James Morrison
Auditor at PwC
How I got here
I studied chemical engineering at university, nothing to do with accounting. I chose it because I was good at maths and science and someone told me engineering "keeps doors open."
By the end of my degree, I realised the problems I was solving just didn't interest me. Carbon capture, chemical processes, important work, but I didn't feel connected to it. I just didn't feel like I was involved in something that's actually seeing an impact day-to-day.
I knew I wanted to be involved in business, corporate stuff, to understand how companies actually work. Auditing offered that, plus a qualification that would keep my options open afterwards. Same logic as when I picked my degree, really. Keep doors open..
What I actually do day-to-day
Two or three days a week I'm in the PwC office or working from home. Morning catch-up with the team, then working through my assigned areas of the audit, mostly in spreadsheets, checking that the numbers companies report are accurate and make sense.
The other days I'm at client sites. Oil and gas companies in the North Sea, supply chain businesses, vessel companies now servicing wind turbines as well as oil infrastructure. I sit with their finance teams, ask questions, understand how they make money.
As an auditor, you have a right to speak to anyone in the client's business. You go in, build rapport, figure out what's going on.
I work in teams of four to ten. Early on, you're responsible for your own areas. As you progress, you're also checking that more junior people are doing what they need to do. So there's pressure from above and below.
What I enjoy about it
Two things, and they're quite different from each other.
First, the variety of businesses. I've seen inside oil and gas companies, supply chains, and I could choose to work on football clubs if I wanted. Each client is different. You learn how completely different industries operate. If I left PwC tomorrow, I'd be a specialist in how these businesses work, and that knowledge goes with me.
Second, developing people. I didn't expect this one. PwC runs as a training contract, so I'm constantly helping younger people learn. Not just accounting, but how to push outside their comfort zone. I didn't realise I'd enjoy it until I walked in the door and started doing it. It's really nice seeing how people develop.
What you learn on the job
It's complicated. You need to understand what you don't understand. That's a strange way of putting it, but it's true. The world keeps changing, AI, geopolitics, new regulations, and you have to keep up.
You also need to be comfortable with discomfort, especially early on. You're in client offices, presenting yourself professionally, navigating pressure from different directions. That's good for you, I think, but it's not easy.
My advice
Learn what the job actually is. I'm blunt about this: people apply without understanding what auditors do. If you haven't researched the profession, the firm, and the world it operates in, you're already behind.
Don't just spray applications everywhere. It's a numbers game, but you need to be accurate in that numbers game.
And show you've actually done something. Joined a society, taken on a project, volunteered, worked somewhere, anything that shows you don't just wait for things to happen to you. It doesn't have to be impressive. It just has to be real.
