My life as an apprentice in PwC
What did you do before embarking on a PwC apprenticeship programme?
In September 2019, I started my career at PwC as a Tax Apprentice studying towards the ATT exam. Before starting my apprenticeship, I was working towards my A-Levels at Hayes Sixth Form whilst also working at an IT maintenance and service provider in London within their Account Support team. Alongside studying Business, Economics and Geography, I enjoyed participating in sports teams and deepening my business acumen, at one point owning my own business I operated with a group of friends. However, whilst I enjoyed school and studying, I was certain of what I wanted to do after I left and began exploring apprenticeships as an alternative to university.
What is your role at PwC?
As a member of the Reward and Employment Team, I work on numerous client consultancy projects working within the Employment Tax and Tax Technological Workspaces advising on tax related issues on anything from National Minimum Wage Reporting projects to Pay As You Earn Settlement Agreements and Intermediary Reporting. Within the technological part of the team in London, I work with software such as Alteryx and Tableau to build workflows and dashboards that can then be taken back to clients, simplifying processes and producing interactive visualisations for both internal and external users. I’m looking forward to deepening my skills and for the foreseeable future I hope to excel in the apprenticeship scheme in order to become a qualified tax associate and carry on working in the technological division within the Employment Tax workspace at PwC.
What do you enjoy most about working for PwC?
For me, I enjoy being able to constantly learn and develop my technical skills, as well as work alongside a growing team, which with a range of talents and personalities, has been fantastic to be a part of when working on numerous projects. In addition, I have also enjoyed the social aspect of working in a close team, suffice to say the number of team socials is growing every week! Furthermore, I have really engaged with the opportunity that PwC has given me to talk about apprenticeships at forums and schools to promote and educate young adults on the possibilities and benefits that apprenticeships bring. Being able to work alongside fellow apprentices from other companies in delivering such views is extremely rewarding and honoured to be able to do it.
What is your proudest moment as a new professional?
Representing PwC I went back to my old school to deliver a talk on apprenticeships, afterwards a young man came up to me and asked me for advice on how to apply apprenticeships, we got talking and he said he’d never been given ‘his break’ to work for a big company. Immediately after, as a result of an ever growing network, myself and an advisor were able to sort him with some summer work experience, a recruiter to go through his CV with him and a support network to provide him advice on opportunities available in a variety of roles. Alongside his hard work in his academic subjects, he has received a number of apprenticeship offers and has far built his confidence for when he starts in September this year. Now I’m passionate about helping other young people to realise their ambitions. With the demand for labour changing and the workforce of the future evolving, employers wanting to upskill their workforce want to find the best talent regardless of background, and an apprenticeship can be a great route into the workplace for anyone with drive and potential. For me, it was an opportunity to challenge myself, and I’m confident that it has set me on a long and distinguished career.