Company: PwC
Date: 2009-03-31
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: current

Good for some, others are set up for failure.
Pros: There's a good opportunity here for the right people, and no matter what happens, it looks really good on the resume.  Until the recent downturn, salaries for entry level were very good, and I expect that once things turn around that they will go back to that.  Unlike competitors, they seem to view layoffs as a last resort, and as of Mar 31 2009 they are the only 1 of the big 4 that have not *yet* resorted to it.   Training is good, and they make available a wide variety of resources both internally and through third parties to give you the information you need to keep up to date on current issues.  Senior management is generally pretty approachable.  They have a great intern program and work very closely with their interns.
Cons: If you do not fit into a certain demographic, you may have a difficult time here.  It's all about networking, and if you don't have enough in common with your peers [age, interest, background, etc.] it's more difficult to find work.  HR does not do their stated job of assigning associates to projects, so you are on your own to find something to do.  

Although there is a wide variety of training, a lot of it covers the "big picture" and does not focus enough on what you will be doing as an associate.  Networking is everything, and people who didn't have the advantage of being a former intern may have a difficult time establishing themselves.   They overhired in recent years and now have an excess of associates and not enough work for them to do. 

 There is massive competition for work, which has intensified with the economic downturn.   A lot of people end up spending a lot of their time on scanning documents, putting binders together, etc.  The problem some run into is that their first exposure to "real" work is busy season, and there is no patience or tolerance for people who pick it up a little more slowly than others, and many times your work on a project will be given away to other team members with more knowledge or experience.  There don't appear to be any second chances.  You are labeled an "underperformer" and the next thing you know, your job is in jeopardy.

This isn't a good place to start out if you have no experience and weren't able to get an internship.  In years past, there was plenty of work and it wasn't an issue, but things have changed.   This isn't the place to have your very first exposure to accounting work--people aren't patient enough and the environment is too competitive.  

With all that, I anticipate that future hiring patterns will be more in tune with the current economic realities, and future new hires might not run into these same issues.