PwC Reviews

Former Employee – worked at PwC

Pros – Lots of opportuntiy for advancement
Reasonable bosses
Strong pay vs peers
Lots of opportunity to interact with clients
Very smart people to work with

Cons – The biggest downside is usually the hours which can be long during times like busy season due to client deadlines

Advice to Senior Management – Management in transaction services could be a bit more thoughtful. Often times they combined groups too willy-nilly and end up not having the desired outcome

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at PwC

Pros – The culture is truly one of coaching and development. The firm provides so many opportunities to learn and grow your career.

Cons – The seasonality of the workload is the biggest downside for me.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep doing what you are doing.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at PwC

Pros – Great training, perks, benefits, very smart people, amazing big name clients, prestige.

Cons – Long hours, placed into a group and hard to switch out.

Advice to Senior Management – If someone has a good idea what they want to do, they should give them that chance.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at PwC

Pros – It's a big four, so no complaints about status or perception by others. People are pretty friendly, theer is a lot of emphasis on development. if you wnat to life the consulting life and learn the ropes, this is a great place to be. Lots of room, lots of opportunities, lots of interesting people.

At a management level, PwC is a typical partnership: anything goes as long as at least one partner approves. So go sell your idea to do consulting from a hot air balloon to a dozen partners; one of them will think it's a great idea and up you go!

Benefits are great, specially for long timers.

As PwC lacks a strong internal structure, you can pretty much define your own niche and work.

Cons – PwC is a sort of networking organisation. If your good at that, well, great, you will prosper. If you need a fair bit of hand holding, and like to be part of a team, think twice before joining. PwC does not have any idea how to make people feel at home. You nominally have a relationship partner and a coach, that you'll meet bimonthly if you're lucky. No real team, no 'family' feeling, no group building. If you're not on an assignment, you're on your own. If you don't show up at an office, nobody will notice. Nobody can even tell who is responsible for you, or who can fire you.

PwC worst competitor is themselves: they sim[ply cannot systematically identify what capabilities and knowledge they have. It's all down to your own network in the firm if people find you, staff you, notice you.

Do not expect too much work life balance. Of course, there are plenty of good intentions, just like the road to hell. In practice, PwC expects 50, 60, 70 hours workweeks, with plenty of calls in wee mornings, late evenings and weekends. So don't count on bringing your kiddies to daycare, or being home in time for dinner. Then again, show me the consultancy that actually will maintain a work-life balance. they are probably belly up...

Advice to Senior Management – Improve localization of internal talent. More then one opportunity was abandonned, or staffed by 3rd party, while the talent is in house and on the bech, blkissfully unaware of the craving need of the guy in the next cubicle.

Make your compensation/benefits mid year adjustment a bit more flexible. More then a couple of people left because they felt underpaid- and their replacements got 25-50% more salary....

Current Employee – been working at PwC

Pros – Excelent brand recognition and pottential to "pay your dues" at a first rate firm. Very hierchial and structured. You always know your role.

Cons – I can only speak of the Federal Practice which is an experiment within the firm. The major issue is HR's inability to match skillsets with engagements.

Advice to Senior Management – Invest in your HR department and create an effective system of matching talent and engagements. This will ensure long term success and overall employee satisfaction.

Current Employee – been working at PwC

Pros – Never the same thing twice. Interesting and challenging with tons of opportunities. If you get in with the right crowd you can wind up working with some of the most brilliant and inspirational folks you've ever worked with. But this is not the norm.

Cons – Work life balance. You really have to love the job to do everything that's asked of you. If you only tolerate the job (and/or the life style), you can get burnt out very fast. If you're not a type A personality, generally speaking arrogance and egos can get old too.

Advice to Senior Management – Pay closer attention to morale and staff satisfaction. Especially as the firm makes efforts to continuously raise the bar (yet limit the number of partner admissions / senior promotions). Don't assume everyone loves their job as much as the partners and don't be surprised if a mass exodus occurs when the market turns around.

Current Employee – been working at PwC

Pros – I chose this company over others because I had a good first impression with the personnel. Highly structured and classy.

Cons – Of the several offers I received, PwC was by far the lowest. Hopefully, this is not an indication of what is to come.

Advice to Senior Management – Consider that, in order for top talent to stay they must be adequately compensated. This might reduce some of the turnover.

