PWC Advisory - Intern to Full Time
I'm an associate intern this summer in the Dallas office and I'm working under Technology Consulting. I applied to TC because that was the only one offered on my campus and I didn't want to let up the opportunity to work at PwC. Some of the things under TC seem really cool too, but what I really want to do is MC, specifically for Healthcare or Banking & Capital Markets.
I was wondering how much of a role my internship position plays in my full time offer (if I get one, of course) ? So if I'm working in a specific competency/ vertical in TC right now, will that be continued in the full time offer? And how easy (or difficult) is it for me to change over from TC to MC, request a vertical, and possibly even change locations to Chicago or NYC? Have you heard of it happening before? What's the best way to network and make that happen?
Right now I'm really committed to the idea of working at PwC full time, so I want to make sure that I do everything I can to get the job I want.
Thank you!!
Do well at your role, find a supportive partner that you can discuss this topic with (harder done than said).
I have a buddy who interned at PwC during his sophomore year within corp dev in PwC, built a great connection with a partner that eventually gave him three return offers (M&A deals, tax, corp dev.) It's definitely possible but realistically, it's tough.
Disclaimer: former PwCer here.
Intern -> FT is much easier to switch verticals/divisions. Of course, if you receive a return offer it will most likely be from the group you interned with since they'll want to keep you if you're good. That said, if you build up a relationship with another vertical/division (e.g. MC) AND they have openings for the upcoming year, you'll be in a good spot. Even if you don't get an FT offer for MC, you can always go through formal recruiting, they'll recognize you, and you'll probably get an offer.
Location is flexible - Advisory works together nationwide, so it shouldn't be hard to get into a different office, esp if that office focuses on what you want to work on. I was in the Boston office but I regularly got calls from Chicago and SF asking me to work on their stuff. Actually, I'd probably say that out of my assignments, only about 40% actually came from my Boston managers/directors....
I also can't recall whether entry Associates get to choose their vertical. I was in a horizontal group (M&A), so I covered everything from M&E to industrials to pharma to banking to food production. Maybe it differs by office, or maybe there's an entirely different side of Advisory that I've blocked out from memory. That said, as an Associate you'll probably be pulled in a ton of directions by a ton of different offices, so your assigned vertical is very flexible, haha. I was doing IT integration work at some point in time... definitely not related to M&A.
Warning: once you accept a FT offer within PwC, it is difficult to change focuses. At the very least, you'll need to put in your 2 years and become an Experienced Associate before you can request to switch groups.
Congrats on the internship though! Don't drink the kool-aid too hard over there :)
This was extremely insightful, thank you!! What would you say the Chicago office focuses on? I'm a finance major so I have a much stronger background in finance than I do in tech (my tech experience only comes from my past internship). Also, out of curiosity, how did you get into M&A Advisory? Is that part of MC?
Chicago was where a lot of the financial PRTM folks were located after the acquisition, so I got a lot of financial services requests from there - mainly doing due diligence work for top-tier PE clients ;) Chicago itself has a lot of hedge funds, prop trading, etc. so it makes sense that they would integrate well with that side of PwC. I'm not sure what other industries are located there. Obviously NYC will have a ton of finance, M&E, and consumer stuff.
M&A Advisory is part of MC. I didn't go through OCR - I literally applied online two months before I graduated and they contacted me for an interview, which was scarily easy. No financial questions at all.
Chicandtoughness,
You said that it is hard to switch verticals, but how about horizontals? Ex. If I am offered a position in Talent and Change or Finance Effectiveness and I want to switch to Deals or Operations in the same vertical/industry.
Thanks!
Do you mean horizontals within Advisory? Or horizontals across the entire firm? The first is difficult, I haven't heard of anyone doing it, but that may be because no one has wanted to yet. Switching horizontals across the entire firm are nearly impossible, forget it =P I've only heard of it happening a few times - there was a girl who started in Tax and then switched to Advisory after 3 years. She took a pay cut and dropped down a level (Experienced Associate to Associate) to do so.
Thank you for the quick response!
Yes I meant horizontals within advisory. I'm currently recruiting for an EAM/ERP position but I am more interested in the M&A/Deals horizontal and was wondering if I would be able to switch after a year or two. Sorry I'm not too familiar with the inner workings of PwC and am looking to learn as much as I can to prepare.
Thanks!
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