Company: PwC
Date: 2016-09-04
Overall rating: 1/5
Employment status: former

College students Beware: Dont' let Compay Perks fool you
Pros: PwC is no doubt a huge brand name company.  You learn fast, and you are kept up to date with new or upcoming tax laws.  The fancy parties, perks and free amenities in the office will blow you away if you don't come from extravagant upbringings.  Perks include rewards for wellness (example: taking a 12 hour walk will earn you $5 for a gift card of your choice),  corporate travel prices, PwC will also pay your tuition if you are trying to earn a graduate degree.  Additionally, though many people say the firm is a great way to launch a career, it is not the only way to find a successful fulfilling career.  I have many friends who are doing well w/o having the big 4 on their resume.
Cons: The hours are ridiculously long, was placed as the only associate for a project and had no experience in that field.  Another project again, placed me as the only associate for an entity that I had no experience in and was expected to turn in perfect work, based on information/laws that I did not know.  I ended up working about 200 hours in a two week pay period.  I honestly expected to be working these sort of hours but it is not good to be working them long term.  If done on a long term basis, it will wear on you.  There are many employees at the firm who have worked there for years who look 10 years older than they really are due to stress and your neck will be hunched over from staring at a laptop for so long.  Expect back and vision problems if you decide to stay long term.

Partners are constantly pushing team members to stay within the budget while working with slow technology that will keep you waiting for hours, waiting on hold for phone calls, and at the same time they tell employees to charge their hours honestly.  Per discussion with my senior, she had told me that she was literally "eating" her hours in order to stay on budget and to stay off the partner's radar.  Another associate literally cried due to the unreasonable amount of budgeted hours allocated to her for a project.  However, since the last time I heard, PwC's revenue is approximately $35.4 billion (US) 1 employee has no power to complain.  

Depending on your team, you will be thrown under the bus.  Once this happens, there is no recovery.  Management will not give you a chance to improve and you will become the team's scapegoat for any problems that arise with the project, even if it is not your fault.  Best advise I can give, is to start looking for a new job immediately after this.  The partner will tell your peers, who rate you via "Snapshots", to give you a poor review.  This is used so the partner can deem this as evidence for firing you and this does happen.  Employees can be thrown under the bus for odd reasons.  One reason is because the employee did not have any knowledge of the project and there is no class or textbook that can teach them how to perform the work.  I cannot emphasize this enough, once under the bus, it is only a matter of time until they fire you, unless you are a favorite or someone in management can save you.  Unless that happens, no amount of improvement done will save you.

Partners do not keep track of how people are working and rely on Snapshots to evaluate performances, but the program is nothing but a popularity contest on who receives the best ratings.  There is no possibility for upward feedback and rating can be manipulated by the partner (see previous paragraph).  So associates who are stuck with a rude senior or manager cannot evaluate them.  

There was a meeting where clients have complained that employees of PwC are arrogant.  This is true among partners and possibly a few staff members.  However, the firm does not offer a solution on how to solve this problem.  Also, creativity is something that falls on deaf ears, you will not be heard.  You must follow a routine that is not efficient and if you have any suggestions it will not be heard.  

Though the choice to work for PwC is up to the student, carefully consider what is important in life, family, social life, etc.  Do you like being acknowledged and working as a big fish in a small pond?  If yes, then PwC is not the place for you, you are a number and disposable chattel there.