PwC plans overhaul of global consulting business

Several years ago I was "hired" by PwC for an IT-ish project. After hiring, they were really anxious to get me to Florida for a kick-off meeting which was going to start the same day I was going to start. So I put a few plane tickets to Tampa on my credit card, dressed in my best bland slacks and button up and set off on a very expensive last minute flight, the cost of which, I was assured would be reimbursed after I returned.

The first day went fine. Typical "this is what we're trying to do, meet everyone else on the team" kind of things. In a weird bit of synchronicity, the project leader remembered I was the clerk for the State Department who processed his immigration paperwork back in the 80s.

On the second day, things fell apart. Apparently, I had not been hired by PwC, even though they sent (and I signed) an employment contract and they sent me back a copy signed by someone in their organization. The problem came because the company they had sub-contracted to do the background check couldn't verify my undergrad degree (they had no problem verifying my MBA.)

It turns out they could verify that SOMEONE with my last name and Social Security Number had attended a public university in Texas, but couldn't link it to me with my current name. I pointed out that, yes, I had a name change in the intervening years, and had even included a copy of the name change order from the California court.

Their background checking sub-contractors insisted that people never changed their names and had no idea what I was talking about. I provided several examples of why people change names: marriages, gender changes, revelations about family history, etc. But still... nope. Even though I had multiple forms of government ID and a name change order, clearly I was not the same person who had attended university in Texas.

After spending several hours explaining this situation to my PwC management, they said they had to agree with their subcontractor: people do not change their names. After returning home from Florida, they refused to reimburse me for the flight. What's worse, I think I caught the flu from someone in the Phoenix airport.

So remember, if you've every changed your name, you're ineligible for employment by PwC.

Honestly, I'm surprised PwC is still in business. The people running it are flummuxed by the most basic of administrative processes.