Company: PwC
Date: 2011-09-08
Overall rating: 1/5
Employment status: former

Corporate slavery
Pros: The only good reason that I can think of for which anyone would want to work here is to learn. Since the industry is ever changing, this is a great way to keep updated on the latest pronouncements. Of course, if the political BS in Washington stopped, maybe there wouldn't be so many changes every year. The politicians in Washington seriously need to focus on more important issues.
Cons: There's so much cons to working at PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

First, there is WAY TOO MUCH politics going on. The partners have their favorites. It's incredible how much favoritism they show to their favorites. The same people keep on winning awards because they are being favorited by the partners. 

Second, you are well underpaid for how much work you do. It's almost like slavery for the amount of hours they expect you to work versus the money they compensate you with. My suggestion is to treat this job as a learning experience and move on when you think you're ready. Benefits compared to other companies are not that great either. I still pay a lot out of pocket for my medical bills. 

Third, there is no work life balance. They love to preach this idea of work life balance to you. Don't believe anything that they try to sell you. There is no such thing as work life balance here. Their idea of work life balance is that they allow you flexibility in your work hours for things like emergency, doctor's appointment, other commitments, etc. Except the work is still there. You still need to make up your hours and more to compensate. To be honest, work consumes your life. Just say goodbye to your friends and family before you begin your first day of work here.

Fourth, people are fake here. They act like they care about you and want to look out for your best interest. Truth is that this is a cut throat industry. People will step over you to climb up the ladder. You're pretty much on your own and need to look out for your own interests. Or else, your fake co-workers will stab you in the back and step all over you so that they can move up.

Finally, after a certain point, I came to a realization. Does any of this work really benefit society? Who in the world really cares if you get your controls testing done today. Or who cares if you get this analytics right today? No one cares. You do all this work that no one cares about. The work gets scrutinized by seniors, managers, and partners, whose purpose to find mistakes to cut you down to size. Partners sign opinion letters that no one really reads. It gets filed away for a number of years only for it to get trashed years down the road. It's a meaningless cycle.