Sample cover letter for Full Time position at PwC

Q1 Why have you selected PwC as the place to start your career? (maximum 500 words)

I wish to choose PwC as the place to start my career for four main reasons. The first three reasons are PwC’s leading position in the professional service industry, the high satisfaction of its employees and the diverse training and development opportunities. These are opportunities and benefits that PwC would offer me, and that would allow me to grow quickly at the beginning of my career. The last reason is PwC’s active participation in social activities. This is the area where I can contribute and add value to the company’s efforts for social responsibility and engaging in improving the business environment.

With its global revenues climbing by 10% to $35.4 bn in 2015, PwC regained the title of the biggest accounting firm in the world. The two-digit growth and the highest revenues among other major accounting firms show the strong competency and the leadership PwC has in the professional service industry. Starting my career in such a competitive organization will not only provide me with a great opportunity to work with and learn from talented and experienced people, but also allow me to get insight in different industries by working with various leading clients (418 Fortune Global 500 companies and 443 FT Global 500 companies) that PwC serves.

Besides of the leading position in professional service industry, PwC is also recognized as the most attractive work place according to the survey of Universum. At PwC, more than 80% of people feel proud to work there, and more than 70% will recommend PwC as a great place to work. This leads me to believe that working at PwC will definitely become the most unforgettable experience in my career.

The training and development and the international career experience offered by PwC are also of great importance for me. Within the first three years at PwC, the training program allows me to acquire knowledge towards professional qualifications, and apply them into practice simultaneously. Additionally, PwC's EPIC program provides the possibility to gain experience and develop adaptability by working in a multicultural environment and solving problems across borders.

To build trust in society and solve important problems, PwC and its people also devote their efforts into important public areas such as climate change, community activities and helping social enterprises. This is perfectly matched with my expectation of future work, which is that my work contributes to add value to both the company I work with and the society I live in. Working at PwC means not only solving problem of clients, but also helping to make a better business environment and a more sustainable world.

Q2 Why have you chosen this particular business area? (maximum 500 words)

1. Assurance has long been the business generating the largest part of PwC’s global revenues, accounting for 46%, 43% and 42% in 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively. While consulting has been experiencing rapid growth in recent years (8% in 2013, 10% in 2014, and 18% in 2015), and with such a rapid growth, the combined revenues of consulting and assurance have represented around three quarters of PwC’s global revenues in the past three fiscal years. Joining the Assurance/Consulting programme would allow me to gain experience and acquire knowledge from both the biggest business and the fastest growing business in PwC. The cross-business experience and knowledge can equip me with a diverse skill set and be a solid fundamental of my future career.

2. Working in both assurance and consulting areas provides me the opportunity to apply my different skill sets and abilities into different types of business in the financial service industry.

Studying accounting and finance in both my undergraduate and graduate education, I believe the knowledge of accounting can be an advantage for me to start my work in assurance and make me adapt to day-to-day tasks in this area within a relatively short time.

Compared to assurance, consulting business requires more creativity and innovation in order to provide innovative solutions focused on different aspects of company operations, such as strategy, management, technology and risk. Working at Citibank as a personal banker trainee, I developed and showed such abilities via producing original business plans to promote newly-issued financial products.

As I used to work in different areas in financial services, such as private banking, the tax department in an accounting firm and the credit department in a commercial bank, I have gained quick-learning skills and adaptability in different service areas. These skills can help me to be fully prepared and confident when transferring from assurance to consulting or dealing with problems from different industries.

3. The training and development in both assurance and consulting areas are another reason for me to choose this programme. Over the first four years, PwC offers training towards the Chartered Accountant (CA) qualification, which is the first step to becoming a chartered accountant. After transferring to the consulting area, on-the-job learning opportunities and a robust learning curriculum are helpful for me to quickly integrate with the consulting team.