Business Insight Week Review

I shadowed an employee from the department called Delivering Deal Value, which is part of consulting. He was analysing PwC's revenue from projects with private equity firms and updating financial reports in time for meetings. I also met associates from strategy consulting and HR, who told me more about their respective roles.

I realised that knowing Excel in detail is really important at PwC since the financial reports are all created on Google Slides and require regular updating. Good knowledge of Google Visio is also helpful as many client proposals are planned out on the flowchart-based software as well.

I loved the very flexible and chilled-out culture at PwC. Meeting the very friendly employees and networking was a great opportunity. I enjoyed visiting the data lab as the building is amazing. Seeing my buddy work on financial reports was very interesting and he also spoke about how he travels around the world regularly but it was a shame that I couldn't attend any meetings due to confidentiality or visit a client as part of a project since he wasn't working on any at the time.

As part of the application process we signed contracts which meant we understood the confidential nature of business at PwC, however we were still not able to attend any meetings or work on any tasks related to live projects. Although I learned what type of clients the company work with, I wasn't able to get a hands-on experience about what it is like working with them.

My buddy was not working on a project during the course of my programme, which meant he was working on some tedious financial reports. However, he did arrange for us to meet some senior employees, his friends at the firm and visit the data lab. There were times where we had nothing to do and did not get to meet a wide range of people across departments apart from consulting.

My buddy answered all of my questions to the best of his ability, introduced us to lots of his fellow colleagues at the company and tried to involve in his work regularly. His informal attitude made me feel very comfortable and we also had lunch with him everyday.

PwC gave me lots of tips and enhanced my skills to make my future job applications stronger, although this information was very repetitive from the Assessment centre. They provided us with laptops to stay connected with each other at the company and collaborate.

£10.20 per hour for a 37.5hr week in Central London was a nice treat during my summer holiday, however the salary was being paid out one week after the Business Insight Week. This meant buying my own lunch and transport was becoming quite expensive by the end of the week. They did not provide transport for everyone but daily commutes can become costly for the 1h journey I had to do every morning and evening.

The employees at PwC have amazing relationships with each other - going out for lunch, nightouts, weekend plans and even travelling around the world as secondees. I loved seeing how they interacted with each other in an informal manner. They also have many volunteering hours from the company to engage in community service and charity work.

Yes

PwC is ideal for anyone who loves travelling and meeting a massive network of clients/colleagues. If you enjoy analysing the sustainability, credibility and efficiency of business operations, PwC is the place for you. The chilled-out working environment and stunning London Bridge office is so welcoming too.

Strong academic background, confident presentation skills, articulate and approachable personality ready to meet thousands of people - these are the top three qualities you must have to secure a job at PwC.