Company: PwC
Date: 2016-08-21
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former

Think again
Pros: 1. Exposure. You learn many things in your first year.
2. Great peers
3. Big 4 on your resume. Some job vacancies clearly state that this is mandatory. Having PwC in my CV gavel a sign that I am diligent, determined and able to work under pressure.
4. Coaching dinner every month
5. Pretty good health insurance
6. Trained to work fast
7. Performance feedback straight from people work have worked with you. Please see cons.
8. Good stepping stone for fresh grads
9. International secondment opportunities when you have worked in PwC for more than 3 years with good rating
10. If you're lucky, you'd work with supportive team members. This is the number one factor for your success in PwC.
11. Ability to arrive at 9 or 10 am and go home earlier on low season
Cons: 1. You are an audit machine, heartless and soulless. You are not a human.
2. Endless work. As long as you are alive and still breathing, there will be more work for you to finish. It doesn't matter if you are not trained at all, if you are an associate doing 2nd year Senior tasks or if it is the Chinese New Year, YOU GOT TO FINISH IT ON TIME!
3. Health issue. If you love yourself, please don't stay here for more than 3 years, unless you're a masochist.
4. No work life balance. Work life balance is a myth and only exists on low season (June-August).
5. Excessive overtime. There was a time I arrived at the office at 8 am sharp and went home by 3 am for 2 months. I also worked on Saturday AND Sunday.
6. High risk, low return. That means even if you work excellently, you are still not paid well. Of course this varies from person to person, but to me, the salary is quite low considering the values and all the hard work I have given to PwC. If money is your concern, please don't choose to be an auditor in a Big 4 firm. It only pays well if you're from 1st world country (UK, US, Canada and Australia). If you are from Indonesia or India, good luck having your ends meet.
7. All of the hard work put is only for documentation matters. Documentation is only for archiving, no real value added to client.
8. Many stressed and burnt out people. I have met so many stressed out people in PwC. Speaking from my own experience, this may lead to depression. I am glad that I was out on my 3-year mark or else I could have got depressed. Depression is a serious matter that needs to be solved immediately, it is not a joke.
9. Low level of openness. Your manager/senior might not like you but he/she will not show it to you and keep silent. You'd know it when performance feedback comes. If you're unlucky, you'd never know about it at all and you'd be confused.
10. If you did great at 5 engagements and suck at 1 engagement, you would not get promoted. Your concern would not be heard, they would only hear for manager's concern. It does not matter how great you did on other engagements, you are effed up. That's it. Bye bye!
11. For women, I don't suggest you to work in PwC for more than 3 years. 3 years is the maximum amount of time you can give to endure all the pressure. Please remember that you will have to get married and your time is ticking. It would be great if you can get another job before 3 years. As long as you've been there for > 1 year, it should be all right. You have values in you and you can sell it to work in another company. Please listen to me on this one. PwC is a stepping stone, not a safe haven.