Associate Review

On day to day basis i am an auditor on this placement. This means that i had an audit team and engaged in calls with the client and sent them requests in order to gain appropriate audit evidence to show that their financial statements are accurate. this involved testing over material items in the FFs.

i have learnt and developed lots of new and existing skills on this placement. My excel skills have once again been improved learning and perfecting lots of new shortcuts in order to make me faster at my day to day job. My accounting has also improved, cementing my knowledge of debits and credits and how changes in the P&L affect balances in the SoFP

I absolutely love my programme. The best thing about it is that lots of the summer exams at uni count towards accreditations meaning we need to do less extra exams once we leave to become chartered. The placement is also loads of fun with friends on the course and we are all in it together starting and finishing at the same time. Its great fun and cant wait to do it into the future!

The programme itself is very well structured, with modules specifically chosen and exams written so that they go towards the ICAEW accreditation. Our learning is all done in the first term of university, then we work on our placement for second term and finally revise and take our exams in the third term. Then it all starts again the next year!

We receive so much support from both our employer and the university when on placement. We have a buddy, career coach, x flying starts, our audit teams and the people who organise our whole placement and work as the bridge between the university and PwC. All of these people are easily contactable and very helpful for any situation.

Our university provides lots of support, we have both lectures and personal tutors who help with anything also not academic. Although we only see these once a year, i havent found any need to see them more. Our tutors are very good at teaching the material as they have worked in industry so know their stuff!

It is absolutely invaluable! as well as helping me have a better understanding around audit methology, it also is what allows us to have exemptions from ICAEW exams and to eventually become chartered. This is obviously vital for career progression if you are looking to go on to become a chartered accountant.

There was an event called first 5 years which was business unit specific which i attended at the start of this placement. This was great as it gave an oversite of the whole business unit and helped to mould where we might find interesting to progress to in the future.

Yes

PwC is an incredible firm with incredible people! It provides so many extra perks for its workers such as the gems recognition platform, taste cards etc. I also work in a state of the art office, with different tables and booths depending what is needed for both me, my colleagues and our teams.

Research the firm before you apply. In the interview you need to show that you have passion for helping solve important problems and provide assurance to society. Also you need to understand PwCs business model with separate sub units and understand what different jobs these sub units perform and why you might prefer or be more suited to one in particular.