Why I chose an apprenticeship over going to university

About me 

I work within Finance Managed Services, working directly with clients to help run their finance functions while also studying towards my Accounting Technicians Ireland (ATI) and Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI) professional accountancy qualifications.

Tell us about joining PwC?

I was torn between whether to go to university or to apply for a School and College Leaver programme at PwC. I considered the benefits of both options and discovered I could become a Chartered Accountant in five years through PwC’s Flying Start Business Management degree programme but if I went to university, it would take me six. It was important to me that with an apprenticeship I would qualify earlier, would avoid student debt, and would start in a full-time job earning a salary as an apprentice.

Once I’d decided to do the programme, my biggest challenge was working through the different stages of the application process. I created a preparation plan and utilised the practice tests on the Employability Hub on the PwC website which really helped prepare me for the real thing.

Tell us about your role and what you do?

What I love about my job is that every day is different from the last. I am always learning new processes and getting to work on projects with different clients. This means I get valuable insight into how different companies operate and function.

I'm learning while I earn, and I get to put what I learn in class into practice every day. When it comes to generating monthly management accounts, bank reconciliations, and reviews of nominal ledgers for my clients, this helps further develop and cement my understanding.

How have you been supported?

The best thing about working at PwC is definitely the people. Everyone is so welcoming and they genuinely care about you and your development. My team has made my career journey an insightful learning experience through one-to-one training which is crucial for collaboration and learning, plus the different team events are great for me in building new relationships.