Erica Pereira: Being the Most Authentic Self and be Confident (Senior Manager at PwC)

thank you Erica so much for joining us today so to start things off could you share a little bit of an introduction on yourself perhaps some of your educational history the path that led you to join the PWC team sure so I'm a senior manager in the Assurance practice at PWC Canada I began my career at PWC right out of University so in 2015 and I went to school at York University for my ba and specialized in accounting and that's kind of what led me to that I think I was in a business program and

really interested in kind of the accounting profession in obtaining my CPA and went through the recruiting cycle with you know various firms and various companies that were offering a CPA route and I really really liked PWC and I obviously liked it enough in order that I would still be there today so that's definitely what's left me there for the last nine years it's just that it's a company and a firm that I really really love yeah and I grew up in the GTA I went to school in the GTA and it's really cool to continue

to be able to work in the GTA it really feels like home to me so I've really enjoyed that experience awesome good to know so I guess kind of segueing into my next question what does an average day of work look like for you I would say that I've never had two days that are similar or the same at PWC like every day is very different and comes with its own challenges a lot of what I do consists of meeting with clients very often in person during Co a little bit more virtually and really just

hearing about their problems and things that they're working through and trying to help them find Solutions it also involves a lot of spending time with my teams and the people that I work with at PWC as well as my counterparts at PWC in different lines of service I work in assurance but we also have a number of other business lines and so working with them in order to help service our clients come up with Solutions think about how we do our work differently and ensure that we're giving not only our clients great experience but our

people a really really great experience that makes them to want to stay at PWC and attract new Talent Fresh talent to PWC yes definitely so you're in the Assurance space but besides that could you give us more information on some typical roles and departments that are found within the organization and maybe a little bit of insight on the structure sure so I work in the Assurance group um and specifically in what we call our court audit or external audit group but within Assurance there are also other business lines such as our Capital markets accounting and

advisory Services Group our risk Assurance group we have a Financial Risk modeling group that also sits in assurance um and then we have different lines of service even outside of assurance so we have our Tax Group our Consulting Group and our deals Group which have their own kind of sublines as well deals you might hear about Corporate Finance or transaction services or mergers and Acquisitions in our Consulting Group we have technology Consulting management consulting strategy Consulting in our tax group we have corporate tax we have high out worth planning and then we also have have

a digital Assurance practice around digital assurance and transparency as well as our ESG group and so ESG kind of have two lanes of ESG which is the Consulting and advisory side of it and the Assurance side of it as well so PWC is a big firm with a lot of different business lines to work with and to work in which is really really great because you get to meet so many different types of people people who work in different spaces who have had different experiences with different clients and it really helps you build yourself as

a professional to service your clients better yeah I definitely agree with that and it must be interesting working in such a large organization because I'm sure you have the opportunities to hear from other departments as well but given how big the firm is comp in comparison with the big four as well what would you say are some of the distinguishing factors that PWC uses to differentiate themselves compared to the rest of the big four yeah this is always an interesting question and I think it's always the most interesting when you're thinking about wanting to work

at a big four firm and deciding where you want to work um because the experience they give you in terms of access to clients that are some of the biggest companies in Canada like all of the big four firms have clients that are some of the biggest clients in companies in Canada which is great but I think what differentiate some of the firms is kind of the personality and the work culture of those firms I would say PWC really focuses on people development and a coaching culture which is really really important to me it helps

to kind of develop myself professionally it helped me to build my goals it helped me to build my network really really well we always say that PWC is your network for life and I knew that I wanted to have kind of a close group of people that I would be able to rely on and ask for support and mentorship throughout my career whether I stayed at the firm or not obviously I've had really really great experiences with that at PWC and and think it's one of the big reasons that have allowed me to stay but

yeah like I said I think there are kind of micro subculture differences between kind of those big four firms and I'd say coaching and people development and personal development is really really unique to PWC our coaching model is also really really unique to PWC we practice a teach don't tell m model which really kind of puts you in the driver seat of your own career and it allows you to grow by doing and shadowing which has been really really great so I think there are a lot of techniques and strategies that we use for coaching

that I don't know that I've seen at other companies or I don't know that I've heard from Friends who've worked elsewhere at other companies or firms that are similar to maybe what we do and that's a really really unique experience that I value that that was a great answer I feel like PWC definitely does a lot to make sure that the culture is good and people like to work there and you mentioned earlier that you were saying PWC is your network for life so on that topic do you have any specific relation building strategies that

you find particularly effective in your industry I think going to events is something that's really really helpful for me from a relationship building strategy keeping in touch has always been something that I've learned to value like even if I've met someone at an event nine years ago I usually follow up with them and keep in touch send them a note once in a while catch up with them over coffee or lunch once in a while just to see how things are going and it allows me to kind of keep my network expand my network and

