Could a career in finance involve AI and drones? 25 students from Homerton found out it absolutely can at an inspirational insight day at PwC.
The event took place at PwC's More London office near Tower Bridge. PwC's Management Consultant apprentice Suyi Osemwegie, Management Consultant Dawood Malik and Urban Synergy's Head of Programmes, Dianne Johnson, co-hosted the event.
PwC partners Simon Harris and Saye Mkangama welcomed the students, and gave an introductory talk about PwC, their roles, and their career journeys to kick off the event.
Keynote speaker and panel
The keynote speaker on the day was the Chief Risk Officer and General Counsel, Alison Statham. After listening to her career journey, students were able to ask some questions.
Urban Synergy's Dianne Johnson, Head of Programmes, interviewed the PwC panel featuring:
- Bonnie Wee (Corporate Finance Mergers & Acquisitions, Senior Associate)
- Jadon Black (Management Consultant Apprentice)
- Zahrah Chaudry (Management Consultant Graduate)
- Jason Hsu (Financial Crime Degree Apprentice)
The panellists helped to decode their roles for the students and also shared some career insights and provided useful top tips.
PwC drones innovation
Benjamin Evans, Drones Innovation Specialist at PwC, first explained what a drone specialist does at PwC and how the department goes about solving problems for their clients before explaining to the students his career journey to PwC.
The introduction was then followed by a practical exercise in groups of five or six to help solve fictitious problems and the benefits of introducing a drone taxi service in an Urban area. Each group presented their ideas to the rest of the class.
PwC Artificial Intelligence
Hiu Hiu Sau, a Manager in the Artificial Intelligence Strategy & Digital Transformation at PwC, delivered an engaging and forward-thinking workshop on the role of AI in everyday lives.
Students were introduced to different AI tools that can be utilised and were encouraged to think and discuss the benefits of AI and the dangers of having such an able tool in different aspects of life, to get them to think critically.
Feedback
Following the event, we ask the students for feedback about what they learned during the day:
- 100% of the students rated the event 4 or 5 stars out of 5.
- 89% of the students learned about careers they were not aware of before.
- 100% learned what skills are valued in the workplace.
- 100% felt more confident about their future.
- 33% were not aware of PwC before the event.
“"Provided me with more of an insight into the world of finance, I already knew PwC, however, not to the extent that I do right now. So I’m grateful to the new information that I’ve learnt"
“I specifically enjoyed Bonnie Wee, the Chief Risk Officer and Saye Mkangama’s talk as I related to them deeply. I study subjects that have nothing to do with Finance, like History and Philosophy, but I can see that there are so many roles in finance to the point it doesn’t even matter as much”
“I really enjoyed my time there and learned so much about the different pathways there are in the financial world and how it’s not just all about numbers”
“The speakers were really good and informative”
