PricewaterhouseCoopers Reviews in Los Angeles, CA Area

Pros

Large, recognizable company. The people are very friendly and respectful. Good work functions.

Cons

Boring job with little opportunity to move up.

Advice to Senior Management

Nothing.

Pros

Good compensation
Great people who are interesting to talk to
Emphasis on training and continued education
Work with large clients

Cons

I'm not sure how much real experience you will get, and how it will apply later on unless you're going to be an accountant your whole life.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue offering great training and education, I think that is one of the most important aspects of the work and makes it very worthwhile.

Pros

Strong brand name recognition
Good perks when traveling

Cons

Lack of subject matter expertise of most employees besides project management
Very political
99% of the project work do not require an MBA degree
Most of the time, I am just bugging the client to see if they have completed their task
Nothing but a glorified soccer mom making sure project team has completed their task on time on most projects
You do not gain any solid technical skills to leave PwC; after a fews years you are stuck there because you lack any subject matter expertise in anything unlike your peers in other consulting firms
You tend to get pigeon holed based on your experience prior to your MBA degree
Looking to leave but lack the necessary experience besides project management skills

Advice to Senior Management

Do not sucker MBAs into joining PwC

Pros

- Good mix of very bright people, recruiting at very good schools
- Opportunities to work on some very challenging projects
- Most managers are very respectful of needs for time off
- Prestigious firm recognized internationally

Cons

- Compensation is not in line with competitors, usually much lower for equal level positions
- Employee review and promotion system very subjective, with high focus on utilization that often
  employees at the senior and associate level cannot control
- Travel does get tiresome

Advice to Senior Management

- Clearly define Advisory's segment in the consulting marketplace
- Determine clearly defined metric for promotion

Pros

Provides great opportunities to develop a career path. Great growth opportunity. Great training. Great pay. Great benefits. Worldwide office locations. Education opportunities. Great feedback and mentor programs. Provides useful networking venues. Great people. HR very helpful. Provides informative luncheons. Upper management makes an effort to communicate all necessary information on a timely basis. Opportunity for bonuses at year end. Clear and defined career path. Firms works with you to meet career goals . Provides opportunities to volunteer with other employees at various events throughout the year .

Cons

The busy season can be very intense and draining for tax and audit.

Advice to Senior Management

Make more of an effort to discourage "clicks" and hire from more of a variety of schools.

Pros

Exposure-There is exposure to many projects, many different kinds of clients, and many different styles of management.
Co-workers-Coworkers are most likely competent, smart, well rounded people.
Knowledge Sharing- PwC invests in technology and the distribution of guidance to remain on the forefront of the changing accounting environment.

Cons

Work hours- I think the amount of hours and the intensity at which those hours are spent working are grueling.
Consistent messages - There are so many initiatives floating around at the same time it is often confusing to decipher the firm's goal.

Advice to Senior Management

Given that it is mainly a learning environment, always be conscious of trickling information down.

Pros

In my opinion, working for a Big 4 accounting firm is the best thing you could possibly do for your career if you plan on working in the financial world. Nowhere else will you find a bunch of 22 year-olds with such a high degree of responsibility...i.e. a tax associate who prepares a billion dollar company's (or individual's) tax return or a audit associate who interacts directly with the CEO, CFO, Controller of a Fortune 500 company. But of course, anything so rewarding does not come without a price. The longer you can tough it out at PwC, the more rewarding it will be for your career.

Cons

PwC sounds like heaven to college recruits and interns; however, after working your first busy season at the Firm, you realize that at the end of the day, PwC faces economic pressures, just like any other company out there. When you are charging clients for $150 - $200 for every hour a little associate works on an engagement, the stresses of budgets and time constraints come on harder than ever. At the same time, we have to worry about Deloitte or EY or even Grant Thorton coming along and stealing out clients. So as you could imagine, the level of stress at PwC can be extremely high. You'd be amazed how quickly the Firm's expectations of you increase after just a few months.

Advice to Senior Management

I'm tempted to say that they should stop taking home millions of dollars a year and share the wealth the the poor hardworking associates, but then again, if I were to make partner one day, I would expect to be compensated similarly.

