Summer Student Review

I really enjoyed this internship as it gave me a great insight to the actuarial career. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, especially when I had questions to ask.

All colleagues were very friendly and always willing to help when needed. They also gave excellent feedback throughout the internship and always praised you on things you done well, and only ever gave constructive criticism on how to improve.

My mentor was always willing to help whenever needed, and if they were not in for some reason then other members of staff were always happy to help and answer any questions.

I was busy everyday! If I was ever low on work, all I had to do was ask and someone would always find some work for me to do. There were times when I was low on work, but I then asked my mentor for some more work, or worked on weekly exercises and a presentation that had to be completed during the internship.

Even as an intern, I was given responsibility and was allowed to get stuck in with client work pretty much right from the start. This responsibility was great as it gave me the chance to see exactly what a career in this field would be like. At the same time, if I did not feel confident with anything I was doing, then colleagues were always there to give guidance and help with the work so I never felt too under pressure if I wasn't exactly sure how to do something.

I have learnt so much about an actuarial career by doing the internship. It has made me decide that an actuarial career is something I'd definitely like to do in the future, and has taught me so much about the actuarial field of work.

There was always a happy and friendly atmosphere in the office. As soon as you get in, everyone gives you a morning greeting and a little chat before starting work. Even though the most important thing is to get on with the work, everyone is still always up for a little chat to keep the atmosphere happy and friendly.

There was an excellent organisational structure to the program and we were given the 8 week plan on day one. We had an initial induction day where we were told the plan for the eight weeks, including being told about weekly exercises, our final presentation exercise, training sessions and our reviews; and being told who our mentor was. The eight week plan was very organised - we were given an assessed exercise each week, had a review in our fourth week to find out how we'd done and how to improve, and then we had a final review at the end of the program.

The company spent a lot of time teaching me new skills and helping me develop my knowledge further. Each time I was set a task they spent plenty of time explaining it to me, and were always willing to stop and answer any questions I had relating to the task. This allowed me to develop a lot of skills and knowledge within the actuarial field in the eight weeks.

Future careers with this company would be very appealing. With such friendly staff and willingness to help, it means that I would have so much opportunity to grow and develop myself while being there. The company has been fantastic to me during my internship, so this means that future employment with them would sound appealing.

Yes. I had the opportunity to go to an actuarial boat party where I got to meet a lot of fellow actuaries, and as an intern I was asked to help organise two socials. There were also opportunities to go to the pub on a Friday evening with other colleagues. Attending some of these socials allowed me to get to know everyone a lot better, and meet some people in the company I did not speak to as often.

I did not actually live in London whilst completing my internship, but instead commuted there via train. Although this was quite expensive, it was definitely worth it for the experience I got, and for the amount of opportunities it gave me. In terms of socialising, some things (e.g. a drink in a pub) were slightly more expensive than other places I've been, but they were not eye-wateringly more expensive.

Being in London meant that there were plenty of places to go in terms of social events. I went to a few evening events but the latest I stayed until was about 11 as I had a commute home on the train after. However, there was plenty of things going on for the time I was there until - there are lots of pubs around where you can go after work, and for the socials I helped organise we went to a pool bar and a table tennis bar. These are still nice places to go and have a drink with colleagues, but are a bit different as there was the opportunity to play pool and Ping-Pong too. Although I did not go to any, London often has comedy nights going on as well, so there was definitely plenty to do in the evenings.

Yes. As said in the questions about socials - I helped organise socials (which I also attended), and I was bought a ticket to attend an actuarial society event. There were also opportunities to go to the pub every Friday evening, as well as the opportunity to get involved in a football event they had. The other event which I had the opportunity to go to, but was unable to make, was a trip away with other colleagues for a weekend. So, although I did not attend every event, there were plenty of opportunities to socialise with colleagues outside of work.