Corporate tax senior associate Review
at PwC
Higher Level Apprenticeship
Accounting
London
Review Submitted: April 2021
Overall Rating
2.6 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
2.5/5
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Overview of Role
2/5
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Skills Development
2.2/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
3/5
On a day-to-day basis I help my senior colleagues with various administrative tasks and general management of client accounts. I mainly work on Excel sheets and memos when there is an ongoing project where I can assist using my knowledge and experience from the training they provide. I also help out in the annual compliance cycle on many of my accounts.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
2/5
Personally, I have not enjoyed it as much as I expected. As my role is in a team which deals with client relationships, there are not many opportunities where you learn detailed accounting/tax knowledge in practice; it is more so that we need to be aware of the rules and regulations so that we can explain them to the client when prompted.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
2/5
I have definitely developed professionalism in this particularly work environment; I have improved in writing emails to clients whilst also speaking to clients on call and adding value with my input. I believe I have improved in my Excel proficiency and also in writing detailed memos/reports for client deliverables.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
1/5
From my experience, my training in terms of studying for exams is structured well with set dates for college and revision lessons. However, my training in terms of on the job learning has not been as well as I expected. I believe this is due to the lack of work being available and not enough time for seniors to explain work properly.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
2/5
Support is always available and they always let us know about the tools and things available for this. My current people manager has been really helpful and understanding of any of my problems and if I have any questions. However, I do feel like there is only a handful of people you can truely go to for help and support.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
2/5
The training provider gives us a set amount of time for college lessons and studying per exam but I believe more time is required. We are made to cram as much learning as possible only up to the point where we only just pass the exams. To fully understand the subject and content, a lot of extra time outside of work and allocated study hours needs to be put in.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
3/5
It has helped in some sense. But due to the broadness of accounting, not everything that I study is currently relevant to the role I am currently in. I have definitely come across many things which I have learnt in my studies but there is a big difference in difficulty between theoretical practice (studying) and actual practical scenarios.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
3/5
There is an abundance of social and networking activities at work. As my team is really big, we have many mini-team events as well as major teamwide events and socials. Before COVID, we had many social gathering activities taking place regularly. They are also involved in a lot of charity work.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend PwC to a friend?
No
Why?
From my experience and the friends that I know really well, I would not recommend. I believe that there are many other places where the learning and work environment is far better. They have a lot of perks for working here, but I personally don't feel fully comfortable in my role here.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to PwC?
The application process since I joined as changed quite a lot, but the principles stay the same. It is a long process and you should always research before going for it. They have a lot of opportunities internally to move around so once you are in and don't particularly like your role, then move as soon as you feel is right.
