Flying Start Degree Programme - Associate - Manchester Review

My role is in the audit department. This involves making sure that the financial statements published by a company are true and fair. I work in a variety of different teams from client sites all over the country as well as occasionally from our central Manchester office. This helps to ensure that every week is different, and I have a wide network of work friends. No two weeks are ever the same!

Whilst on placement I am contributing towards the chargeable hours needed to become an ICAEW qualified accountant. Doing a placement in audit has obviously helped develop my knowledge of audit that I began to develop at university. This helped me pass my audit and assurance exam last summer. Soft skills are just as important to me! Communication is vital in this job, whether it be with your team members, client staff or more senior staff members who are off site. I have had to have conversations with hundreds of people across my placements, and I now feel more comfortable meeting new people than I did previously. Placement is also very busy, so I have had to become way more organised. If you want to work, sleep, eat and exercise each weekday you need to run a tight ship! But once you're into the routine it becomes pretty easy.

Overall I really enjoy this programme. It can sometimes be tough if you are having to work long hours to get work done, but you do it for your team and your managers who you want to perform well for. It's great working with so many other young people, I've always had a great laugh in all of the teams I have been in. I was amazed at how young everyone was at first, even the managers and senior managers, so I don't feel like a junior member of the firm. It is also good rotating jobs so often. If you aren't enjoying a particular job, whether it be because of a commute or because of the client, it is nice knowing that you will be on something else within a week or two. This makes sure it never gets boring! Just to add, I have loved most of my jobs, and it is rare that I was wishing I could skip to the next!

Our placement timetable is clearly set out in advance. Once we get access to our laptops, our timetable at PwC will be full with jobs. It is busy season after all so there is always plenty to be getting on with. Everyone knows what to expect from people on placement and that we barely know a thing when we step in on the first day! So we start off with the easier tasks and then progress at our own speed as our placement goes on.

PwC are an amazing firm to work for. They take superb care of their employees and treat our wellbeing as their top priority. I am yet to experience any personal issues on placement myself, but I know of colleagues who have been allowed to take a day(s) off no questions asked if they need it for their own wellbeing. You aren't made to feel guilty at all for taking care of yourself, in fact it is encouraged! Personally, I am a big football fan. There has been numerous occasions when I have left client site early to go and watch my team play on a Tuesday/Friday evening, as my team know that I will pick up the lost time elsewhere. This is part of PwCs policy of flexible working. The pay is also good, especially overtime! Also, when we are required to work away from home, we have a great hotel and meal allowance, so you really do feel like you're living the high life! I would give this section an 11/10 if I could.

The best part about this programme is not having to study whilst on placement. University time and placement time are completely separate and we aren't expected to do any revision during placement. I don't know anyone who has voluntarily done any revision either! Once I finish university and start at PwC full time, I will be given weeks off to go to college and study to complete my final exams. I assume that I might have to do a bit of revision after work then, but from what I've heard from other people, teams understand that people may have revision to be doing so are careful not to overwork them with audit work.

What we are taught at university in financial accounting has definitely helped on placement. After all, we are required to make judgements about whether or not accounting treatments are correct so we need to know them ourselves! Our audit and assurance module at university also obviously helps, as it teaches us the basic principles of audit, but there's nothing like doing it for real as a way of learning.

Loads. At the end of every job their is a social where the whole team will go out for a meal and a few drinks (all paid for by PwC). There are also regular office wide socials where PwC will hire a place out and give us all free food and drink. I'm also on the 5 a side mailing list, so if I'm feeling up to it I'll put my name down for a casual kick about on a Wednesday night. The social aspect of PwC is fantastic.

Yes

All of the above mentioned reasons really. Flexible working, feeling valued, being part of some great teams, travelling the country, social events, competitive pay rate, no two weeks are the same. I was amazed when I started at some of the little things that PwC do that go a long way to make their staff feel important, even from day 1 of placement. I know a lot of my friends are jealous of the various things I get up to on placement.

Be ready to work hard but also be rewarded handsomely for doing so. The first few months of the year ('busy season') can be tough but its always worth it to be surrounded by such great people. Always try to just be yourself if you have an interview or similar as that's all you'll need to be once you're on the job.