Company: PwC
Date: 2010-04-06
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: current

PwC - only if you no options left !
Pros: 1. Mirror Mirror on the wall - who's the fairest of them all? PwC India offices display a mirror just next to the entry. Probably, a good way of passing a loud and clear message - U*(the staff) are responsible for ethics, integrity, etc etc. Partners have no role in case there are any major screw-ups. 
2. Glass Buildings in prime localities. There is little doubt that PwC offices are better looking ones and normally in good localities.
3. Pleasure of doing big things at a small age. The exposure that Advisory Services might offer can be great for your career. Seniors wouldn't shy away from doling out significantly important roles to junior colleagues(Though, if you look at it critically, most of their clients are in the domestic market - a market which they only use to build citations and tom-tom about their Advisory capabilities to the western worlds. Therefore, good roles come at the cost of the poor client who pays bucks only to find Junior Consultants loaded up in the project. The seniors - if there are any left -either struggle on seconded roles with some "highly milked", "over-sold" and "totally clueless" US / UK clients who can't figure out an ass from a horse or slog out on multiple projects from the IDC sweathouse in Kolkata)
4. Brand name, good domestic projects - a few years, may be 2, can be healthy for your resume/career.
Cons: This is challenging - the list is endless but only the top cons would make it to this list thereby eliminating the bottomers mimicking the bell curve performance theory in true PwC style.
1. After rebuilding the Consulting arm, PwC is trying to compete with the Accentures, IBMs and Deloittes of the world. There is no soul in PwC who understands that trying to compete in a highly commoditized market where the Accentures / Deloittes of the worlds have leaped light years ahead, in terms of their delivery models, IP's and consulting capabilities to deliver end-to-end high profile engagements, is an absolute lose-lose scenario. No wonder then, it explains why when they try to sell consulting / SI work or market competencies/citations that they seldom find a taker. 
2. In the domestic market, PwC under-pitches for work. The result - a few junior consultants being loaded up in the project and overworked 24*7 until such a time that they do not kill themselves or find green pastures on the other side.
3.  The Indian PwC firms have been built on extremely rickety adaptions of their global policies and smack of extreme hubris and thorough sub-standardness. 
4. A failed appraisal systems coupled with strong regional bias that is the undercurrent during every performance cycle is a perfect recipe for disaster. Long term greatness cannot be built on short-term profits or near-sightedness. The "get-up or get-out" model does not work when you have such sub-standard infrastructure and support systems in place because then people would have no motivation to perform or stick around for long.
5. PwC doles out huge raises and bonuses in good times, but in bad times(the ones that we have seen recently), they are cut to the bone(in a true partnership firm style). Staff are left at the mercy of competition to hunt them down. Thankfully, for their few talented staff finding a new job was never difficult.
6. Staff? Ok, so there are only 2 classes of people in PwC. Therefore, if you are not a partner, chances are that you are one of the majority very talented people in your industry and addressed in PwC as "the staff". As talented as they might seem, they are the bunch of highly un-empowered people on the planet and would seek partner approval for the smallest of things.
7. Most partners in the Performance Improvement practice reek of stinking arrogance and apathy. They are at the dead-end of their careers and the only their most cherished thing(smell of bucks) can bring a smile or two. So, slog it out to also do some practice development / proposal writings while working on projects and if you still care about petty things like work-life balance, customer satisfaction, international opportunities, chances are that you might fall at the bottom of the bell-curve in your next appraisal cycle and would be pushed out.