Our Accounting and Finance third year student Nayan Higgins, explains how he secured an internship at PwC.  

How did you find and secure your internship? 
 
First of all I need to decide if I wanted to complete a placement year or an internship. I decided with an internship, as I did not want to spend too long away from studying and it can sometimes be a risk when securing a year long placement without knowing if it is the right fit for you.  
 
I had been offered a few different internships but decided to go with PwC.  I did this as I thought about potential opportunities and their reputation within the industry, however their placement had only been 4 weeks long.  
 
My application included some of the following assessments:  

  •  A video assessment, in which questions would appear on the screen, you would have time to prepare and then you would answer.  
  • A psychometric test including non-verbal reasoning, verbal reasoning, situational judgement and personality-based questions.  
  • A presentation in which I had been given a scenario and had to think of solutions and present this back within a certain time frame.  
  • A face-to-face interview in which they would ask more questions in depth such as my university experience, what do I hope to achieve in the future and my previous work experience.  
  • A group discussion with other interviewees/ interns, this linked back to the presentation we had presented previously. They were looking at our ability to work in teams and our ability to collaborate.  
     
    I did have a technical issue when presenting my PowerPoint and had to switch to using my phone. In my telephone feedback, even though I had been successful, they were happy how I handled the situation. A blessing in disguise.  
     

What did your internship involve? 

I generally participated in a variety of day-to-day audit tasks, covering audit preparation, completion and areas of reporting. I had the amazing opportunity to work on a listed client for the entirety of the internship, gaining hands-on experience of audit in the real world. Working with several members of staff in a range of hierarchical positions had been eye-opening, my understanding of responsibilities and heightening significantly.

As the internship fell in July, I was able to attend an end-of-quarter audit team meeting, covering notable but confidential points, a very interesting experience.

Alongside work, PwC ensured everyone took part in social activities, the first week consisting of a day of conservation volunteering at Sale Water Park, in addition to a group meal at a local restaurant. 
 

What did you learn from doing the internship? 

I had completed other internships before and I have experience working in other finance settings too, as well as helping family run businesses, but this felt like it was my first job within the corporate world, and this is so different form university, so I learnt a lot there.  

I felt PwC had a strong working community, which was good, as I got to work with like-minded people who were also at the start of their career.   

What advice would you give current second years looking for an internship? 
 
Before the interview I reached out to staff via Linked in within the organisation asking for tips, some of them got back to me and other did not. It gave me a good idea of how to prepare and what was coming up.  
 
Get to know the organisation well including their values and be ready to ask them questions too.  
 
Apply as much as you can and keep trying. I know a lot of people want to apply for the big 4 but there are other opportunities out there. Also, if you do get a rejection try your best to bounce back and keep going.  
 
Place yourself into new experience and gain work experience too this will help with your interview technique.  Have key points to put on your CV and use LinkedIn as well. Try and volunteer too when you can as this has helped me massively too.  
 
If you like the sound of Nayan’s experience at PwC and think it would be a great fit for you.  
 
Keep a look out for their internship, by using this link:  https://jobs.pwc.co.uk/student/uk/en/search-results?keywords=&p=ChIJ2_UmUkxNekgRqmv-BDgUvtk&location=Manchester,%20UK