Associate Review
at PwC
Degree Apprenticeship
Accounting, Finance
Birmingham
Review Submitted: March 2023
Overall Rating
3.9 /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!
3/5
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Overview of Role
4/5
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Skills Development
4/5
-
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
Any form of help with audit engagements either the planning or completing tasks to ensure that the accounts and FS of the company your team is auditing is true and complies with relevant laws and regulation. This might be either remotely or in office with your team and either from home, the office or at the client's office and this may mean that travel is necessary for work.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
3/5
I enjoyed it, however i was abit unlucky in the sense that for the two major teams i was a part of i was not working directly with them in the office but from home meaning that communicating with them took longer as i felt a bit less motivated. However everyone i came across was very nice and were able to help and always tried to respond as fast as possible meaning that i did not feel left out. The same can be said about the people in the office they are very kind and approachable. Also the work was not extremely hard nor very easy but a nice middle ground of challenging but enjoyable as you can see that as you go along you expand your knowledge and develop
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
4/5
You learn many new skills and develop new ones too. While working with your team you develop your team working skills and that is important as working with the team means that there are deadline for which your work must be completed so that other people can do their work. Also you develop time management skills as with some of your work there are hard deadline where work must be done by but also soft deadline where work should be done and this mean you will have to prioritize work accordingly. You also learn how to use systems which help you to communicate with your team and actually do the audit work.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
3/5
It was pretty well structed they had arranged a schedule for me ahead of time so i knew who was on my team and what client we were working with. Also they ensured that we had received enough training ahead of time meaning when we first started that we were able to progress on our work. Although the first day was not brilliant in that some people were not sure who they were working with or where their team was as either they had not communicated with the team or vice versa.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
5/5
I recieved a lot of support from my employer and this is seen as for my placement i had to go to another city and this was arranged for me by the employer who gave accomodations and made sure that the commute was not especially long. Also they made sure that we had to travel to somewhere thanks to the work we had been assigned that we would be able to expense it which meant that we did not need to use our money to complete the work. Also in office there were always people who were able to answer any questions we had tech related or not
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
3/5
as this is a degree apprenticeship I received sufficient training from my uni who built a solid foundation of theories and concept that i would need to know for my time on placement. Then the employer themselves provided us with two weeks of training where we were able to learn about company specific policies and processes and programmes meaning that when we started we were not lost but understood what we would be doing. The training from the employer was good but could have been better as it was a general training and not tailored for specific situations which quite a few people found themselves in like a unknown type of audit.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
5/5
I believe that the qualifications that i have/will gain will be vital and important to me becoming better in my role as they will help me to gain a better technical knowledge of the field so that when i am doing my work i will better understand what should be happening and why it is not if its not going as expected.
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 quite a lot of extra-curricular activities that take place at work for which you can take part and when working with your team there are often activities that take place that allow you to relax and socialize. These activities can range from bowling, to drinks, to go karting, to dinners and many many more. Furthermore some are free whilst others are not meaning that it is something that anyone will be able to take part in.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend PwC to a friend?
Yes
Why?
It is a company that cares for their employees and makes sure they are fairly compensated in they have to stay working past dinner or if they have to travel thanks to their work. Also there seems to be quite a lot of opportunities for people to progress their career and move forward. Also the facilities for nice and accommodating as there is a range of offices and types of work environments. Also the people are very nice and open to questions.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to PwC?
Try your hardest whilst the people and environment is lovely the work is extremely important and you have to be making sure that what you are doing is correct as if not that you may be missing indicators of fraud. I would also say try to sociale when possible as the people are nice and the greater your circle is the more you will enjoy your time here.
