Company: PwC
Date: 2018-07-09
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Cyber Security Graduate Programme
Pros: It is a platitude that you'll hear time and time again whilst working at PwC, but, it really is the people that make PwC. As a PwC-er you get the opportunity to work with lots of ridiculously talented and interesting people from all walks of life. 

You get the opportunity to work on lots of high profile projects working with big-name clients. Whilst working at PwC, I personally worked on two projects where the larger programme made national headlines. I can't think of another graduate career where you are provided with so much exposure from day one as you are at PwC.

Management and partners are generally very supportive and take your personal wellbeing seriously.
Cons: Working in a regional office its hard not to feel like a second-class citizen. The majority of interesting jobs, networking events, and cyber partners are all based in London. Regional jobs tend to be less high-profile and therefore attract less attention (and less visibility and support) than the London Jobs. 

It was my observation that promotions are overwhelmingly driven by how effectively you are able to market yourself internally. It is not a reflection of your capability as a security professional. Indeed, being a safe pair of hands and a willingness to travel can play to your disadvantage. 

PwC can be a bit of a group think echo chamber. Resources are wasted developing service offerings for problems that don't exist. Conversely,  I felt that PwC wasn't innovating enough where it mattered.  Assessments against control frameworks such as ISO27001 still makes up the bulk of PwC's work, which is pretty dull. 

Training budget/allocation was a very untransparent process. A lot of structured learning was available in the London region; less in the regions.  Formal learning and development pathways for graduates were and still are poor. 

Travel - The biggie - As a regions resource working in a national practice you are expected to travel. This can be pretty unrelenting and have a negative impact on your personal life outside of work.