Flying Start 2 Review

My main role was as an auditor as part of the audit team for the client; HSBC. I was involved in the impairment team for the most part. My main role involved tasting the reasonableness of the judgments, assumptions and analyses used by HSBC management, and ensuring that these are both compliant with policy and appropriate. Furthermore, I was also involved in day-to-day coaching of the new joining employees in our team to guide them through the impairment testing process.

I learned several new skills including presenting, coaching, while also improving my skills in checking the reasonableness of assumptions and teamworking. I learned my coaching skills while coaching the new joining AS1's along with some newer Senior Associates through the audit procedures our team follows for audit testing. This was because I had done similar work in the placement prior to this and had a good understanding of the work we need to complete. Furthermore, as I started to take on more complicated cases and look into customers with more judgment involved, I was involved in presenting my cases to the director and partner in charge of our audit. This improved my presentation skills as i gained confidence in presenting and improved my presentation over the course of the numerous presentations over my placement period.

I enjoyed my program a lot as I learnt a lot over the placement, was given more responsibility than traditionally allocated to an intern. I was also recognized by my team members, managers, and upper management, including the partner for my hard work which motivated me to continue to work hard. I also enjoyed making several new friends over the course of this placement.

My course is very well organized, as the placement and university program is split in the second, third and fourth year, which keeps our experience fresh in our minds and allows us to apply what we have learned in real work. Furthermore, as work life is different from university life, it keeps each semester different from the next which is also something i enjoy. The only downfall would be that we do not interact with the other flying starts in other universities during our placement time, and we do not get much time during busy season for our placement.

I receive a lot of support from PwC as we are allocated a career coach and a buddy, who can help with any issues we face over the course of the internship. I also recieve a lot of support from my audit team members, and managers who are always willing to help and clear any queries or doubts that I have even if it is not strictly regarding the line of testing I am involved in. Some of the senior team members have put in the extra effort to teach me things I did not know before just because I wanted to learn it.

I receive support from university from our course director and the module lecturer who constantly uploads tasks for us to keep learning the exam content and practice questions. Furthermore, since we have a tutor at university, we can always go to them for any support when it comes to balancing study life for the qualifications and work-life to meet experience requirements

Although the content in some of the modules within my qualification helps me understand the basics of the background and understanding of how my work affects the overall balance sheet, it does not affect my day-to-day role as much as i am involved in a very specialised part of the audit, which is especially in a bank - which is very different to traditional businesses that we normally learn about during the course. However, it helps gainging an overall understanding of what impact my work has as a whole.

There are several sports, social activities and networking events at PwC. I made it my goal to go to every social. From ice-skating, to darts, and axe-throwing, to bowling, or just dinner and pub - there were several socials over the course of the placement where I could interact with my colleagues outside the work environment and meet more people from PwC. There were also sports events like a team gym circuit training session, and a dodgeball event, which was also fun.

Yes

Because I enjoyed my placement, made several good friends and I enjoyed the work-life. I found that i enjoyed the company of my colleagues there and had a good experience overall at placement. Although work life can include long hours, I found that it is rewarding as your team members recognize your hard work.

I would advise that team-work is one of the most integral parts to being a part of PwC. A lot of the work responsibility involves helping the team achieve an overall goal, even if it means working hard, and staying long hours, or picking up someone else's work due to some other pre-occupation they have. I found that if you contribute work towards your team and are a good team player, you will be recognized for your work in the company