PwC Women in Business - Deals Review

The opportunity to speak with members of the team currently on the graduate scheme and those who had just finished their placements. They gave me different insights and explained a lot about what they do on an everyday basis (which is not information that is always available online). The team were also very friendly and happy to answer all of my questions.

I felt valued in that there was a clear plan for how I was spending my insight experience and who I would get to speak to. As soon as I mentioned I was interested in something, those I spoke to would either explain more or would find me someone else in that area. I would only have liked to have had more hands on experience.

I received a lot of support as I had three people responsible for me and they were conscious that I was always busy. Even though they had a lot to do, they took time out to speak to me and explain things. HR also took the time to do a small group session to explain the next steps.

The information I received inspired me to want to join their graduate programme so in that sense it was really helpful! As it was only three days, it was difficult to develop many skills that will be used for the rest of my life but the quality of information was certainly high.

Very structured and everything was clearly laid out: from laptops to meetings I was always aware of what was going on. The team took the time to speak to others to get their insights too and even asked around so that I could do some work. HR did well in terms of placing us in different groups.

The atmosphere at PwC was really positive. All the staff seemed to enjoy being there and it was quite relaxed as we were in the office. There was of course serious work to do but the general feeling was fun and there was plenty of socialising (especially at lunch time).

During the insight period, there was not much training to be done. As I was mostly speaking to people there was not really the chance to learn and I did not have the clearance to gain much hands on experience. I was allowed to look at the intranet though and can see that PwC offers a lot to its full-time employees.

Speaking to the various colleagues gave me an insight into what day-to-day work is like at PwC at various levels. I also got an insight into what the other lines of service do and what people do on a daily basis. It made me see that accountancy is not as boring as it is stereotyped to be.

Speaking to the colleagues helped me to understand the more relaxed culture at PwC - there is a need to get work done but you can, for example, dress in any way that suits your day. The culture seemed to be collaborative rather than competitive and everyone was very down to earth and approachable.

It made me want to join PwC permanently! I did not realise that there were such interesting aspects of the firm outside of Audit and Tax and although Deals is specialist, it definitely appeals to me. The people on the graduate scheme gave me very good advice and helped me to evaluate my future career choices.

I was paid very well for the insight days which was very surprising given that I expected it to be unpaid. Although I wasn't reimbursed expenses for my travel and food for the three days, I was reimbursed for travel to the assessment centre (without which I wouldn't have been able to attend) and also given food at this day.

As I have said, I not only met members of the team I was with but also those from other lines of service. These other team members then put me in contact with further people when I requested more information (such as with contacts in consultancy). Networking with the other Women in Business participants was also possible.

There was one lunch time organised by HR but as the insight days were only for a short period of time there was not many organised networking events. I can imagine that upon joining the company there would be many more opportunities and one of my contacts was responsible for organising these opportunities for new graduates. I was told about the many sports groups that are on offer so there would be plenty of opportunities during a longer placement.

Yes, many of the colleagues I was working with told me about their activities outside of work such as pilates classes, volunteering, extreme sports and so on. They told me that there were many different group s and that you could even set one up if the one you liked was not there originally.

Yes! My insight days in particular were very interesting and the service line was varied. Although there was not as much active experience, it is invaluable to network within a company and you do get to know their work and operations system much better. The opportunity to "try before you buy" is also very good!