Actuarial Intern Review

Overall, the internship gave a really good insight into the responsibilities of the Bank. I was allowed to have hands on experience as an employee from day one as I attended meetings, seminars and produce work that the team used directly.

Although my team was mainly senior employees at the Bank which didn't offer the chance to connect with recent graduates/joiners, I was made welcome and everyone was offering to answer any questions or queries throughout the internship. It really showed that they valued my presence as well.

The line managers are all extremely helpful, not only with the day-to-day things, but also with sharing there experiences. Most of them have joined as grads and are therefore really good sources of advice. General management are also very approachable and the open structure means you can also find a manager to talk to if you need to.

I always had work to be doing in my role, however the Bank also have seminars/lectures going on that you can attend anytime if you find yourself with free time. Although, on the rare occasion you find yourself with no work, most people are happy to let you help them with what they are working on and generally really enjoy talking about their work.

I was given the same responsibilities as any other member of the team. It does seem daunting at first, but you find that you are fully supported through any piece of work you produce or present and its a really good way of understanding exactly what the day-to-day role entails.

My internship was very useful for developing skills, as mentioned above I was sent on a course to learn how to use statistical software. I also learnt a lot about empirical econometrics which I hadn't learned in my degree yet. I also learnt more about data analysis, which is important in a working environment.

The office was really friendly and colleagues instantly come over to say hi and welcome soon after I arrived. There is definitely a sense of teamwork and the will to help one another. Amongst the team, there was a much more casual interaction than expected but obviously still with a professional manner. Dress is smart with some teams going for Dress Down on Fridays.

The organisation before the internship started was not clear and efficient. But from the induction onwards, contact via emails was regular when needed and it was easy to raise any queries which were answered promptly. The staff who organised the internship were approachable and honest.

The Bank encourages personal development hugely with weekly events/ seminars /talks across the Bank. As an intern this was really useful and training was offered where needed. The scope of the training available was quite diverse. However, on some courses, numbers are limited which can be quite annoying if you can't sign up in time.

It's a very reputable organisation which many companies love to steal staff from. It is dependent on your specific division and role, however there is so many opportunities to move around within the Bank anyway.

All student placements kept in contact during the day through the IM. Everyone eats together and goes out every week together. This is dependent on the kind of interns that happen to be on your cohort, but the Bank seems to employ out-going open individuals anyway.

It is the heart of London which says it all. There are obviosly placesw that do offer some deals and are relatively cheaper, but considering that the Bank is based in London, then you would obviously have to account for London prices.

Being in the heart of London meant that there was a large number of opportunities for socialising after work. In particular, the interns in my particular intake favoured a pub fairly close to us. Though we did not experience the Night life as much as some people may have expected, our location meant that the option was always there should we need it. The downside is that the places available were fairly expensive, however this can only be expected as we are in the Capital of the UK where the prices are known to be larger than elsewhere.

The Bank has schemes where you can volunteer to do things outside work for charity/schools, for example I went to a school every Thursday lunchtime to help young children with their reading.