonstrate these requirements, so for our course the PwC competencies.