I Got Hired: Deals Associate at PwC

Posted on: 8 September 2023 by Richard Finch in Graduate stories

Rohan Sekhon is a Class of 2022 Philosophy, Politics & Economics graduate, now working as a Deals Associate at PwC.

After attending various careers events and fair at the University of Liverpool I saw PwC as one of the leading graduate employers. Since first year, this had motivated me to apply to the firm and I looked more into how the firms values aligned with my own.

In order to get to where I am now, I set a goal of where I wanted to be. This was to have a graduate job at one of the 'Big 4' financial service firms in the UK. After two different stages of interviews, I thankfully got accepted to work at the firm in September following my graduation in August 2022.

The key for me to getting accepted was preparation. I thought about all the possible questions I would be asked and ensured I had the adequate knowledge to answer them all.

A year on at the firm and since graduating, I think the main qualities that helped me get to where I am is resilience, confidence and never being afraid to ask for help. Asking University of Liverpool alumni who worked at the firm was really useful for me so I would recommend anyone who has a job they aspire to have to do the same - you'd be surprised with the amount of people willing to help you!

Since working at PwC, my favourite experience has to be the travelling I have been able to do across the country with my new job and the different people I have met. I have got to stay in Edinburgh, Manchester, London, Birmingham & Belfast and have interacted with so many different types of people and built so many different skills.

Working with clients has also been great and I have built many strong relationships. In contrast, the most challenging part was probably the transition from University to work. Whilst university does it's best to prepare you for work, it gives a lot more flexibility which was hard to adjust to. Alongside that I had to undertake accounting exams whilst working which was very challenging.

If I was to give some advice to current students at The University of Liverpool, I would say the following:

1. Be as resilient as possible and don't let rejection discourage you. I was rejected many times until I secured my job.

2. Be as social and personable as possible. Firms don't just look at your intelligence they want someone who will be easy and fun to work with too.

3. Never be afraid to ask for help. When I was at university I thought I didn't need any help. I've since realised that it's ok to ask for help, and have used sites like LinkedIn to build my professional network and find mentors.