Assurance Associate Review

The job provided an interesting insight into how businesses operate, and allowed me to see at first hand the challenges faced by an array of firms in the currenct economic climate.

Since I was regarded as a first year graduate, I never felt like the "Placement year student" working in the office. The fact that my managers were prepared to offer responsiblity at an early stage, displays the respect that was shown, and they were always prepared to offer worthwhile feedback when required.

This was an aspect of the firm that really impressed me. It was made clear very early on, that managers and "in-charges" expected to spend time providing support to myself and other first-year graduates, and this was factored in to the time budgets of client audits. I never encountered any reluctance to offer support from my superiors, and where required, help and guidance were readily available

Like any job, there were periods where working additional hours was required, but it is widely accepted within the firm that during January and April, this is likely to be the case. Outside of "busy season", there were times where there was relatviely little work, but I was encouraged to ask managers if I could be of any assistance in other areas. This presented the opporunity to particiapate in different things, such as graduate recruitment fairs, and meeting other prospective students at their assessment days in the office.

As mentioned above, I was given the same responsibility as a normal first year graduate, and this was something that helped my development during the year. From an early stage, I was responsible for my own areas on the audit, whilst I also assisted other memebers of the team with their work during "down-periods"

Although I am not studying a strict Accounting degree, the soft skills that I have developed during the year will be of great importance in my future career.

Very well organised placement scheme, where the year effectively becomes the first of the three year graduate scheme run by PwC. The exams that I passed during the year, will mean that I return to PwC as a second year graduate.

Placement year students join with the other graduate intake, so that I effectively became a "First year". This brings a sense of belonging to a year group, similar to that which you experience at University, and therefore the group bonds very quickly. On the last Friday of every month there was a social event paid for by the firm, in addition to other frequent social events run by the social club. As the firm is in the accounting sector, there were also frequent events run by the Southern Chartered Accounting Society, known as SCASS.

As the office was only about a 45 minute commute from home, I lived at home whilst on placement.

The office is loacted in Ocean Village, a luxury marina development in Southampton, with a range of bars and restaurants. The main high street was also a short walk from the office aswell, where there were further restaurants and bars.

The firm always encouraged their employees to participate in community events, such as working for the day at local schools to teach them some basic business skills. There were also social club events reguarly arranged aswell.