Current Employee – been working at PwC

Pros – - 22 vacation days a year
- Talented employees and team members
- Excellent parental leave policy (3 weeks fully paid for new fathers, 6 weeks fully paid for adoptive parents, doesn't come out of vaction balance).
- Great brand recognition/resume builder

Cons – -Low pay.
-Leadership don't seem to be on the same page as one another, which causes a lot of confusion and chaos downstream.
-Process, Process, Process. Congress has less red tape.
-IFS are second class citizens - not unusual for professional services companies but still a con.
-or teams with bonuses, lunch, gift cards,etc
-Very politcally correct environment.

Prior to the reorg, this was a fantastic place to work with career opportunities, strong teams, and great morale. Since then, it has become just a job.

Advice to Senior Management – -Get rid of some of the red tape and push management decisions further down the org chart (say to someone lower than Sr. Director level). We have very smart, very talented people here. Let them use their smarts and talent to help make us more competitve in the market place.
-Pay bonuses and annual raises. There's no better way for a company to say "we don't value you" than by eliminating bonuses and raises. Good employees are leaving and eventually you will be stuck with nothing but poor performers who couldn't leave for another job even if they wanted to.

Current Employee – been working at PwC

Pros – Working at PricewaterhouseCoopers gives you the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of different projects and technical challenges faced by clients. The people are great to work with and very willing and eager to lend a helping hand when need be.

Cons – Because of being exposed to a variety of projects it may be hard to develop a strong skill set in any one area which could hinder job opportunities outside of the firm. Communication from the leadership is lacking which causes low morale among its employees.

Advice to Senior Management – I would advise management to be more open about the true health of the firm. Keeping your employees in the dark about potential hardships the firm might face does more harm than good. The morale of the employees would be much higher if open communication was practiced not just preached.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at PwC

Pros – The typical line on PwC is it's a great place to start, build your credentials for a few years, then move on to greener pastures. It doesn't have to be that way. A long career here can be very rewarding - professionally, intellectually, and financially. But understand what kind of environment you're getting into.

Some straight talk to describe life at PwC: Hard-working, ever-changing, demanding, and conservative (at times in the extreme). And also intellectually stimulating, team-oriented, flexible, and fun (if you are on a good team, which most are).

You are working for the best and will be expected to bring your best every day. You need to get yourself noticed, yet do so in a way that is collaborative and team-focused. If you are a lone ranger (in reality or in perception), you will fail. Not everyone is able to bring that "mental balance" between ambition and great teaming to work every day. Ask yourself if you can.

My PwC cohorts are, collectively, the most intelligent community of people I've ever been around. Every person who sticks here is capable, diligent, and for the most part, more than willing to share their knowledge. The spirit of achievement and top-quality delivery to our clients is really something special.

Cons – Did I mention demanding and hard-working? Hours can be off the charts at times. The perpetual challenge has been that Work/Life Balance, while truly regarded as an important initiative, has always only addressed half the equation. You can offer all the time off and schedule flexibility you want, but until you make workloads and expectations more reasonable, you will never be able to achieve the "balance". They have never quite gotten that part. Over several years, I have never been able to take all my vaca time while remaining a top performer - and I am not the workaholic type by nature. It's the way the system is built.

Did I mention conservative? Understand this is still an accounting/audit firm at heart, no matter how big Advisory becomes. The hoops one needs to jump through - whether to initiate a project, establish a teaming relationship, handle admin tasks, or address personal financial independence requirements - are off the charts. After a few weeks/months, you will "get it", it will become normal, and you'll stop considering it ridiculously burdensome. Or not, in which case this probably isn't the environment for you. This is a "culture of compliance" taken to new heights.

Final thought: If you perform and progress, compensation can be excellent. Real wealth is possible. BUT - you will max out after a handful of years as a director. Consider that the partnership is basically a sign-in-blood-for-life proposition, and political x 1000 (which certainly isn't for everyone), and you may start face a career crossroads.

Advice to Senior Management – 1. Make WLB real by addressing the workload end of the equation - especially for directors, whose responsibility loads are insane.

2. Define a path for long-term compensation growth other than forcing a partner/MD track. Let's get creative. It is restrictive now to the point of driving top performers to seek other opportunities in the market.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend