Working hours for apprentices at the Big 4?

Hello,

I am an A-level student and next year I am considering doing an Apprenticeship with PwC or EY.

Can someone who is already an apprentice there tell me how many hour do they work?
I mean do you work 9 to 5 as normal office hours or more than that (I am asking this because I heard that the Big 4 working hours are not really nice at all so I was wondering if that applies to apprentices as well)

Also in your answer could you also specify in which sector you work (Audit/Assurance, Tax, Consulting, ... )

Thank you

Reply 1

ohdrama

11

Afaik there is no difference in working hours between graduates and apprentices - that is in most cases the hours your team will work at any given time. There will be long hours. There will also be easy days. Personally I've hardly ever worked the contracted 35h weeks though.

Reply 2

natninja

21

Original post by r.nar12

Hello,

I am an A-level student and next year I am considering doing an Apprenticeship with PwC or EY.

Can someone who is already an apprentice there tell me how many hour do they work?
I mean do you work 9 to 5 as normal office hours or more than that (I am asking this because I heard that the Big 4 working hours are not really nice at all so I was wondering if that applies to apprentices as well)

Also in your answer could you also specify in which sector you work (Audit/Assurance, Tax, Consulting, ... )

Thank you

The expectation in terms of commitment etc is the same as for a grad. In terms of quality/speed you’re generally expected to be at level with new grads after a year though you won’t get treated any differently. Obviously this is with the exception of exams (ours take fewer at a time and get more chances than the grads).

Hours can be long but are variable due to the project based nature of the work and that there are external deadlines. I work in audit at a B4 and there are three apprentices in my group, one had projects that meant they only left after 6pm once in their first year, the other two had to work 6 day weeks through jan and feb. A project I was field managing had a very tight external deadline and I had a new apprentice straight out of new joiner training on the team and we stayed in the office until 11pm every evening. Equally I’ve had clients where I’ve been able to work 40-45 hour weeks during year end. Though similar to the above poster I’m not sure I’ve ever worked as little as my 35 contracted hours...

Reply 3

a_m123

10

If any one does audit, is the work/tasks carried out difficult/confusing to get to grips with? And if you have an exam to revise for but your team requires you to stay till very late - are you still allowed to leave?? Would this not badly reflect on you in an appirasal?

Also how do exam carried out differ from grads and are school leavers only allowed to resit once?

Reply 4

natninja

21

Original post by asma_motin

If any one does audit, is the work/tasks carried out difficult/confusing to get to grips with? And if you have an exam to revise for but your team requires you to stay till very late - are you still allowed to leave?? Would this not badly reflect on you in an appirasal?

Also how do exam carried out differ from grads and are school leavers only allowed to resit once?

Work is largely simple, can be pretty complex but unlikely to do anything challenging until at least year three. At my firm exams take priority, if a manager makes you stay late with exams coming up they will get a *******ing. You’d be fine. In terms of resits it’s usually more lenient than for grads.

Working hours for apprentices at the Big 4?

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