Company: PwC
Date: 2008-07-31
Overall rating: 5/5
Employment status: current

The ideal way to start a career in financial services
Pros: Working at PwC means being surrounded by intelligent professionals- the difference between having a career versus a job is obvious on a daily basis.  Individuals who understand the difference between hard work as opposed to just putting in long hours are rewarded with opportunities to learn new things every day and receive coaching directly from managers and senior managers even as first-year employees.  The firm's formal feedback system is designed to foster transparency in the year-end review process, as the independent file reviewers who make decisions on an individual's performance rating and promotion are required to consider only information documented in the formal feedback system.  Individuals who carefully improve on suggestions mentioned through this system are evaluated well; the system is largely successful in ensuring that staff are evaluated on their specific work-related merits and not the nebulous perceptions of them that managers and partners might have.
Cons: Particularly for associates and seniors, firm demands regularly take precedence over one's personal life.  While engagement teams are generally quite flexible to make sure important commitments can be fulfilled, a prospective employee needs to understand that working for the firm will inconvenience them from time to time.