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PwC Employability E-learn Interview script - Amit

Podcast – Build relationships:

Candidate: Amit

Listen option A:

Interviewer: Tell me about a time when you've drawn upon the people you know to achieve a goal. 

Sure. Last year we had to complete some work experience during term time…..my school organised for me to work for a local company in the finance team. (Enthusiastically) and I was really excited…..it was an area was thinking about getting into. Then, a week before I was due to start, I had a call from them and the person who was supposed to be supervising me had gone off sick ……but what that meant was that there was no one else to look after me… I guess they needed to pick up that other person’s work.

So… naturally I was really disappointed….and I was really looking forward to it – but it’s just one of those things….…But ...I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to do some work experience so I thought I’d get in touch with some people that I knew to see if there was anything out there that sort of fit what I was looking for and not to sound ungrateful, but I didn’t want to rely on my school to find a placement that I wasn’t interested in…. so I started looking at the other options I might have.

Interviewer: Ok, who did you approach and why?

I asked some friends and family…..they worked in various companies which I knew had finance teams so I sent emails to start off with, just to let them know what I was looking for and why I wanted their help. I think it helps if you’re honest with people and to make things clear up front…I suppose I just wanted to make sure that I’d get a response! Then I followed up with a phone call, I knew them all personally so this wasn’t a problem. I just wanted to let them know why I was really interested in this area and why I wanted to do some work experience.

A few people got back to me which was promising…..I was mindful that I didn’t just hound everyone by asking if I can come in and work for them…….My brother’s friend introduced me to one manager via email……I followed up by asking if we could meet……I arranged to go into the office after school and knowing how nervous I would be I thought it would be best to know something about the person…so I spoke to my brother’s friend about how to approach the meeting. When I met with the manager it went really well. I was glad I’d spoken to my friend first as it gave me some things to talk about –it just makes talking to a stranger a bit easier. 

In the end, they offered me a week’s work experience for the week I needed it……I really enjoyed it…..the team were great and I learnt so much about finance. After my week we all kept in touch and a few weeks later I got a call from my manager offering me some part time work over the summer. To say I was happy would be an understatement; I couldn’t wait to get started! It was a great experience in the area I wanted to work in ……what was even better was being able to earn some money.

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