Company: PwC
Date: 2017-06-23
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Terrible work-life balance
Pros: PwC was a good place to start my career. Since I worked a gazillion hours in just 2 years and 9 months of real time, it's as if I'd worked full-time for four or five years. I left PwC 2.5 months ago; now I hold my own (from a technical expertise perspective) with finance and accounting professionals several years older than me.
Cons: The work-life balance is terrible. Every year, January, February, and March were hellacious. In 2017, I worked 52 consecutive days from Jan 3 to Feb 23, with many days involving 10-14 billable hours. This included seven consecutive weekends. I averaged 65+ billable hours per week. With a year-round client that's an SEC registrant, work-life balance continued to be bad in the quarterly review months of April, July, and October. Therefore, take 3 months of busy season, plus 3 more months of quarterly reviews, and 6 months of the year I rarely had flexibility. My mental, physical, and emotional health deteriorated; I was becoming a one-dimensional person with limited time to invest in family, friends, hobbies, or physical exercise. I started a new job with a non-Big Four accounting firm 2.5 months ago, and my work-life balance and happiness are significantly better. The grass is truly greener on the other side. I work fewer hours, yet I am paid more. Work smarter, not harder. Self-care is so important and so necessary!