Insurance Intern Review

I was placed in a data analysis team within the Insurance stream. The work was engaging and challenging, which is everything I love in a job. It has improved my Excel skills, given me a chance to partake in activities outside of just data analysis, given me a good insight into the insurance industry and how Scottish Widows works as a company. The only problem I had was with the expectations before entering the work place. There were none. Prior to the actual internship, I believe HR did a mediocre job in communicating what we'd actually be doing here. There was little to no information on where we would be placed (Note: if you're applying for Insurance, there are only places in Edinburgh and Bristol). Specifically for the Insurance scheme, there was very little information about the scheme and what we would be doing. The description of the internship was so vague, I didn't even know if I was going to be selling insurance or doing actuarial work. Luckily for me, they placed me in a analytical role, which considering I feared I was going to be selling insurance, I am perfectly content with. Some of the other interns here were not as lucky. There was also no mention of a challenge during the internship. On our induction day, we learned that we'd be doing a Responsible Business (Charity) Challenge where we'd be split into groups of 10 and compete to raise the most money for LBG's charity of the year while showing the LBG values. We weren't asked if we wanted to do this, just thrown into groups that weren't even necessarily in a single location and to just do it. Depending on who your team is, this could cause a lot of unecessary stress. Some interns refused to participate, others were determined to win no matter what. Next thing I know, my plate is full of things I didn't sign up for. Some people went overboard, others didn't care. I think the challenge is a great addition to the internship. I just would have liked to have known of it before coming here and for it to be just a bit better organised. I think I would have enjoyed this internship more if I knew from the start what I was getting into.

I was very lucky to be placed in a small team of kind people. They are very supportive and always ready to give both positive and negative feedback so that I can improve. They do take my opinions into account, whenever I do have opinions. They're also very aware that I know very little about their business and take the time to explain the jargon and processes to me. Fellow interns are also generally great. It's great that we have a little community going on and are able to share our insights and problems with each other. However, LBG is huge and it can sometimes feel like you're not doing anything to help out.

We are each given a line manager, who leads the team we're a part of. Mine is very supportive and ready to help wherever and whenever possible. He gives lots of feedback, telling me where I went wrong and right, whenever something I've done has made a difference and encourages me to improve even further. In return, I've given him my feedback on the internship so far (that I had quite a bit of spare time). And he responded almost immediately, giving me more responsibility and helping me learn more about the rest of the business.

There are highs and lows. As my team is a small one, they're always busy and have tonnes to do. So, when I came in, they were quick to give some work to me. However, there's a limit to what they could give me due to my lack of experience and knowledge. Wherever possible, they taught me what I needed to know before handing over the work load. In my time here, some new projects came up and I was given the opportunity to give it a shot. Often, I would be given quite a bit of work at the beginning of the week as that's when our team meetings are. I'd then finish it way too fast and have much less to do by the end of the week. On top of that, there's the Charity Challenge work. The amount of work you have on the challenge depends entirely on you. My team leader for the challenge is a particularly competitive one, hence I had quite a bit of work there as well. I spend some time helping other interns out as well (some interns have projects that we can help with, i.e. surveys to complete, focus groups, etc.). Other times are spent learning about the business via networking meetings and shadowing.

I was given about as much responsibility as an intern could be given. 10 weeks is not a lot of time to learn everything my team has done, is doing and will do. So, I'm given brief introductions and learn as I go. My team in particular are also involved in organising a monthly event. Seeing as this didn't require any particularly technical skills, I jumped at taking lots of responsibility for that. It's very clear that we're interns. There's a very distinct divide between the interns and the other employees. We're obviously less knowledgable and less experienced and our work load and responsibilities are evidences of that. However, I didn't expect to be given massive responsibility as an intern, so I'm satisfied with the amount I have.

Our degree studies were not taken into account when we were being placed. In fact, our placements seemed almost random. I've just finished my 2nd Year of Actuarial Science. There are maybe two people here, including myself, who study Actuarial Science. The people I know are in the Actuarial team, however, do not study Actuarial Science. A math student was placed in a marketing team. An economics student was placed in a HR team. It didn't seem like they took our aspirations or interview answers into account at all when placing us. This, of course, led to a lot of disappointment and anger. Luckily, my placement wasn't too far from what I've learned at university. Mine in particular requires loads of Excel skill, which I do need in Actuarial Science and am grateful to have developed so far. I've also learned a lot about how Corporate Pensions works in detail and how UK legislations affect it. This internship has definitely helped me get out of my shell and interact with people more. My communications skills have definitely improved and I learned about what it's like to work in a corporate setting. So, my learnings from this internship is not directly applicable to my degree, but definitely applicable to my future work habits and soft skills.

