This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I really enjoyed my internship at PwC. There was a huge amount of variety in the work that they offered, and I was never bored. Everyone in the office was very friendly, and always happy to help. During my internship, I was given the opportunity not only to work in a friendly office, but also to shadow different employees of the company of all status', both in and out of the office. PwC is a people business, and they really know how to make work more enjoyable.
I was very surprised by how nice people are at PwC, with everyone happy to help at all times. Each intern is assigned a 'buddy', who is the first stop for any questions which an intern may have. However, it felt like the entire team was my 'buddy', as they all seemed really keen to make the interns experience as great as possible.
The tool that we were working with for Data Assurance was quite hard, and I hadn't used it before. The staff gave a lot of support and guidance in making me comfortable with this tool. They also organised a large variety of different tasks in different area of the business, which was great. I also had a 'People Manager', who was there to help me with my growth, and I feel that I gained a lot more out of the internship because of the support and guidance that she gave me.
I was given a large variety of tasks to do, which made me not too busy, but kept me fairly interested. The tasks that I were given was very varied, and spread across different departments, from Data Assurance, to Risk Assurance and Core Assurance. My buddy organised a timetable for me before I started my internship, and therefore I had a structured plan right from the start. There was a period of about 1-2 weeks during the middle of my internship where there was less work than usual, though.
I was proud to work on real-client projects during my internship. It was great to know that the work I was doing actually had an effect on real world clients. This is no problem however, as I always had someone to ask if I got stuck and needed any help. The balance was great!
As I was doing an internship in Data Assurance, and my degree is in Computer Science, I feel that the skills I've gained will really help me in my degree, and beyond. However, that is not to say that somebody doing a degree other than Computer Science would not benefit, as the skills gained are very logical and can be applied to a lot of different work. Hopefully I will be returning to PwC next September to use the skills that I have gained again as part of the Data Assurance team.
The Company
10/10. PwC has a strong focus on making its employees happy, and everyone was always happy to help. Everyone seemed happy all the time, and it is an office that I would love to work in in the future.
A personalised timetable was produced for each intern before they started their internship, showing PwC's commitment and organisation. An issue I had however, was that during the initial three days of induction, all interns were taught how to use PwC's 'Aura' software, which some of us never used again after that, so it seemed like a bit of a waste of time. Other than that, it was fine.
PwC sent its interns on a three day induction in Northampton, which focused half on 'breaking the ice' with the other interns, and half on skills and knowledge that we would need to work at the firm. PwC also sent its interns to London as part of their 'One Project' event, and allowed interns to go to travel across the country to clients or on shadowing, all out of the firms pocket. This shows that the firm was very interested in investing for their staff's personal training and development.
Flexi Time
Subsidised Canteen
Sports and Social Club
National Travel
Very good. I got a job offer from them! Furthermore, PwC operates a system where most employees are promoted every year, so prospects are very promising within the firm.
The Culture
Yes. The other interns were quite social, going to pubs and other places regularly. PwC also organises regular social events in the pub next door to the office, and staff were also regularly bringing donuts into the office to improve the atmosphere and make it move fun.
I can't comment on the cost of living, as being from Birmingham I did not have to rent during the internship. Socialising isnt too expensive in Birmingham if you know where to go.
Average. Nothing great and nothing bad.
Yes, and PwC regularly promoted this. It was generally known as 'away days', but I did not get the chance to go on one of these during my internship.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
West Midlands
February 2015