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My experience at PwC for the 11 months was extremely enjoyable and enable me to gain exposure to a wide range of clients, area's of work and work with many different teams of people. There were loads of social events throughout the year, including drinks, office away day and a football tour. Additionally there are projects outside of your normal working day such as volunteering and getting involved with recruitment events.

The people at PwC are what make the firm a great place to work. It employees people from all different backgrounds to create a working atmosphere that makes everyone feel valued and welcome. You also build a strong relationship with your year group as you are all going through the same process together, especially in exam periods where everyone supports one another to ensure that everyone is successful.

There is support for every aspect of working life at PwC. Whilst on the job your in-charge and more senior and experienced colleagues will always make themselves available to answer any coaching or queries regarding your work. You are also allocated a 'buddy' and 'people manager' when joining the firm. Your buddy is one year ahead of you and is there for any day to day questions or queries no matter how small and your people manager is there to sort out any slightly larger issues.

I was always kept busy during my placement. whether it was my usual day to day audit work, college studies or other various projects. Work was varied and if you ever found yourself with little or nothing to do you are expected to ask around to see if anyone has any work for you. Everyday is different at PwC, it allows you to experience a wide variety of working engagements as well as studies both at home and college, along with in-house training for your personal development.

From day one you are given a significant responsibility at PwC. This is mostly in the form of having to be able to manage yourself effectively. Due to the structure of PwC, you do not have a direct manager as such and therefore the trust and responsibility is on you to make sure you manage yourself and your engagement allocation correctly. Similarly, when allocated to a job you are expected to take ownership of the work set to you and communicate your progress to your in-charge, who will also provide you with coaching in any areas you have a problem with.

During my year at PwC I started to complete my ACA qualification. The teaching and knowledge I gained from studying and taking these exams will help me significantly in my final year studies as a lot of the content I will have already covered when studying for these. Similarly, the knowledge gained from college studies was cemented through the application of the knowledge on a daily basis. Lastly, although I study Accounting and Finance and therefore my learning directly impacts my degree, the work ethic and soft skills training will benefit people from a degree in any area and your future beyond your degree.

The atmosphere within the office is extremely positive. Although people in assurance are mostly based at client sites, it is good to catch up with people when you have time back at the office. There is also a 'break out' area in the office with places to sit and have a coffee or play table football if you need a break from work.

The overall placement was organised exceptionally well due to the fact you are treated the same as a graduate and follow the same career progression and training as them but effectively starting a year early and hopefully leading onto joining the firm as a 2nd year after graduating. Therefore you experience a mix between working on client engagements and development training.

PwC invest a lot of time into training for it's employees. This is in the form of college training to take ACA exams and complete the three year qualification to become a chartered accountant. You are also given in-house training on day to day job training and soft skills training such as leadership and networking. Similarly when working there is always some available to give you guidance and coaching.

Future prospects within PwC are one of the main things which makes PwC a great placement year. When starting your placement you follow the same path as graduate joiners and as long as you perform well and pass your ACA exams it is expected that you will receive a graduate job offer when you complete your placement and degree. You will then go onto carry on completing your ACA chartered accountancy qualification which is well recognised in the finance world.

There are many social events held throughout the year for all employees, which usually includes some sort of activity or drinks. You also build a close relationship within your intake group and it is common for the year groups to hold social events outside of work for themselves. My intake group had various drink events as well as completing Tough Mudder together to raise money for charity.

There are many opportunities to network and get involved with activities outside of work, Networking events are sent round frequently and you can also get involved with committees and volunteering group. I personally played 5 a side football with other members from the office every Thursday, I found this a great way to get to know more senior members of staff in a more relaxed social environment.