西瓜视频

The talent academy at the Forest of Arden hotel was a really insightful experience into the world of PwC. The experience not only gave me a taste of what the job was like but exactly what it was that made pwc the number one graduate employer. The experience was tiring but enjoyable and I would gladly recommend it to anyone.

Right from minute one the people at the academy were talking to us as if we were part of the company itself rather then potential future employees. The staff were always friendly and were prepared to answer every question we had, even though you knew they'd answered them 50 times before, a fantastic group of people.

Throughout the whole experience there was always a facilitator on hand to help you with any questions you had or give you any support you needed. This ranged from doing the practical activities alongside us rather than just watching over us to helping us to feel the company values as a whole in presentations or talks.

The skills we developed in almost all of the sessions will be invaluable to me in choosing my career path and what to do with the rest of my studies. The information I valued the most was about how to go about getting further placements with PwC and that when you put the effort in you will go far, not only within PwC but all companies you could end up working for. The only problem was a small session on commercial awareness didn't seem as valuable as I imagined PwC thought it would be.

The overall 2 day academy was very well structured as for PwC to be able to fit in the amount of information and activities they did in to 2 days was incredible. There were sessions on the business as a whole to get a feel for them, assurance, and tax. To be able to get all of this in to under 48 hours as well as giving us the chance to network with partners and directors of the business in a fun environment really impressed me.

The atmosphere was absolutely superb in my opinion. There was a real mix of informality whilst still giving you a good feel for what it's like to work in the business. The people who were there in terms of the staff knew exactly how to make us feel welcome and that made the atmosphere a friendly one where we were never afraid to say exactly how we felt about any part of the night. One extra bonus was that PwC knew the fact that people would like to get some time to just enjoy themselves and even worked round us watching the football in the evening, perfect atmosphere in my opinion.

You could tell the firm invested in us with a lot of what they had, in both of time and money. The time they gave us made me feel like I knew exactly where I wanted to go in life and the exact business sector I wanted to go in to, whether it is with PwC or not, they have gave me a platform to start from which I feel in invaluable against other coming straight from university without experience of an even like this.

The insight made it so I feel if I moved in to the business now I would know exactly what to expect as having such a vast variety of people from the business there who you could tell were all giving you there exact opinion on working for the business. The staff were telling us exactly what different offices were like in terms of the experience in the office and the hours you would expect to work, and whilst they were all different the theme of them being connected always came through.

The insight was extremely helpful in understanding the company culture. From the very first presentation we had, where there was a partner giving us the company values to the evening meal with the partners, we could tell exactly what the company expects and wants from their employees as they want their name and culture to be upheld but they also want you to be the best you can be. There is not necessarily a set culture they want from everyone but a mixture that creates a superb environment for everyone.

Before I set off for the talent academy I would say I was 80% sure that I wanted to go into accounting as a profession but there was always a niggling feeling that teaching could be for me. This academy has made me at least 99% sure of where I want to go in the future. I think the sessions on assurance made me sure that's the section of work I want to go into and the talks with the partners and recruiters made me fully aware of the best way to go about that vision. Incredible!

Whilst I have said that I was reimbursed for this experience it did also feel like we were being paid in the amount of information we got, as well as the free hotel, dinner and drinks we got from the company. These extra perks just seemed a bonus in the end as the value of the information we received about the business being enough for me to think the experience was more than worth it, in fact I think I would have been willing to pay for this information so the fact we've been reimbursed seems incredible.

I have never been to an event where I have had more experiences to network with people so much. Even the insight evenings I've had with PwC before and all I do is talk to people, this event in particular was an incredible chance to network as from the formal events in the day to having an informal dinner and chat with the partners in the evening it gave me the chance to create networks with people in the business which I feel will help me in the long run!

The events with the chance of networking were in my opinion the perfect way to meet with people in the business. I got to get contact details for quite a few people in different areas of the business and no matter how high up they were in the company they were always willing to help you as much as they could. I think in particular the dinner in the evening was a great way to meet people as it made everyone feel more comfortable in the presence of people who we could normally be quite nervous in front of.

We were told about the opportunities in each different office as well as the large amount of opportunities in the company as a whole. We were even told about experiences that the firm can offer such as a box in the o2, the chance to be at the top of the embankment office in London on New Year's Eve, and even the PwC pantomime that they put on every year, with staff being involved in every single part from the production itself to planning and tickets.

This insight, as I said earlier would definitely be something I would recommend to a friend. I recommended friends to apply before I even went on the academy as I felt it would be something to put on your CV even if the event wasn't much use itself. But now that I've been to the event, it has proven to be an incredible event to get involved in as the insights you get into the life of an accountant, life in PwC and even just in the professional sector has helped me know exactly where I want to go in the future.