I think having that kind of group of people that you meet and keep close relationships with allows you to even use their network if they have a strong enough relationship with you to introduce to other people that they think you might find valuable which has been great like I've met a lot of people through my own network through introductions and stuff like that which has been awesome that's great I feel like definitely keeping in touch with other Professionals in the industry also helps you really keep stay up to date with some regulations and all that

and that was actually my next question for you which was how do you keep yourself informed on some of the latest Finance and Accounting regulations and a lot of ongoing advancements in the industry specifically like sustainability and Technology as it has started to evolve and really become very prevalent in the society today yeah great question I'm really lucky that I work at a firm that does a lot of knowledge sharing we have very regular webcasts learning sessions learning modules where you're able to learn about all those topics and get regular updates especially from an from

a regulation perspective we also have a learning portal that has various modules on some of these new Hot Topics that you were referring to such as ESG um technology artificial intelligence that if you want to really take a deep dive to upskill yourself you can ESG was an area that I was super interested in more recently um and PWC actually has an ESG ambassador program that they launched to upscale some of their people in practice and I was part of the latest cohort of that so I really was able to learn a lot about about

ESG from people who actually sit in our ESG practice and be able to mix with kind of other people in my cohort who come from different lines of service in different areas of the business that are also interested in upskilling themselves which is great because it shows that the firm has a real value in investing for the upskilling of our people rather than getting that Talent elsewhere which not a lot of comp companies or firms do so that's really really really great to see it makes me very proud to be an employee at PWC that's

awesome it sounds like the culture is really a nice and close in at PWC and that moves into my next question which is regarding corporate culture what are some of the key values that PWC emphasizes and how do these reflect in the workplace sure great question we have kind of five key values that I would say that really allow us to execute on our purpose and our vision in acting with Integrity making a difference caring working together and reimagining the possible and all of those values are really centered around how we do things and the

way we do things Integrity is at the core of our business our Assurance practices are one of our largest practices and trust is kind of at the center of what we do so Integrity kind of comes hand inand with that is really important and I think in just the way we work and how we work with other people and interact with people at PWC I see that all the time and it's not super common to come to a place where you don't get treated like an employee you get treated like a person like a member

of a family and I feel like I really really get that at PWC which is great that was a great answer Erica so how does PWC promote a work environment that encourages collaboration and Innovation yeah so I think I talked about this a little bit before but from a collaboration a perspective I think it's really around how we coach our coaching methodology is very collaborative in general we also do a lot of our work in person which is great it allows us to be collaborative with our teams to learn from shadowing and by observing which

is really really valuable and something that helped me especially when I was more Junior at the firm and from an innovation standpoint like we have uh a data and analytics practice we have a uh digital trust and transparency practice and we have a lot of different Services tied to artificial intelligence and cyber security so we are doing a lot kind of in that space even from an innovation perspective we have won actually a lot of awards for some of our audit technology which allows us to use technology to do some of the more tedious tasks

um that are required in an audit so we can actually focus our time and our energy and our effort on the riskier sections and on the things that matter on on the things that our clients really care about which is I think super important innovation allows us to focus our efforts on the things that matter most to our clients and at the end of the day that's what matters to our clients most so it's been great yes absolutely and on that note are there any specific EDI focused initiatives that PWC has implemented so we have

a various array of inclusion networks which is really really great we have an LGBT inclusion Network we have an indigenous inclusion Network we have a South Asian inclusion Network an East Asian inclusion Network a black professionals inclusion Network we also have a women inclusion network but I think one of the initiatives that I'm most proud of at PWC is our women in leadership program and that's been going on for a number of years now but I was actually a graduate of the 2022 women wom in leadership program which is a couple of months of kind

of I would say intensive training and sessions with other women across PWC Canada you really get to meet so many people and broaden your network you get to hear from some great speakers that we bring in to help you with maybe some of the things that women are challenged with more often at work that are unique from a challenge perspective and it really kind of help helps you to learn from other people I kind of learned the most through sharing experiences with people so that program was really really great I learned a lot I met

