My experience as a PwC consultant

My name is Alexandra Carlsson and I work as an Associate in the Foundation for the Future Team in consulting at PwC Finland. My career as a consultant started in the fall of 2019, and since then a lot has happened. In this blog post I want to share my experiences working at PwC Finland: what are the things I appreciate most, how I found my place in the company as a Trainee and why I think you should apply too. 

I started as a Trainee in Consulting just after my graduation, and already during my first day I realised that this was going to be completely different to anything I had ever done before. Because of the nature of the work I was able to do projects with clients ranging from banks to advertising companies and learn more about their business and culture. As a recent graduate who wanted to experience many different projects in various industries, this was perfect for me! 

The fact that all the team members in our team, Foundation for the Future, were also in the early stages of their careers, meant loads of after-works and laughs at the office, but more importantly support in finding my place in the company. As a Trainee and in terms of project work you get the opportunity to work with different teams in consulting before you choose your specialisation. For young professionals this is a perfect opportunity to explore and perhaps even push yourself out from your comfort zone!

How have my impressions changed after joining PwC?

Before applying to be a Trainee at PwC, I had the stereotypical impression that consulting is very hierarchical, and that as a Trainee you are mostly doing preparatory work and are not participating in client facing work. I was very happy to find that impression to be completely wrong already during my first week at PwC when I was involved in my first client call. 

The projects you work with vary based on which line of service you work in at PwC, but wherever you work you get to experience the PwC network and client connections. Working in different client projects with a team of three or more colleagues from different seniority levels enables you to make connections and get to know people from both of your own and other lines of services. This cooperation really reflects on the low hierarchy organisation and ways of working at PwC.

As the project and sales work with different clients brings variation to your days, at PwC you are also able to support different internal development tasks that you are interested in. For me this meant being an alumni representative to my old university and supporting in recruitment development. This variety of work and development opportunities, both Finland as well as across the PwC network, is what I appreciate most working at PwC.