I have the privilege of working in the Scottish Widows HQ, It's a huge building with tonnes of people. Where I sit, It's quite quiet. Most people either have their heads down, doing their work, or are on teleconference meetings. There's lots of events going on at the office. There's always several things going on to raise money for a charity (mostly the LBG charity of the year) and opportunities for personal development (talks, networking events, etc.). Everyone I've met so far is kind and generous, they're always happy to help and share their experiences with me.

As mentioned in my answer to the first question, I found the lead up to the internship below par. I think the Group HR did a poor job of setting our expectations at every instance of the internship. We had lots of shocks on our first day (induction day in London), firstly having to travel there all the way from Edinburgh, then being talked at for hours before being thrown into a team challenge, then being told that we have to raise money for a charity, then travelling all the way back to Edinburgh before turning up to work at 9am the next day. The internship itself is set up rather well in my opinion. There's a good system going on, you have your buddy who is a Graduate who can help and guide you and your line manager who guides you through your work. There's a mid placement review to give us the opportunity to prove ourselves as interns, but also the opportunity to grow for the rest of the internship. They also seem to have a rather simple system for referral into the Graduate scheme.

There was no formal training session. We were just thrown right in the deep end and expected to learn as we go.Given the tight timescale of 10 weeks, I don't blame them for not conducting a training session. However, a simple work ethic/intro to working in a corporate setting session during the induction would have been very useful, or even a list of Do's and Don'ts and Where To Go If You Need __ emailed to us. Most of the personal training and development I received was from the team I was placed in and my line manager, not from the firm itself. There were some personal development webinars at the beginning of the internship, however those were mostly a waste of time. Other than that, it's all up to us and our self initiative. There are lots of opportunities here to learn, be it by shadowing another side of the company, or by sharing experineces with some of the employees here, or talks and events. There's also a lot of knowledge sharing between the interns. So, the company didn't invest in me very much more than paying me my weekly salary.

The Graduate scheme is the immediate next step to the Internship programme. There's no strict guidelines as to how to get a referral, no formula you can follow or particular traits we know to show. I reckon we just have to do our best. What is being implied at the moment is that as long as you're not totally incompetent, there's a pretty good chance you're getting the referral. However, I hear that the graduate scheme is not for everyone, that it's not recommended by a lot of the current graduates. In my opinion, the pay seems reasonable and the atmosphere and working culture is not horrible. The only problem is with the work you get. If the placements for the graduate scheme are just as random as that of the internship programme, it's a very high risk to take. To my understanding, there will be 2 6-month placements during the Graduate programme. That means you could get randomly placed in 2 very different parts of the business that you may not be interested in at all. But, the job security is pretty much as good as it gets.

The charity challenge definitely encouraged a social scene amongst the interns in Edinburgh. That, and the fact that most of us were not from Edinburgh, and therefore were given accommodation in the same building. All the other interns have found their own summer-long friend group and everyone's quite friendly and accepting. Weekends are mostly spent together exploring the city. A few social nights have been planned to benefit the charity challenge as well. Edinburgh in the summer means The Fringe. It's difficult to enjoy an arts festival alone, especially when there are 2 for 1 promotions all around. A lot of us came here knowing nothing and no one, so there is definitely a community of interns in Edinburgh.

My accommodation was paid for by LBG because I had to move from London to Edinburgh for this internship. We (the interns who had to relocate) were placed in a 3rd party student accommodation. So, water, gas and electricity are also taken care of. Food and other living expenses are quite cheap, but that's me comparing to London and getting a few hundred pounds in my bank account every week. There's lots of pubs, bars and clubs in Edinburgh (the Scottish are said to have a drinking problem, apparently). And while we're here, so is The Fringe, a huge city-wide arts festival. There's always something to do and someone to do it with. Lots of the events are free (but may be of questionable quality).

Frankly, I wouldn't know. This is only my second internship of my life. My first internship was with a start up and that was beyond exhausting. This one is significantly less exhausting, but I'm still not used to it. My routine is quite simple: walk to work, work, walk back from work, sleep, repeat (this doesn't include all the obvious eating and hygenic routines dotted throughout the day). Everyone who isn't an intern seems to have a pretty good Nightlife, though. Many are involved in sports activities, leisure activities with their families etc.

Yes. The Charity challenge is built into the internship, which helped reduce some monotony through the summer. The office oragnises lots of different talks and events that are open to everyone. Completely outside of LBG, the city offers loads of activities. Edinburgh in particular has a good array of parks and shopping. There are also restaurants, pubs and cafes galore. The beach is only a bus ride away. There are lots of tours you can join as well.