Women in Business Intern Review

I enjoyed having the chance to see first hand what the company and their consultants do on a day to day basis. I learnt far more from seeing this first hand than I could ever have from reading online. I just wish I could’ve been even more involved!

Despite not being able to get stuck into projects, as I was not there for long, everyone I spoke to seemed interested in my thoughts and strategies. My questions were all answered, and I felt as though they were genuinely interested in me making my first steps into a potential career in consulting.

The PwC consultants with whom I worked and shadowed were hugely helpful. They answered all of my questions about what it’s like to work there, and they were always on hand to answer questions about any tasks I was given.

The skills I gained were not highly relatable to my degree, given that I am not studying a business related course. However, I have no doubt that having done this insight program will help me in my future career, in finding a position, and positively contributing to my company.

It was well timetabled, maximising the number of people I got to shadow and speak to. However, there were a few stumbling blocks when, given the nature of their work, people became unavailable.

I thoroughly enjoyed being in the workplace. The culture with in the company is very positive, with employees seeming generally fulfilled. This created a good atmosphere. Everyone was also very friendly and welcoming towards me.

I was only there for 3 days, so did not undertake any formal training. However, I had access to the online training portal, and those in managerial positions with whom I worked encouraged that we give our professional development high importance, and advised how best to make good steps into the career ladder.

The insight program helped me to see what it really means to be a consultant for PwC. It also helped me to understand the process for a graduate going into the company, and the variety of projects I could work on. However, as it was a very short program, I did not feel I got a full flavour for the work itself, as I was not able to get stuck into a project.

During the insight I spoke to a variety of people, from recent grads and apprentices to senior managers. I heard from a woman who’d spent her whole career at PwC, and she spoke about the changes in company culture. I also got a feel for the friendly office environment, and the ways that employees celebrate success on projects together.

The insight program gave me enough of a flavour of consulting for me to confirm that it is something I may be interested in for a career. However, I feel I will not be sure of this until I have completed an internship, during which I will be able to work on a project, and then decide for sure.

I feel I was paid justly for the time I was there. I feel lucky that my contributions were recognised, and feel it made it a more professional environment. My expenses when I travelled to London for the day, away from my base office, were also paid for by the company.

A lot of the program was based around meeting many employees. Therefore I had plenty of opportunity to network. I also had chance to eat lunch with employees, and network with them in a more friendly and relaxed environment. One senior manager in particular encouraged that we use this chance to make LinkedIn connections.

I did not benefit from any social events per se, as I was not there for long. However, one woman spoke to us about the social sports leagues, team drinks and other social events that employees can take part in with PwC. Also, during the program there was chance to network a little.

We were added to the office mailing list, so could see such opportunities just like any other employee. One helpful woman also explained the social netball league in which they participate, spoke about a PwC team for a local run, and answered our questions. We also got to watch videos about a TEd talk style conference at which employees spoke.

I would recommend this insight without hesitation. It was an excellent opportunity to network, to learn about consulting, to witness the PwC environment first hand and to ask any questions I had. It being paid also made it stand out from many other insight programs, as did the possibility of progressing into the summer internship.