By Ash Davies, BA Accounting and Financial Management and Mathematics
Almost a year ago I decided that I wanted to gain some experience in the financial services industry. I recognised that competition for graduate places in the ‘Big Four’ and other financial firms is highly competitive and having that extra edge on other graduates is definitely something I wanted. In early September, I started to research many firms which specialised in finance and accountancy. My research led me to understand a lot more about PwC and the several different routes you can take in their firm.
Around November, I began my application process for the PwC Assurance Internship where the process takes around 3 months as there are 5 steps which are: application, logical & numerical tests, a telephone interview, an assessment centre and a final partner interview.
I fully researched PwC, looking into their values, services, clients and more simple things such as how long the internship is (which some people forget). Another important thing I would definitely recommend is to research into recent financial news on the FT, as one of the questions could be related to recent financial news and how PwC could help the situation. After the telephone interview you are invited to an assessment centre for a series of different exercises, where you have to pass all of them. The day can be quite tiring but PwC do support you throughout the day and if you have any questions, just ask! After the assessment centre, I went through a final partner interview in your chosen office, where it was more a casual chat than an interview. The final interview is a short discussion about why you would like to join PwC and a little bit more about yourself outside of your degree.
After such a lengthy process, I am proud to say I have been successful in securing a place on the internship and I will give you an update how my first week is going soon.
Top Tips – Things to do before applying:
- Research PwC and the professional services they provide
- Practise the numerical and logical tests and use websites such as Assessment Day to help you get through.
- Research financial markets and current financial affairs.
- Get involved in as much as possible at University – it allows you talk about a lot in your interviews!
- Be patient as they have over 8000 applications for around 300 places!