Apprentice Review

While at University I am a normal university student attending lectures and tutorials for a degree in Computer Science. I am able to join University societies and I am a part of the athletics team where we train up to 6 times a week. On placements I am based in the Leeds office and I am placed in tech teams where undergraduates are placed on summer placements.

During my degree there has been a strong focus on programming. In particular in C, Java and Python. This is a skill which I first leaned at high school however, since starting at University I feel like this skill had been taken to a much higher level. There have been much more complicated tasks which I have been given and a greater focus on industry standards within programming.

This opportunity has been the best outcome that I could have had coming out of high school. I was unsure whether I wanted to go straight into work or go to University. This programmed has allowed me to do both. I am still able to have the "University experience", meeting loads of new people and making new friends. While on the other side I am earning a salary and gaining vital work experience. This means that I don't have an extra pressure when finishing my degree about debt or what working life will be like.

This is the first year the program is being run and it is very clear what the objectives and expected outcomes of the program are. Years 1, 2 and 4 are simply the three years of the Computer Science Degree with 2 summer placements and a year in industry in between. The placement information is always given in detail much closer to the placement start date since the specifics depend on what projects are available at the specific time within the company.

We have regular meetings at least once a month with members of the company. Whether that be a tripartite meeting to catch up on how we are doing individually or with current workers in the company to share their experiences on projects that they are currently working on to give us a better idea of what to expect on out placements.

We have a personal tutor which is our first point of contact for all issues related to our degree and the University of Leeds has an open door policy which means we are always free to knock on our tutor's door whenever we have a question to ask them. Modules leaders and lecturer's also have an open door policy in the case that we have more specific subject questions.

All the modules covered in the qualification have both theoretical and practical applications. This means that when ever we go into a project we have a fuller understanding of the problem in front of us and we can create solutions independently rather than being told how to do everything and following a set of instructions.

We can join University societies for example football, rugby, hockey, etc. There are also social events organised by people in the office which happen monthly. Within the University there are also guest lectures and programming evening from industry professionals which allow for opportunities to network and ask questions from professionals in different companies to which we work in.

Yes

There is a great range of areas which PwC covers that are not simply accountancy. There is also a very diverse work force meaning that younger professionals work along side older more experienced professionals. This allows for a really fast but manageable learning curve for anyone new to the company.

It is good to have a solid idea of the sort of work PwC does, range of work that it covers and the sort of clients they work with. It is also helpful to be an outgoing person and good at creating relationships as there is a range of clients that they work with and you will need to understand what they expect at a short notice.