Topics: Audit and consulting firms, career opportunities, Big 4, working conditions, culture, career tips, Tax & Legal, PwC Switzerland.
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Good morning Mr. Wirth. You are the Managing Partner and Head of the  Tax, Legal & HR Services  Department at  PwC Switzerland. Could you please describe your career path in more detail?

My professional career began with studying law and passing the bar exam. I initially worked as a lawyer in a law firm in Bern, specializing in criminal law, until I joined PwC in 1998. Here, I trained as a tax expert, which PwC offers as a part-time training program. I went through the usual career steps and was admitted to the partnership in 2006. Since 2017, I have been a member of the management board and head of the Tax & Legal business area.

What motivated you to join the legal department of an auditing and consulting firm?

The legal field that PwC offers is much broader than that of a law firm. On the one hand, we have significantly wider competencies. On the other hand, our work goes much deeper. We have more employees with specializations, whether due to their industry knowledge or in specialized areas such as tax law. With these two dimensions, we manage larger teams and thus take on highly interesting mandates, where law firms often cannot compete due to a lack of contextual knowledge, international network structure, or specialized know-how. Finally, we work prospectively in the consulting business. That means we need to understand a client's legal situation and anticipate the facts for the future. Law firms engaged in forensic work mainly assess actual and thus past situations. Planning issues are not the focus there. The sum of these differences, the career opportunities, and PwC’s corporate culture motivated me to make the switch.

Speaking of corporate culture: What do you particularly appreciate about PwC's culture?

As a large and internationally active audit firm, we, as well as our environment, hold ourselves to strict ethical and moral standards. Our corporate culture is based on transparency, honesty, and mutual respect. These values create trust, which our clients, employees, regulators, authorities, and the public rely on. This trust gives us a responsibility that requires a high level of professionalism - professionalism in handling entrusted information, in the use of new technologies, and, very importantly, in dealing with employees. I am convinced that this significantly sets us apart from other companies and especially from law firms.

We collaborate with specialists from other disciplines on almost every case. This is because our solutions require us to consider various components that go far beyond purely legal aspects. - Dieter Wirth

Can you give us an insight into the typical working day of a lawyer at PwC?

As in any law firm, we assess the initial situation, evaluate legal questions, draw the appropriate conclusions, draft contracts and other legal documents, and advise our clients on how they can do things better or differently in the future. However, our tasks differ significantly from those of a law firm in terms of scale, internationality, diversity, and complexity. We collaborate with specialists from other disciplines on almost every case. This is because our solutions require us to consider various components that go far beyond purely legal aspects. We need to understand how an approach will impact a company's business model, technologies, business processes, or industry-specific knowledge. This multidisciplinary approach is typical of our daily work and, in my opinion, makes it extremely exciting.

What advantages does working at PwC offer for lawyers compared to traditional law firms, and what career opportunities arise from this?

The multidisciplinary and international collaboration allows us to assess complex issues comprehensively. This provides a broad insight into a wide range of economic topics and allows our employees to continuously develop “on the job.” Additionally, one can take on leadership roles and refine management skills. Today, I lead a large team of hundreds of specialists. We deal with issues that I didn’t even know existed back then. Lastly, from here, one can apply for positions across a diverse spectrum: from finance departments of large corporations, to management roles in any industry, to supervisory authorities or legal departments of public administrations.

What qualifications and skills are particularly important for a successful career in Tax & Legal at PwC?

First and foremost, one must have an interest in law itself and a desire to delve deeply into one of the many legal specialties. This is a fundamental prerequisite. Furthermore, one must understand economic contexts and want to connect legal matters with other business topics. In my opinion, “T-shaped people” are particularly well-suited for us. These are individuals who are communicative and broadly interested while being highly skilled in a specific area or discipline.

Is a law degree mandatory to apply for a position with you?

No, we deliberately do not limit our recruitment in that way. We do not only hire university graduates. Some employees come from other universities or technical colleges, from accounting, or have completed a fiduciary training or apprenticeship. For example, we have a Ph.D. chemist working as a VAT expert. What they all have in common is that they think analytically, are interested in a problem, and want to solve it systematically.

In our field, only those who gain substantial experience excel. - Dieter Wirth

What is the workload like?

At PwC, you have to enjoy working a lot—essentially out of passion. In our field, only those who gain substantial experience excel. We advise companies that also employ experts, so we must demonstrate our own expertise even more.

You have been working in Tax & Legal at PwC for over 25 years. What current trends and developments do you observe in this area?

Parliaments around the world are enacting more and more laws. In addition to individual countries, community organizations (like the EU, G20) and multinational organizations (like the EU, UN, OECD) are increasingly acting as policymakers. This makes the legal challenges faced by economic actors increasingly complex. This development is accelerating with technological advancements and the speed at which data and information are shared and disseminated globally. Our global network becomes even more crucial; only in this way can we provide comprehensive advice to our clients.

What trends do you see in the job market?

The priorities of employees have shifted over the past decades, changing the expectations for employers like PwC. Employees today place a high value on personal flexibility. In the past, they often had to choose between personal life and career in professions like ours. That is no longer the case. Due to our size, we can embrace these developments. For example, we have introduced hybrid working models and are doing a lot to support the work-life balance.

What role do technologies play at PwC and in your business area?

An enormous one. Technologies are among the biggest game changers of the future. Artificial intelligence will impact legal consulting faster and more intensely than other professions and revolutionize our jobs. This fundamental change has already begun. We cannot yet fully assess what exactly lies ahead. At PwC, we have the market position and investment capacity to dedicate ourselves to technological advancements and leverage their benefits. Smaller legal service providers are clearly at a disadvantage here.

What facts make PwC an attractive employer for individuals with legal expertise?

PwC is considered one of the Big Four in auditing and consulting. However, legal and tax consulting are also among our core competencies. Currently, we employ about 70 lawyers in the legal department and approximately 200 in the tax area. We are one of the highest-grossing law firms and, by far, the largest provider of tax consulting services in Switzerland.

What advice do you have for lawyers seeking a career at PwC?

They should commit wholeheartedly to a cause and aspire to become specialists in a legal field. They should also maintain their enjoyment of everything outside of law. This requires passion, self-discipline, and curiosity. Our people are ambitious and curious at the same time. They know that one must be better to be among the best.

Thank you for the insightful conversation, Mr. Wirth. We wish you all the best!

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