Business Insight Week Review

There were three of us at my particular office where we shadowed 'buddies' in their daily tasks and learnt more about their jobs. We also completed tasks that they would typically undertake and had the chance to sit in on client calls and talk to many employees within the company. We also had team projects to work on with other students to present back to the company on our final day in the Birmingham office.

We received laptops for the week to allow us to access the tools used by employees of the company and were shown how to use these on the first day. Throughout the week we were taught how to complete tasks for real projects and received guidance and support with this. Targeted skills include communication and presenting as we were required to deliver a presentation at the end of the week and speak to many different people along the way.

The week was overall enjoyable as the employees were extremely welcoming and helpful - I felt that I really learnt a lot in the week. The company is fairly relaxed but also very professional creating a comfortable working environment and enjoyable experience. The other students were also friendly and really contributed to the enjoyment of the experience.

The initial application is lengthy but realistic for future jobs and provided good practice for the future. Providing all the correct information after receiving an offer proved more difficult as there were many requirements sent in many different emails all with different deadlines and various contacts. This made it difficult to organise especially as the regional office was far from home so it was difficult to perform tasks such as the passport verification. During the week, everyone seemed organised as much as they could be.

During the days in the offices we were fully immersed in the company, dressing for the day, meeting employees from all backgrounds and experiencing the true daily life as a PwC employee. Directors went out of their way to answer and questions we had about the company and to share their personal experiences with us which taught us a lot about what it would be like to work there.

The work experience week is a pathway into a few future options such as the apprenticeship and the flying start degree programmes. We received information on this and got a true insight into the accounting and finance business sector making it easier to see whether this is something we truly want to go into.

The salary was impressive (£9.64 per hour for 37.5 hours in the week) and was much higher than I was expecting. Travel to regional offices such as trains to Birmingham were paid for by the company and if needed accommodation was booked and paid for making the experience accessible to people from all backgrounds.

A large proportion of the time at PwC was spent meeting employees of all levels and backgrounds including high level directors and apprentices of only 19 years old. This was good to find out more about the different routes you can take into the business and useful for making contacts if you have any questions or need any advice in the future.

Yes

The experience offered is something you can't receive elsewhere and can lead to incredible future options at the company or elsewhere. The experience offers an insight into the sector that you can't find online and could only experience at a company like PwC. Without the experience you will never know if this is something you could see yourself doing for the rest of your life.

Be prepared for the application process - look at the tips and advice on the website and use the opportunity to learn for the future. PwC value diversity so put across and emphasise what makes you different or special as they will value this more than 10 grade 9's at GCSE's (I know people who were rejected at the first stage with top grades whereas I was accepted with lower grades than them). With this, make sure to state whether you have had any extra help such as free school meals as I believe they take this into consideration as a way of giving opportunities to those who may be less advantaged than others.