Senior Associate Review

My role focuses upon the audit of Asset and Wealth management companies. Daily tasks include review and testing of companies' financial statements to confirm the figures they report are complete and accurate. I work with a number of different teams throughout the year, which results in me working with different people internally and externally.

Prior to starting my apprenticeship, I had no experience or knowledge with Accounting. The job and the apprenticeship together, have both taught me a lot of new skills in both accountancy and audit. I have also been able to develop my time management, relationship building, technical knowledge and coaching skills.

The opportunity to join PwC on this programme has meant that I have started my career with a large group of people all in a similar situation to myself. This has been a great opportunity to make some really good friends who I can socialize with, but also turn to for help and support in relation to the job and our studies.

The structure and timeline of my programme is clearly laid out and is organised in such a way that I can gain good experience working in between studying for exams. PwC allocate a good amount of time for me to attend college as well as study in my own time.

My employer has a dedicated team in place that focuses solely on our learning programme. They are available to provide advice and support whenever needed. They run group meetings ahead of each of our sets of exams reminding us of the support we can receive whenever we are struggling. They also help us in scenarios where we may have failed an exam and can give advice and support regarding how to cope with such news.

PwC utilise an external learning provider that teaches us all the content, Kaplan. Kaplan are very helpful and provide us with a good amount of content. However, as a result of COVID, a lot of the teaching is now remote and self managed, meaning we are just given online lessons to work through. This is far less interactive than class based lessons.

In order to perform quality audit work, a sound technical knowledge of accounting is required. Without the qualification provided by Kaplan, it would be far more difficult to learn all of the technical knowledge required in our own time. A lot of the exams throughout the qualification follow on from one another in content, so continuing to return to these topics really cements the knowledge.

Yes, PwC have teams for a very large number of sports. On top of this, regular social activities are organised for a variety of different groups. We have meals or drinks events for audit teams, business units, social groups and even for the 'First five years community' which is anyone that is within their first five years at the firm. It is difficult not to find opportunities to meet new people.

Yes

PwC provides fantastic support to it's staff, not just in relation to the ACA qualification, but also with general day to day issues. We receive excellent healthcare benefits that include mental health support. Due to the size of the firm, it's a great place to meet new people and everyone is like-minded and friendly.

I would advise anyone wishing to apply to ensure they are certain they are committed to completing a further three years of study. Whilst the qualification certainly is rewarding, it requires a lot of hard work which may not be to everyone's taste, especially if they've just finished a degree.