On Campus newsletter

Gaining hands-on experience in the field that you’ve spent so much time studying about is one of the primary benefits of an internship. But all too often, students walk away from an internship without a solid understanding of the type of work they’ll be doing once they graduate. An internship should provide the student an overview of the company, its business, and its people.

At PwC, we understand how important an internship can be to help you shape a successful and rewarding career. PwC’s internship experience, Advance, is designed to give you a realistic job preview, as well as a glimpse into opportunities for professional growth and development.

Professors, recruiters, and students agree that the right internship can make a difference for those looking ahead. Alexa Hamill, PwC’s Campus Recruiting Leader, describes Advance as, “An experience that is meant to engage students in personal and professional discovery. Students will learn about the firm, the profession, and themselves. As a firm, we want students to understand they can take personal ownership of their careers. We will work with them to design their own career path.”

As part of every intern’s experience, each intern is given the opportunity to spend time building a working relationship with a PwC partner, principal or manager as they go about their client and team meetings. For some interns, this experience goes beyond their local office and includes a trip to New York City to spend a day with some of PwC’s US leadership team. This experience gives the interns an up close look at a day in the life of top firm leaders and helps them gain an understanding of what it takes to be a leader.

For Trevor Lund, an Assurance intern from Salt Lake City, spending the day with US Chairman Bob Moritz “ was one of the best experiences of my life. It was incredible to have a glimpse into the inner workings of PwC and the vision our leaders have for the firm”. Trevor was surprised at how involved he was throughout the day and how “Bob tried to get to know me, he asked a lot of sincere questions and I felt that he genuinely cared about what I had to say, which meant a lot to me as an intern coming from the chairman of such a large firm.” Trevor was joined by Maria Jobaille, an intern from the NY Metro market, to shadow Bob. What surprised Maria the most was how “after the various meetings we participated in, Bob asked us if we had any reactions or thoughts about the topics they covered. He was open to our perspective and opinions, and valued our backgrounds and stories. I felt like an active participant in the discussion, and felt engaged in the topics they covered.”

PwC’s internship experience, Advance, is a launching point to grow your own way at PwC. Interns discover through their time spent with partners, principals and staff how everyone has their own story and path at PwC. With hard work, opportunities for growth and development are all around.

Ryan McConaghy and Matt McDaniell, interns from the Chicago market, spent the day with US Sectors and Markets Leader Bill Cobourn. After a day participating in global meetings and calls, Ryan realized that it’s possible to “grow your own way” at PwC. “After shadowing Bill, I have a deeper understanding of the entire PwC global network from top to bottom. Working for one company does not mean only one career path; a person can have many different roles and responsibilities here at PwC. This experience reinforced my belief that there are many opportunities at PwC.” Matt was encouraged by Bill “to follow what I want to do.” Matt says that Bill “gave me the motivation to work hard and follow my dreams. He inspired me to find an area that I have a personal interest in and develop my expertise around that.”

At PwC, the people are the firm’s most important asset. Brett Lacey, an intern from the Minneapolis market, experienced this first hand when he shadowed Terri McClements, PwC’s US Human Capital Leader. Brett had the opportunity to sit in strategy discussions and was amazed at “the amount of effort that goes into flexibility, training, and coaching people at PwC.” He shared that “the leadership at the firm truly cares about all of its employees and goes to great lengths to improve the professional and personal lives of its people. Flexibility and professional development are key at PwC.”

The lessons Trevor, Maria, Ryan, Matt and Brett learned paint a very important picture of Advance, PwC’s internship experience. Even with all of the learning and development opportunities each experienced during their time with PwC, the people are what really set their experiences apart. They each saw the possibilities of their career and how they can take ownership and pride in the work they do. As Brett recalls, “Getting to meet and learn from the most influential people at the firm was an invaluable experience that I am grateful to have had. I will make sure to take advantage of all opportunities PwC has to offer.”

Learn about other internship opportunities at PwC.