#GradStories Katie O'Riordan, Advisory Associate, PwC

What is your name, job title and employer?

My name is Katie O'Riordan and I'm a technology associate in PwC consulting here in Dublin.

What are the main tasks you do in your job in a normal week?

The nature of consulting is that you work on different projects with different clients, so your role and day-to-day work really does vary and depend on the project you're working on at the time. My current project is a system implementation so my day-to-day work would involve meeting with various stakeholders in the business to identify the as-is process within the firm today so that we can design the to-be process once the new system is implemented. I'm also involved in system testing and design which is basically testing various features and functionality of the system to make sure that it actually works.

What skills do you need to be successful in your role?

I think it's important to be a good communicator and a people's person. The nature of the work we do is that you're constantly meeting new people so it's important to be able to get along with different people and work with different personality types. Naturally people will work harder and get on better in their role if there isn't an atmosphere or culture of fear within the team.

What do you love about your job?

You start as a graduate with 40 to 50 people who are in or around your age, just finished college so you make great friends and there's always people there that you can rely on. Working with senior people on projects is great because you really learn from experts in their industry or chosen field. The benefit with consulting is that you're not narrowing yourself off to one chosen speciality so early on in your career. Working in different industries allows you to see what you're good at and what you've an interest in and what you don't have an interest in and what you completely don't like which is good to know. You can really make an informed decision then about the direction you want to take with your career.

What advice would you give to a college student?

I think it's just important in college to get out there and enjoy the college experience, getting out there and making new friends and socializing as that's what you're going to have to do in the work environment as well. Obviously it's important to get on well in your course and do the best you possibly can with your course because that gives you more options then when you're applying for jobs later on