Flying Start Review

on a day to day basis i go into clients accounts and audit them by running a series of various tests checking for accuracy and relevance. On these placements we work solely on the year end audit of companies testing their year end accounts which produced their financial statement figures for the year.

I have learnt many new skills particularly with microsoft softwares such as excel. I have also learnt how to conduct myself in a work environment and how to act with their people to get the best response out of them. I have also learnt a lot about auditing companies and such,

On a scale from one to ten with one being i did not enjoy this at all to ten being i really enjoyed this i would rate my enjoyability of this programme at a 3. The study aspect is very enjoyable but the work aspect wth the time of year can be very stressful with long hours.

This programme is well structured with a lot of staff in roles there to help you with problems you may have. all the studying in final year is done in 2 months which can feel like a lot is being condensed and rushed which can make retaining the information more difficult.

There is support from the members of staff that do not work in assurance to help if you have problems or concerns. depending on who has been assigned you career coach effects how much support you get from pwc. With my people manager changin 3 times during this programme i didnt develop a relationship and they were not very helpful.

The support we receive is mostly in the form of lectures seminars and emails. The lectures range from 2 to 7 hours long. there are study and question books provided to us for free by the uni and they also provide us with printouts of all the notes at the start of the year

I think that my qualification definitely helps me to perform better in my job as accounting can be complex and knowing the intricate workings of the international accounting standards is crucial. Without the training course it would be extremely difficult to carry out my role effectively at all without any accounting knowledge

Yes, there are many sports and social activities to get involved with both in your large floor groups at the office or your day to day team which you carry out audits with. During the year i got involved in organising socials and attending sports events such as yoga, dodgeball

Yes

it is a good stepping stone especially if you want to start a career in accounting and get qualified as a chartered accounting as quick as possible without paying for exams or college time. There are a lot of opportunities and different lines of work you can transfer between if you want to try various things.

Tips or advice i would give to others applying to PwC is to explore your options outside of audit and especially look into tech. Audit can be very demanding and unless you are passionate about it you are unlikely to stay past the 3/4 year mark once you have qualified