Flying Start Degree Programme - FS2 London Embankment Review

My seniors assigned a number of areas to me and subsequently coached me to complete testing to a high standard and up to their expectations. Being able to work from a variety of environments - office, client site and home, I was given exposure to a different working experience every week. My seniors were always helpful and friendly which made me feel comfortable and learn many new skills.

I have learnt a number of new skills including a deeper understanding/rationale behind testing i.e., not just performing the task but also why we perform the testing. I understood the company's internal system and how to use resources available to me efficiently. My proficiency in Excel greatly improved which saved a lot of time during documenting.

I enjoyed the programme a lot. I had a number of people supporting me throughout, be it staff members, team members, my career coach or flying start champs. Everyone made it comfortable for me to ease into the office environment. I learned that I do not need to be tense while at work. People are fun and make the working environment enjoyable.

It is structured well. We have an introduction followed by training before kicking off placement, Throughout the placement we have wellbeing checks as well as regular training to be completed which helps us in terms of professional development. We have regular meetings and catch ups with our career coach/flying start champs to see how we are getting on or if we have any concerns we would like to discuss.

We receive support from a number of people such as our team members or peers, managers, buddies, flying start champs, career coach, programme manager and contacts from our university who are always in touch. We regularly communicate with them throughout the placement which makes this journey easier as we are not alone.

We receive regular communications from our university and they regularly update our portal with content or questions for us to work through to prepare us for exams. We also have resources from the ICAEW which we can use in conjunction with the content from university to revise and prepare.

There are many parts of the modules we learn on paper which can be applied to practical work. For example, the audit and assurance module is a good start for us to understand the reasoning behind performing audits and how an auditor should act on the job e.g., exercise professional scepticism.

There are many regular social events and other activities at work or when we are invited to attend at external venues. There is a variety of events to attend. This year during my placement there were some great ones such as the international food festival. Also, it is also common for the team you are on to have drinks/social to get to know each other outside of work,

Yes

Being one of the leading accounting firms in the world it is no surprise that I would recommend PwC to a friend. The work environment is lovely, be it your own peers or any member of staff, everyone is helpful, friendly and always willing to offer a helping hand. I have enjoyed my time here.

I would say just go for it. It may seem daunting at first - I have been in the same situation. But once you get into it, you realise it is actually not that bad at all. As mentioned previously, from my experience everyone is welcoming and friendly and makes it easy to settle is as a new joiner.