PwC reviews

I believe that management has been ordered to work new hires to death. Since pay is salaried and there isn't really overtime (maybe a spot bonus here and there), i think the motto is "milk them for all they're worth". As a new associate you will be told that you are expected to work long hours and to have a "utilization rate" of at least 80% according to HR policies. That being said, however, as a new hire a likelier story is that you should really be at 100% since other people in the office have utilization rates of up to 150% (or something ridiculous like that). If you have 8hrs of billable hours a day you have a 100% utilization rate, so you can do the math to figure out what 150% would be. "It's not uncommon to work 12-14 hours a day", according to many managers. And if you ask, like me, how does that leave time for the rest of your life?? You might get a similar answer- "well, the work has to get done". Work/Life Balance is a joke! Also, the push on new hires comes from the fact that they have the lowest billing rate and budgets are ALWAYS tight. That can be pretty stressful. So again, the biggest downside would be the long hours. VERY LONG HOURS. If you are okay with that for the rest of your life, and especially as a new hire, then PwC is the place for you. But be aware, for the amount of time you work, the salary isn't that high and the spot bonuses for overtime are weak to say the least. The last thing is that sometimes credentials take precedence over proven abilities. So much emphasis is placed on PhDs and advanced degrees, but having those degrees does not necessarily make the person the best one for the job or even the smartest (it seems like every one at the office is always having to prove how smart they are!). I'm extremely proud to work for PwC and with the people there, because i think they really are very talented and bright, but sometimes it goes to their heads. Eh, most of the time maybe...

It's difficult to stand out, particularly when the firm really wants you to fit within a specific type of role and list of capabilities. While the firm does a great job of preaching diversity, when you're actually on the job it's been my experience that managers/partners fail to recognizing an individual's skills and talents and utilize them in the best way possible. Everyone's a "resource" just like everyone else. There seems to be a big disconnect between the quality of person that the firm will hire externally into a senior or manager position versus promoting someone internally. On several occasions I've seen people get skipped over for promotion and instead the firm hired someone externally who was not nearly as capable. The importance of building good relationships can't be overstated. "It's not what you know, it's who you know" definitely applies at PwC. A lot of positive things are said internally about the firm's annual review process but there's a significant flaw - partners are essentially able to override the outcome of any annual review. You have to be careful who you rub the wrong way because if this person has the ear of an influential partner one negative comment can drop your rating significantly and kill any chances for promotion - no matter how much your official file supports the opposite actions. This is unfortunate because the periodic feedback and annual reviews can end up being exercises in "cya" rather than good growth opportunities. I've heard many of my peers complain that the partners tend to be disconnected from the staff. I've found that this varies significantly by individual partner and specific engagement. As a broad statement though, I would tend to agree. Stress levels are typically very high - especially in the Assurance practice. I couple of years back I went to a doctor for my biennial, firm-provided health checkup. The doctor told me that he sees several PwC employees each month and that he's found that without fail these people always have significantly higher stress indicators (e.g., blood pressure, insomnia, etc.) than his average patient. Unfortunately, I wasn't surprised. Since moving to Advisory my stress levels have improved somewhat.