Trainee associate Review

I sit in a private client tax team some of the more compliance work we do is personal tax compliance e.g. preparing and filing tax returns. Some of the advisory work involved Inheritance tax advice, CGT advice, many other taxes. I generally assist senior associates and managers on projects and help out where I can i.e. drafting reports, emails and risk/billing.

Yes I have learnt an array of new skills. These would include networking skills due to being in such a large team and gaining exposure to various networking events. I have developed more technical knowledge whilst being here, this is down to both studying for my professional qualification and also on the job learning/research tasks.

I really enjoy my programme and this is mainly down to the people I work with and how well I've integrated into the team. I also enjoy my programme as I know how much experience/knowledge I am gaining which will be invaluable for me in the outside world.

We had a good induction in relation to the firms policy and what will be expected of us within the first few weeks but we had no formal training in relation to risk/billing processes which we had to learn ourselves. However, sufficient support is available in the team and people are normally happy to help.

We receive little support from the HR team and receive the odd email every couple of months, seems like a bit of a disconnect between us and HR. In terms of having mentors and the sufficient support, the team are always happy to provide any support if you reach out.

Our training provider provides the appropriate exam support when we are at college but the tutorials do always seem rushed and there isn't enough time to cover the content within the allocated college days. The tutors are generally happy to answer any questions outside of college but it is largely up to you to learn the material.

The qualification I am studying towards is providing me with relevant and appropriate knowledge for me to use in my day to day role. You are also able to pick option papers which you think will be most relevant to your team which will make the studying again more worthwhile.

Yes we are starting to have more regular social events internal and external which are really useful to meet the wider team whom you may not speak to in the office. I'm not aware of any sports clubs within my team but there have been irregular football games which would be fun.

Yes

The experience you get at PwC is second to none in respect of people interactions and client exposure from day one. You are able to get involved in a variety of work and this makes the job really interesting. There is lots of opportunity for movement into new teams, service lines, to different countries and that is exciting

Make sure you are suitably prepared for your interview i.e. having real life examples of certain qualities, where the firm has been in the news recently, their goals etc. I would say the most important thing is to seem keen and motivated to learn and this will play a large part on the outcome of the interview.