Business Insight Week Review

Shadowing various people who work in PwC in 3 different lines of service. Talking to lots of other workers to gain an overview of what happens in PwC's different departments. We were given a project to do over the week in groups of 4, involving research and ending in a presentation on the Friday.

Communication skills, presentation skills (required to do a group project during the week culminating in a presentation on the final day), teamwork etc. During the first day we were given a detailed overview of the 4 main lines of service and we completed group activities / case studies pertaining to each, so my skills/knowledge of business definitely improved.

I thought it was great - I loved asking everyone lots of questions and everyone I met was not only polite, but willing to go out of their way to help. Before I went on it, I knew I wanted to pursue a higher apprenticeship with PwC but I was unsure which area I wanted to go into; after completing the week I now have narrowed it down to a specific area (GM tax). Without this work experience I wouldn't have been able to discover how much this area suited me / how much I would enjoy it.

Very well organised. We had regular emails leading up to it and PwC was frequently in contact with information. Throughout the week we had laptops, email, calendar etc so we were provided with all the tools we needed to emulate a week as a PwC employee. In terms of the actual people we were shadowing, they were in charge of what we did on that day so some of them were more organised than others.

Prior to coming to the work experience I had seen videos on PwC's youtube describing what it is like to work here - having been here and met people I can say that they are definitely a true reflection and I can definitely see myself fitting in. Literally every single person is lovely and gets on with each other and the office as a whole is really chill. You can wear whatever you want / work at whatever times you want which really gives people more freedom than they might have at other companies.

It definitely gave me a useful insight into the professional services industry and helped me narrow it down not only to which line of service, but which team within it that I want to join. I'd recommend asking the people you shadow to organise meetings with their colleagues who work in different sections of the same line of service, so you get an idea of what other people in their department do as well.

You can claim travel expenses if your base office is different from your regional office (because some people were at a different office Monday/Friday than the rest of the week) or if you have to set off earlier than 6.30am to reach the office. Meals and snacks/drinks are provided by PwC on the Monday and Friday but the rest of the days you have to bring your own or bring money to go and buy it somewhere.

Yes, but these were organised by the people we were shadowing, so make sure you request 'can I speak to someone who works in ... team in this department?' for example, to make sure that they do this for you. I met lots of people in different teams and had a couple of video calls with people who worked in niche areas in different offices.

Yes

I think more people need to find out about the higher apprenticeship scheme PwC offers because you get a full ACA qualification (for tax and audit) and your learning materials are fully paid for, as well as earning a salary and bonuses each July - definitely better than university so I'd recommend it to anyone who wishes to enter the professional services industry.

Just go for it. The application process is quite long so don't get demotivated by the long waits inbetween each section - it's worth it because if you do decide to embark upon a school/college leaver programme with PwC you get to skip most of the application process. For the video interview make sure you do your research about PwC and I would advise keeping a notepad and pen so that you can keep track of what you are going to say. Some people do an assessment day rather than an interview - as long as you contribute to your team without dominating the group you will meet the criteria. Make sure you research the 'PwC professional' on the website because this gives you all the qualities & skills you need to demonstrate and are being assessed against. The number one most useful tool you have at your disposal is the PwC website, everything you need is on there. Read it through, make notes, familiarise yourself with the company and you will be fine.