Risk Assurance Services Associate (Intern) Review

I really enjoyed my placement. It gave me a real taste of life in the industry and helped me to confirm what I wanted to do after university. We were not only showed the work side of the firm, but the social side of it. The people I met were all dynamic, talented and friendly individuals who did what they could to enhance my time in the firm.

My colleagues were amazing! They were always willing to help and invested their time in ensuring I was understanding my work, doing it properly and being aware of its contribution to the greater work at hand. I was constantly involved in the team and I was even called to meetings where I wasn't required to make sure that I was an integral part of the team.

There was support everywhere. Apart from my team, I had a buddy and a coach to concentrate on my development who were both like friends. There was never a shortage of people to seek advice or help from and my team were on hand most of the time to provide help whenever I became stuck on something.

Due to some factors out of our control, my workload varied at times. A few days, I was begging for work to occupy my idle hands and others I had a mountain of tasks heaped on me. Most days however, there was a good balance and I was made aware of each task's urgency to ensure I was balancing my work properly.

My team was relatively small, therefore I was given more important work than many other intern's I knew. I was solely responsible for large chunks of our workload for long intervals in which my manager would request an update and review my work. It was lighly satisfying to know that a (my) manager and not a basic associate would have done the tasks had I not been present.

The skills and training i've recieved will definitely benefit me in the long run. I've significantly developed my time management and organisational skills which I will put in practice in future work and in my stufies. My communication skills have improved and quality communication is useful in all aspects of life. I recieved specific training and developed technical skills that I will re-employ if I join the firm or other similar firms after my degree.

It was rather quiet in my office at the time that I was there but this was due to seasonal patterns in work. Many were out at client sites completing audits and because it was the summer and low season when it comes to audits, many had taken a holiday. This resulted in a relatively quiet office

The internship was well organised. We recieved a large amount of information prior to joining and spent a week recieving orientation before commencing work. Naturally, some areas need improvement such as IT glitches with new joiners etc. Overall i'd say i'd say the organisation was excellent when the failures were compared to everything else.

The amount of time (and i'd presume money) spent on our training and development seemed rather huge. We were all given laptops and taught how to use them along with the company IT system. We spent a (paid) week away at a very nice hotel venue recieving basic industry and accounting knowledge as well as other professional and communication skills we needed to be effective in our placement. There was also job specific training that interns were sent to do online once they had started their job.

PwC is very global and we were made well aware of the vast range of prospects - geographically and career orientated, that the firm and its training offered. I got a job with them and I plan to take it.

Our social scene was very lively. It was aided by the fact that we had mixed up project groups that we worked in, allowing interns from different offices to meet as well as the week that we all spent together. We met for drinks etc weekly and went out several times during our 8 weeks. I had a small group that I communicated and lunched with dail. I am still in touch with many of the interns I met and there are plans for a large reunion during the christmas break.

The cost of living was high as it was london. One has to deal with high public transport costs and accomodation costs (if you're not from near london) which somewhat offset the higher wage given to london interns. The cost of socialising was quite high coming from university where drinks are nearly £1 and getting into a nighclub is less than £5.

We worked in central london and most of us were in the area so we had several nights out in london together.

There were interest groups that we were allowed to join. This covered sport as well as other items of group interest. They were advertised on the intranet and joining them was easy.