PwC Talent Academy Review

The Talent Academy came in the middle of my summer holiday break so I was slightly tentative about how much I would enjoy it as the type of environment I expected - one of everyone pushing themselves to the front and trying to get themselves noticed - is a strenuous and draining one. It wasn't at all like this. Networking was a large part of the academy but I found it much easier than anticipated. I think this was a product of having much common ground with the people there - no one there was the nerdy but socially awkward type and could hold a good conversation. Overall I came home having met some decent people and having enjoyed it much more than anticipated.

Highly. On an individual basis all of the staff were friendly and made a really effort to know my name which was a really nice touch and made the admission process seem less distant and computerised. PwC seemed to have put a lot of effort and money into the programme and making us happy there as a group. It seemed that we weren't just there trying to get something from them but that they actually valued us being there.

A fair amount, although I had no problems that tested the boundaries of their support. If you did have any problems the team did seem happy to help and put effort into solving those problems for you. The guidance was very strong we always knew what we were doing and had to be doing next and also were helped on understand the next stages.

It's hard to say. There are certainly experiences that will help me: public speaking and group leadership are things which I didn't have tonnes of experience of but which the Talent Academy helped me to develop. Perhaps confidence is the main thing here - being able to put myself out there and have faith in my skill set. The course will have little effect on my degree programme.

The insight was very well structured and it was helpful that this structure was shared with us at the beginning. There was a timetable which was stuck to strictly and this helped things run smoothly. Having said this there was flexibility in the form of free time periods to go and find the admissions team and ask the questions that you wanted - the strict timing and structure was not restrictive.

One of the things that all the PwC professionals stressed was of the friendly and family-like atmosphere that existed in the firm. I'm sure that this culture exists in other places but I did feel that the atmosphere and culture did meet the friendliness that they spoke of. The staff seemed jolly and since the environment that we were in was very nice the mood was always positive and friendly. There was no pressure nor a competitive vibe which I had feared.

They invested lots of energy and money for sure. PwC ran some sessions to teach us about their approach to business. These varied in quality. Some seemed to be run by professionals who were really slick and good at the presentations - others seemed to be run by people who were simply there because they had been told that they should get involved in more of PwC outside their normal discipline.

Since the insight was only two days I think it would be unfair to draw too much from it concerning a more full role. However, the culture was a very friendly one and one which seemed authentic. So I supposed the insight did not help to a significant degree to helped us understand what it would be like to have a full role but this wasn't really the point - as far as I was aware - of the programme, so it shouldn't be seen as much of a weakness.

A lot should be said, and I feel already has been, about the culture at PwC. They both told us lots about their emphasis on a people focused culture and also demonstrated it. I think that the recruitment team were very good at showing this and, as I have already said, the positive culture did seem authentic and also seemed to be a feature of the people that they had chosen to be there so was carried on through the other student who attended.

Very. They took a lot of time to go into significant depth of the streams that we had chosen - and it actually led me to wish to change my path to another part of PwC. Having spoken to partners at the firm and being exposed to such high ranking people also helped me think about broader options about how to work - e.g. part time. Having so many conversations about the options was certainly a key part of the programme.

PwC made sure that the event would not cost us anything so any reasonable expenses were covered. I think it would have been unreasonable to have been paid for this and I feel that the experience was the key thing not making some money. They did seem to have put a lot of resource and money into having us there and the experience was certainly very valuable.

Many. We had a networking session and dinner with the partners which was very useful and it was great to hear from them and asking some penetrating questions. I feel like some of the partners didn't really want to be there but that's certainly understandable - I had asked all the questions I had by the end of the night but it had also been enjoyable and quite relaxed.

I think that I have largely already addressed this question. I had always been a bit sceptical of the value of networking events between students and people so far removed from the problems of students but actually this was unfounded and wrong. Socially it was a nice experience with people there much more similar to me than I had imagined and so I was able to get on well with them.

Not really at all, but again this wasn't really the point of the two days. I did ask a partner about work-life balance and they said that it was largely up to you - flexibility was stressed. Also another partner said that she worked part time to reclaim some of her own time and that this was not seen as a problem or something that she was forced to feel guilty about.

Yes. Both from a personal side it was good for development and was an enjoyable and helpful event. Also it is hugely helpful if you wish to be part of PwC's future programmes - some summer internships are completely filled with talent academy attendees - consulting is particularly vulnerable to this so if you want to go down this route you almost certainly must have attended.