Business Insight Week Students Review

Monday was induction day, where we learned a little about the company, everyone else on the programme, and were given our projects for the week. Each group of around 5/6 (chosen for us) picked either social mobility, or technology, and were given a set of criteria to follow and make a presentation. We were given our own laptops, so that we could keep in touch with each other throughout the week, as people in the same group might be spending the week in different offices. Tuesday to Thursday we shadowed a buddy in Audit, Tax or Consulting. Some people had a buddy in each of the three areas, some just had buddies in Audit. Your buddy might ask you to come to a client site, but either way, you carry out simple tasks that don't require training, such as filling in spreadsheets, or checking that two documents match each other. There wasn't very much to do, because most of the work is too difficult to give to a complete beginner, so we spent a fair amount of each day researching for our projects. The buddies are really nice, and will help you if you ask them. Make sure to ask them any questions you have; they're here to help you, and nobody will tell you your question is dumb. On Friday we presented our projects, and learnt about the different options we could take after the week. After handing back in our laptops, the week ended.

Presentation skills were developed on the Friday; we were told how to present - keeping eye contact with the audience, speaking clearly etc. These skills were then put into practice when we presented our individual projects. When shadowing buddies, we were able to ask any questions, so I learnt quite a lot about accounting and business, as I was forced to use vocabulary I wasn't familiar with.

As previously mentioned, there wasn't a lot of work to do, because we had no prior training. Because of this, the three shadowing days were quite empty, and a little boring. However, the people I was working with were amazing, and I enjoyed asking them questions and talking to them about their work life.

The induction was very organised - we ran through several getting-to-know-each-other tasks, as well as being presented to about life at PwC, and its role in the community. The final day was similarly organised, in that we reflected on the week and were given advice on our next steps. However, the middle three days were slightly disorganised - many people whose buddies had asked them to come to client sites had only given them roughly 15 hours notice, making it difficult to organise travel, and for those who stayed in the office, there was often very little to do in terms of work.

I personally spent some time shadowing in the office, and some at a client site, so I feel that I got a rounded view of what it would be like working in various roles at PwC. When in the office, it was made clear that we were just like employees - we could use the staff areas, the kitchen, the private workspaces, we could dress business casual if we weren't at a client site, and so on. Buddies didn't treat us like children, and we were welcomed into the office as if we were new employees. We were also given presentations on what we could expect when working in different roles within the company, and employees came in to talk to us about their experience.

I think this week was really useful when giving an insight into the office culture, and what it would be like to work at PwC specifically. Staff were happy to answer any questions we had about their life at work, and we spent time in the office, following the same structure of the day as we would if we were full time employees. However, I don't think it gave a detailed insight into what it would be like working on a specific career path, as there was not much work that we could do due to our lack of training. Perhaps if the experience was a little longer, some time could have been spent training us in the more basic aspects of each role, so that we could "unlock" tasks that would be more representative of what we would do if were full time employees.

I was paid around £9.50 per hour for a 37.5 hour week. I was not reimbursed for any travel to my local office (the one I spent days 2, 3 and 4 at), but any travel from my local office to a client site was booked by my buddy and paid for by PwC. I paid for my own lunch, but there was free fruit and drinks available in the staff kitchen.

Some of us were involved in meetings with higher staff members, simply because their buddy was involved in them, and there was plenty of opportunity to network with your buddy and the people they spent time with. For example, I went to buy lunch with one of my buddies and her friend, and then me and another Insight Week person ate with the two of them and some others, and were able to join in with their conversation. As we were only there for one week, we didn't really have too much chance to join in with any company social events.

Yes

Even if they have no interest in PwC as a company, or any of the professions they offer, it offers an interesting insight to office culture, and can help you to confirm whether or not an office job is right for you. The project can also help develop certain skills related to presentation, a useful skill in any job.

Do your preparation for the interview or assessment day - do some research about PwC, go on their website and read their top tips, and try not to worry on the day Make sure you keep track of all the emails they send you - there's a lot of information you need to give them, lots of deadlines, and if you're finding it difficult to give them something they're asking for, or don't understand what it is they're wanting, don't be afraid to ask - nobody is judging you.