Early bird applications from students and graduates grab 50% of new PwC jobs

A staggering record 118% increase in early application levels to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has secured over 600 jobs for students and graduates in offices across the UK.

PwC invests £15m a year on training students and graduates in the UK and offers six graduate qualification entry routes across the firm’s consulting, advisory, tax and assurance businesses.

The firm opened recruitment for more than 1200 graduates, 400 interns and around 70 A Level students in early October last year. In total, over 1600 roles were created, representing the highest ever recruitment levels on record.

Some 600 full time roles remain nationwide, including new consulting roles that opened in regional offices this month. PwC’s second recruitment campaign for this university year gets underway shortly, with employability skills, commercial awareness and career coaching on offer to students online, in local offices and on campus.

Richard Irwin, PwC’s head of student recruitment, said: “We’ve seen early applications to the firm skyrocket this year because students wanted to be first in line for the jobs as soon as they were created.

“Add to that a pool of graduates from 2009 coming back to the jobs market, and more employers reviving their recruitment, means it’s a perfect storm of interest and competition for graduate jobs.”

Applications to London and the South continue to dominate interest in the firm’s trainee positions, but with vacancies nationwide Mr Irwin warns students not to short change their job options by focusing on London vacancies.

“You can kick start your career anywhere, students need to make sure they’re not limiting their job prospects as some of PwC’s biggest teams and clients run from Manchester, Scotland, Newcastle, Reading, Bristol and Birmingham,” he said.

The training, support and career opportunity are the same for all PwC recruits and the new recruits will be joining the UK’s largest private sector graduate programme in March, April and September.

Aastha Gill