Audit associate Review

I work in the assurance department at PwC. I have only been involved in year end external audits so far. I cntribute towards planning, execution and completion of the audits which I work on. Test of details is mainly where my time is concentrated. I am client-facing and so interact with the finance team of our clients on a daily basis, as well as keeping in communication when the team is off-site to clear up any outstanding work.

I have learnt practical skills which I could not have learnt from simply attending university and completing my course. The time I have had on placement has really allowed me to put my knowledge from University in to practice, whilst also allowing me to better understand my university studies from having first-hand experience in a lot of the areas that we learn about/ are examined on.

I enjoy my programme because it is varied. My programme involved placement, but over 3 years rather than 1 solid year of practical work. I feel like this breaks up both university and placement nicely and allows me to still enjoy both throughout the 4 year programme.

Feeling valued within PwC depends on the team I am working with. I find that most of my seniors appreciate my work and are happy to share this with me. Some managers are more hands on than others and some will communicate more with only the senior member of the team, allow them to feed back to the rest of us. I feel that sometimes the work you do can be taken for granted.

The programme is very well structured. We always have at least 1 week (sometimes 2) of training before we start our placement for that year. This helps to refresh our memory's on what we are expected to do at work. We also get christmas holidays and easter holidays around our placements - which helps to make us feel that we are still part of the university as other students also get these holidays.

The training providers change each year. They also give us their details in case we have any questions that we feel need answering. Whilst on placement we often receive a mid-placement email to check that everything is going okay. If certain students are working very long hours, they are often contacted by the PwC/Degree programme contact to check that everything is okay etc and that they are dealing with their work load.

We have a people manager at work who we usually see 3 times throughout the average 3 month placements. We have meetings to discuss how our jobs are going etc. We also have 'buddies' who are usually on the same programme as us but in the year above - as our course is quite small we all know each other quite well so there is a good support system in place. We also have a flying start champion in each office who has been through the degree programme and who sorts out our admin days etc.

I feel that our salary is in keeping with the cost we incur. I also feel that being paid for overtime is a positive addition to our pay - especially as we are only working in the firm for short periods of time, working long hours can be quite tough and gives the illusion that it is like this all year round as this is all we know of the business - and so being paid for overtime makes it feel more worth-while.

We have a social team within each office. There are many socials organised throughout the year - christmas parties, summer parties, end of busy season parties etc. This allows us to meet more people within the office, and also catch up with the people we already know, as this can be difficult throughout bust season and definitely helps to make us all feel that we are part of the firm (and just as much part of the first as the other full-time employees).

Yes

PwC is a firm that gives you a solid start to your career. I feel that it excels in allowing employees to complete their exams whilst also gaining the work experience necessary not only for the qualification, but also for the experiences required to become a chartered accountant and be good at your job. I feel that the pay for graduates of my course is fair for the programme we have been through, and in comparison to a lot of other graduate jobs, very good.

I would tell them to make sure that they know what they are applying for - for example try and get some experience in audit so that you know what the job consists of. Be prepared to work hard to pass your exams and also be prepared for long hours depending on time of year / the region / sector you are applying for. Try and get involved in as many of the activities outside of work as possible as you will meet so many people.