Flying Start Degree programme - AS1 - Birmingham Review

My role differs on a day to day basis and it wholly depends on the type of client that I am working on. I usually perform any work asked to be done my my incharge or manager. The most exciting part of this apprenticeship is that no two days have ever been the same. Some clients I worked on testing the balance sheet, on another the P/L Statement. You will never get bored. There is always something different to do each day. The only constant thing thing is change.

This apprenticeship helped develop my technological skills. You learn to use different softwares and enhance your knowledge on the current ones. We have learnt to become better at communicating both verbally and written. We learnt how to have better relationships with our clients and at the same time become good team members.

I have really enjoyed the programme. Especially the fact that get to go to different parts of the country and meet different kinds of people. No two clients are the same so each day we face new challenges that we need to find solutions for. This makes life very interesting. We also have constant support from our team at all time. We have a good support group.

It is well organised in the way that 1st we go threw a term of normal university life and then after a week break we start working and then we go back to university to do our exams. It can be a little difficult when we start with the working life but we adjust quickly.

We have a number of support groups which include Career coach, Buddies, Champions, our Programme Manager and University contacts. All of them are reachable if we have any problem. We have different support groups for different problems. But we can be sure that any problem that we have if we ask one of them we will either get our answer or they will direct us to the person who can provide us with a solution.

My training provider is University of Reading and ICAEW. While at university within the 4 years I will be able to apply for 12 paper exemptions due to the way the course is structured. This way within 1 year after graduation I will become paper qualified. We get huge support from our university, PwC and ICAEW.

I feel that our qualification helps a great deal to perform better in our role. We are able to apply what we studied from university during our placement. Especially the modules of Audit and Assurance and Accounting. Without a theoretical knowledge it can be difficult to the practical aspect as we must understand what we are testing and what we are trying to achieve.

There are various events that take place throughout the year. There are several social clubs. Each office is divided into smaller groups which have regular friendly competitions among themselves! There are also monthly socials! Charity runs, karaoke sessions, bolwings, mini golf, debriefs etc. there are a lot of things going on for all! there are also various sporting events run during the year.

Yes

PwC is one of the 'Big 4' accounting firms in the world. It has a huge variety of client from different sectors. That with the huge resources available, PwC will help jump start your career and help build your network. There is a huge support system in place and they an interested in not only the organisational goals but also your personal goals.

One must keep an open mind about what you do. Do your research!! PwC looks for not only academic excellence but also extra curricular. Since most of the work is done in teams they will want to know if you are a team player or not. Be confident and communicate clearly!