My Summer in PwC

The turn of the year was an opportunity to reflect on the past year. 2020 had a few highlights and participating in the PwC’s Summer Internship was top of the list.

It was something I had intended to do since I did work experience there in transition year. As an Accounting and Finance student in DCU, I knew last January that I would likely be surrounded by my friends who were all excited to apply for the summer programme.

I remember where I was when I got the confirmation email that evening, offering me a place on the internship that summer, irrepressible joy. I also remember where I was five weeks later when the colleges closed due to COVID- 19 restrictions. The narrative and restrictions around the virus evolved throughout the spring and summer. The virtual college lectures and exams came and went, focus turned to the summer. I was invited to participate in a virtual fortnight- long internship in July, reflecting new circumstances and jumped at the chance.

The PwC laptop arrived in advance with PwC stationary. The excitement began to build.

Monday July 6th, I jumped out of bed, washed, threw on clothes, ran downstairs, had my tea and porridge followed by a 30-second commute to my desk in my bedroom. My location proved useful when in a career planning workshop, one of us was encouraged to sing Falling Slowly, I was grateful to have to my guitar to hand. It was a good talking point for the rest of the internship.

The programme commenced with a talk from Emma Scott- our people partner- and Fergal O’Rourke- Managing Partner- who set a positive and reassuring tone. I got the sense that the unusual circumstances would not prove to be a barrier in having a worthwhile experience.  

Then we met our coaches and buddies who were could touch base with if we had any problems throughout the internship. Later, we were invited into a chat with a group of associates, which was a really good way to get a sense of what life is like in PwC- specifically in the FDI department. I was anxious to get a sense of the work environment and these calls allowed that.

Each of us participated in calls related to their line of service- Advisory, Audit or Tax. In tax, we were taught invaluable lessons about different tax heads that I have since utilised in a tax module in college. It also helped me decide what type of career I would like in the future.

The tax team- project on VAT enabled me to work with two of my best friends from college and use my random insight about how Jaffa Cakes are treated as cakes not biscuits for VAT purposes. We also tried to integrate as many digital tools as possible as we could to make our presentation more engaging, it was an opportunity to put the skills that we had learned in digital workshops into practice. The digital workshops really helped us with our projects and increasing our proficiency on Google Suite. This was helpful in when we returned to college and had to complete group assignments virtually.

The most important point to convey about my experience is that the internship was powered by people who genuinely wanted to help us as interns. Countless calls were scheduled over and above the hours of the programme to gain further insight into the day-to-day life of the firm. Everyone was eager to help, to talk, to discuss projects, to give advice.  It was a team I wanted to be part of, 3000 strong and it will come as little surprise after meandering through this blog post that I did not hesitate in accepting a place on the PwC graduate programme we it was offered after the internship.

To conclude, I couldn’t highly enough recommend that you apply apply now for the PwC Ireland Summer Internship Programme 2021- www.pwc.ie/internships. Applications close February 1st at 5pm.