a lot of people who were able to introduce me to other people and their Network it really allowed me to kind of expand my horizons strengthen my relationships build new relationships and kind of find Opportunities out of it so that was maybe the most impressive initiative at PWC that I'm most proud of yeah it's definitely an important one too given the really search and the push towards gender equality in the workplace so it's nice to see that a lot of organizations are starting to really Implement a lot of those clubs and have a lot of

following in them as well so in regards to recruiting we have a couple of questions for you and to start things off we wanted to ask what attributes and characteristics does PWC usually seek for in potential candidates great question I think leadership is a a big one definitely a key attribute or characteristic that we seek in candidates I think relationship building and relationship skills are also really really important most of our lines of service are very client oriented like we work in Professional Services so relationships are at the heart of everything we do and your

ability to make meaningful relationships build meaningful relationships and develop meaningful relationships as a potential cand candidates are helpful in knowing how successful you you will be at doing that obviously when you work in a Professional Services based environment that being said like I think you learn the most while you're at PWC so you kind of want to be able to show those qualities um you don't have to be perfect at it but if you're able to kind of demonstrate those qualities leadership relationship building um and also just being authentic and like being your authentic self

I think is also really important because I think that helps to build trust-based relationships as well yeah for sure I definitely agree with that it's something that a lot of organizations are always praising right the leadership and making sure you're involved in leadership activities to add to your resume as well and just your experiences overall so in terms of the hiring process at PWC are you able to give us some details about that specifically from the application submission stage to the final round of interviews Okay so I can definitely give you maybe the details of

the process at a high level for the Assurance practice because that's the process I'm most familiar with since it's the area that I work in but we're really embracing kind of Technology at the Forefront of PWC because we think it's a really important skill that our candidates will have kind of going forward and it's important in order to be successful at PWC to be kind of tech powered so first you submit your application which which is effectively rese and then everybody will play this game which is effectively a number of challenges and puzzles that really

test your critical thinking skills they demonstrate how you're able to think through a problem your problem solving skills and everybody gets an opportunity to do that it's not just based on your resume and then a certain handful are expected to kind of go on to play that game everybody gets a shot at doing that and then you'll be selected Ed for kind of final round in-person interviews where you'll have two in-person interviews with a manager or a director in our group and then a partner interview and that's really the process before you get accepted for

a role at PWC and that from the best of my knowledge includes both Co-op and full-time goals and that's typically our process for campus hires the experienced hire process is a little bit different than that because because you would obviously be coming to the door with experience yeah that makes sense but it's interesting that you guys use that game at pwcs and obviously I think it also just helps really ease some of the interviewees that are a little bit stressed about it so it's an opportunity to have some fun and the last question I have

for you is what is one piece of advice you would offer someone currently striving to attain their dream job in assurance uh I think I would say don't be afraid I think the process of finding a job in insurance is it can be quite taxing and quite stressful and I think it's really easy to be afraid or to want to say the right things or to do the right things but I think the place that you're meant to be at if you are your true authentic self the place that you're meant to be at the

company you're meant to be at the firm you're meant to be at will accept you as you are are in your most authentic way so don't try to say what you think the right corporate lingo is or whatever obviously there are certain things from a relationship perspective a networking perspective and an application perspective that are important to highlight but I'd say the number one thing that I see a lot of candidates because I've worked in the recruiting process before I've done interviews before and I think just be confident be yourself kind of trust your gut

and yeah like I think that's really really important is not being afraid to kind of showcase your skills be yourself and it's totally okay to brag about all the things all the awesome things that you've done your accomplishments I feel like people especially women tend to be very very humble and they don't want to come across or come off too strong about all the things they're really great at and so I think it's important to highlight those and and that'll help you to be successful goal is to make sure that you're talking about your accomplishments

and what you've achieved and how they will help you be a great Assurance professional and how some of those skills are transferable yes I think a lot of the skills that you've spoken about are very transferable honestly into any job that someone is looking to get into so it's interesting to hear it from different perspectives all the time that concludes all of my questions for today so I just wanted to thank you again Erica for taking the time to speak with us and to give us a little bit more insight and learn more about both

you and the world of assurance so thanks again for taking the time to sit down and chat no problem thank you so much for having me