Intern/Trainee Review
at PwC
Degree Apprenticeship
Business Operations
Leeds
Review Submitted: February 2022
Overall Rating
2.4 /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
3/5
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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:
2/5
General low importance business tasks; proof reading slides, updating spreadsheets. Generally not asked to do more meaningful project tasks, though sometimes I am asked to step in and do these. Not making use of Computer Science degree at all - it's entirely business stuff. The "Tech" part of the role is a bit of a misnomer - it's business.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
3/5
Do not enjoy the work at all. Either high stress with tight deadlines or very dull with few tasks assigned. Never really feels rewarding. That said, the people on the course are great and I've made lots of friends. The university side of the course is great, and it is a good deal. It's just the work that isn't very good.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
3/5
Was given a small amount of training - one to two days (new joiners at PwC usually get 8 weeks!) There is the opportunity to gain certifications in various things, such as Azure, AWS, Salesforce etc which are fully funded by PwC which is nice as they can be used for other roles too.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
2/5
Structure is pretty simple; time is broken up into full time university and full time work - it's nice to not be doing both at the same time. The work placements themselves however are poorly structured; we are not provided much information about when we will be changing projects or what they will be.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
2/5
Plenty of support is available - we are provided with a "career coach" which is a senior employee meant to provide coaching and advice for your career. Level of support depends on how interested in helping you your coach is. Often there isn't much they can actually do to help however, other than just follow advice.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
2/5
Some support is provided, depending on the qualification. In general it is up to you to find resources and time to study - some projects will not give you the time to work towards them so you will have to put it on hold or study in your own time, which is not ideal.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
1/5
I have not used any of the qualifications for my role at PwC - as far as I can tell resourcing for our level pretty much ignores experience and qualifications, placing everyone on random projects even if we have found one ourselves that would be a good fit. Do not expect to choose what you are working on.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
4/5
There are lots of opportunities for socialising and meeting new people. Regular after work meetups (strong drinking culture though, which is not for everyone - I do enjoy it). Regular in person meetings with lots of different grades in attendance, along with occasional in person training classes which usually come with social activities.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend PwC to a friend?
Yes
Why?
Despite all the problems with the actual job, they've paid for my degree and given me a wage for 4 years while at University which is a great deal. The degree apprenticeship overall is a great thing to do, but afterwards I do not plan to stick around - I will be looking for a company that is interested in making use of my skills and pays a competitive salary for someone with a computer science degree.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to PwC?
Don't apply if you aren't a fan of business. Some roles are advertised as "tech" but by that they just mean using software that is slightly technical in nature. If that is for you though, you will probably enjoy it here and I imagine a lot of the problems will go away once you have more experience/are more senior.