Pros

Large noteworthy top-tier public accounting firm. Access to multiple clients and industries. Good opportunities for advancement. Public reputation of firm.

Cons

The performance evaluation process is a joke, there is a high degree of subjectivity, protectionism, and lack of incentive for meaningful feedback imbedded in the process. Too much focus on internal metrics and not enough focus on professional development. There is a lot of propaganda on wanting to be the "distinctive" firm, but the reality is that PwC is at times distinctive in a bad way.

Advice to Senior Management

Show better leadership and take junior staff out to interface with your clients regularly.

Pros

Training and exposure to well-established companies. The opportunity to work for major players within the Media industry (Los Angeles). The training was great , PwC ranks #1 in corporate training. The audit training were great, having the ability to connect with employees from around the world was an awesome experience.

Cons

Work-Life Balance and politics (which is common for any large company). The long-hours and mundane tasks (at least at the staff level). PwC identity crisis, a wannabe consulting firm. I feel a lack of expertise in certain areas. A tone down of the elietest attitude would be a breathe of fresh air.

Advice to Senior Management

Less politics, focus on delivery. A little pompus.

Pros

great career oppurtunities, good compesation packages, work with other highly skilled professionals, work on several different kinds of projects.
Voted #1 ideal employer in our profession by business students, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Universum Undergraduate Survey
Named one of Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For in 2005”
In the US, PwC holds the leading position as auditor to the Fortune 500, auditing 33% of Fortune 500 revenues
Globally, PwC firms provide significant audit and advisory services for 79% of the Fortune Global 500
Ranked #2 among top 10 employers of INROADS interns, ahead of the other Big 4 firms
Ranked #2 on The Black Collegian magazine’s list of The Top 100 Employers of 2004
Named a “100 Best Company” by Working Mother magazine for the 9th year in a row—only Big 4 firm to be ranked in Top 10 (2001, 2004)
Named one of Working Mother’s Top Companies for Women of Color in 2005
Universum Communications and The Black Collegian presented The Top 50 Diversity Employers of 2004—PwC was ranked #10
Recognized in DiversityInc as one of 50 Best Companies for Diversity in 2004
Ranked #1 in our profession as the Most Ideal Diversity Employer among
Undergraduates in the American Diversity Edition of the 2004 Universum Survey
Ranked #3 on DiversityInc’s list of Top 10 Companies for Executive Women
Ranked #9 on DiversityInc’s list of Top 10 Companies for Asian Americans in 2004
Voted #1 Top Company Website by students in the 2005 Universum Undergraduate Survey
Named “Big Four Firm of the Year” for the second year in a row by Accountancy Age magazine
Received inaugural “Employer of the Year” award from Accountancy Age magazine
Ranked #1 Most Prestigious Accounting Firm in Vault’s 2004 Accounting Survey

Cons

Compensation is far below finance roles outside of PwC and other big 4 firms, long hours, inefficient use of time, inefficiency is rewarded, lower/mid level staff are mostly incompitent, difficult to obtain time with partners
Long hours during busy seasons. Work assignments can be boring at times. Sometimes there are poor communications from superiors, but can be easily managed usually, communication is the key to success. HR department is not very helpful at times. Lots of sudden assignments and projects which can push you to the limit.
- Difficulty in measuring quality of output - not a PwC specific issue, but in areas such as audit it is easier to measure quantity than quality - as a result, some people do have the slightly cynical view that recognition and reward will link to quantity rather than quality. This is not quite true and certainly quality is valued, but unfortunately it is not always easily measured, and as a result, rewarded. This, combined with the fact that PwC is a very large organisation, means that, with some exceptions, progression often comes down to the amount of time you have spent with the firm.

- Cyclical work flows – dependant on your line of service, industry group and time of year – For auditors, certain months can be highly demanding, and leave little time for a personal life, and some staff may feel that there is an expectation that they will work long hours. But equally, there are quieter periods, which do offer the opportunity for much easier hours or time off. Again, not really a PwC specific issue.

Advice to Senior Management

suggestion with many issues, but... Clients should be charged extra when we are required to work until (or past) mid-night to meet their deadlines! And some of that compensation should flow to the staff... Well, its a nice dream anyway

Keep up the good communications. Improve HR department.