Tax Trainee Associate Review

I work as a tax trainee associate so I mainly complete data handling tasks to ensure we have all information from clients in order to prepare their tax returns. I am also involved in preparing tax returns for clients. I package returns and also submit to HMRC. I work on a variety of projects throughout the year as we have varying volumes of work.

I have completed my certificate in finance and business during my apprenticeship. This is the foundation level of ACA, so now I am moving on it has really helped me have some background knowledge. We attend fundamental principals training modules which give us income tax and corporation tax fundamentals and also give us the opportunity to put our skills into practice.

I really enjoy the school leaver programme as it has allowed me to be part of a wider team (compliance services) whilst still feeling like I know everyone I work with. PwC has a good company culture and there are specific parts which are especially useful e.g. flexible working hours. I feel like I have developed personally & professionally.

My course within work has been really structured and supportive. I feel college was structured well for our exams and all of our tutors were really experienced and helpful. However I do think that Kaplan were quite unorganised for our end point assessment which added a lot of stress and pressure to us as students as we weren't very well informed. However, this is no reflection on PwC or the apprenticeship.

We recieve lots of support from career coaches and HR. We have regular meetings with a career coach to do things like personal development plans and setting our objectives. We are always well informed about deadlines for internal processes as well as college dates from HR and help with registering for exams when Kaplan cannot help.

As mentioned above, for exams I feel very well supported and really enjoy the programmes. It makes it much easier to transition from school as it is equally if not better support than you receive at school.However during our end point assessment we had little to no information about what was required and when we did speak to our talent coach they didn't know much either. I feel this was the worst aspect of the apprenticeship and also one of the most important.

Some of the exams really help me in my day to day job for example principles of tax, tax compliance and business planning tax. We do not use some of the other modules as much as we dont work in these areas. The tax exam has been really vital and I saw a massive improvement in my work following this exam.

There are lots of activities to get involved in at PwC for example social events through the social club and sports teams through the sports committee. The social club in Birmingham is really established and ensures that there is a monthly social and other events e.g. tough mudder, bowling nights and Christmas events.

Yes

I would recommend PwC to a friend because of the supportive and flexible nature. It allows you to progress with your studies without necessarily going to uni, which is a good option for those who dont want to do a degree. There is a good culture at PwC and this is really important.

I would say to really practice the online assessments before sitting them as you may need to re-do these at the assessment centre. Try and do as much as you can during sixth form to show skills like leadership, so that you have lots of examples to use in the interview so you dont have to repeat yourself.