Case studies: Assistant consultant: Sarah

Sarah works for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), one of the leading professional services firms in the UK with 15,000 employees working within tax, assurance, advisory, actuarial and consulting.

'I studied maths at university, so a career with a numerical aspect was always on the cards,' says Sarah, but she realises that isn’t true of all her colleagues. 'The main skills needed for this job are logical thinking and problem solving; so many of my fellow graduates have degrees in English, law and other subjects you may not associate with accounting.'

Since she joined the firm, her role has developed extremely quickly. 'I’m taking on more responsibility all the time,' Sarah enthuses. 'To begin with, I attended client meetings simply to watch, learn and take notes. Now, my managers are happy to sit back and let me take the lead.'

Much of Sarah’s day is spent responding to emails or calls from clients. 'I love the fact that right from the start, there were so many opportunities for direct client contact,' she says. 'The occasional downside, which is probably common across all jobs, is the amount of admin work required at times.'

Right now, Sarah is focusing on her next set of exams, after which she’ll be fully qualified. She’s also hoping to set up a secondment to a different area of the firm. 'Once I’ve qualified, it’s pretty much a case of finding an overseas office I’m interested in with a vacancy at my level. There are several members of my team currently overseas, and a number of overseas employees seconded into our team.'

Sarah emphasises that it’s not all work and no play. 'Most decent employers will expect you to have good grades. But they also want to hire interesting people with a range of skills and experiences to offer.’