Company: PwC
Date: 2008-05-28
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current

Many great things about PwC; but of course some things could be better.
Pros: The best reasons to work at PwC are the benefits, which I find generous in general, though about on par with the other big 4 firms.  Additionally - at least in my department - I find that my personal life is very respected.  I've gone through a lot of personal difficulties this year and my department has been very supportive and encouraging.  I think that they are also beginning to encourage knowledge sharing in a big way, with leadership supporting new initiatives that will draw KM into being more integral to the way the firm is run on a day-today basis.  There are also good self-service research options for general firm use.
Cons: Given that I am in internal firm services, and do not work in the actual client practice, my experience my differ from those of other people.  I feel that while they encourage professional growth, there are a lot of hindrances, too.  Some of the advancement requires certain levels of education, and seems to ignore the fact that experience can be even more valuable that education.  One of the other things is that they require a huge number of hours out of people.  I guess that's pretty standard among the big 4; but people in the practice offices work 50-60 hours a week easily sometimes, and it's just too much - no matter how well one is paid.