Company: PwC
Date: 2010-06-25
Overall rating: 1/5
Employment status: current

Do an internship at PwC for your resume, but DO NOT accept a full-time position
Pros: Working at PwC gives you the CPA experience you need. Additionally, the name PricewaterhouseCoopers looks good on your personal resume.
Cons: Simply put, you are expected to be a mindless minion. No one has any respect for a work/life balance, whether or not they know about the commitment, you come in extra early, get your work done early or on time, and get compliments from the client. If you book vacation ahead of time (despite being available when you book), you will most likely be "asked" to change it, and if that is not possible, you will have to make up the hours you are taking as vacation. People will consistently throw you under a bus and be two-faced. Rumors, trash talk, and gossip are prevalent, even among Managers, who also partake. I've had an associate tell me (when the senior was not in the room) that he will help me with an assignment, and when it came due and I asked him for his part, he said, "I never said I'd do that. That was YOUR responsibility." (to me in front of the senior)  I've also had an experienced associate tell me to do controls testing, and then, when I did it and the manager asked why I did, the experienced associate said they had never told me to do the testing in the first place. Those are only two of many examples in my short one year term here.

Senior Associates and Managers do not think for themselves either; they are the ones that clawed their way to the top, but never really knew or understood what they were doing along the way. You do something because it was done last year (even if excessive, unnecessary, and time consuming). If you bring up the fact that a procedures may be any of the above, you will do it if only to satisfy the person's power trip and if later, the Manager or Partner calls it excessive, you'll find that the Senior and/or Manager will put the blame on you, saying that you mindlessly followed prior year. And by the way, you will be considered "difficult" for having ever questioned a procedure in the first place, regardless of whether or not you were right or how sweetly you bring it up.

Another thing to note: people do not leave PwC having loved the firm. People leave PwC because they hate it. It's not just the work they hate, but the people that make the work that much more unbearable.

One final point: NO overtime pay. If you work 8 hours or 16 hours, the firm doesn't care. You are booked for engagements knowing that the number of days you have to complete the engagement is not enough and instead of adjusting resources properly, the idea is that it will get done no matter what (normally, excessive overtime). You are also told to keep your hours within budget (i.e. eat hours) and you are unappreciated if you are honest about your hours.