Actuarial Summer Internship Review

Great working environment with friendly staff and plenty of social events to get involved in. The induction took place on a trip to an all expenses paid hotel which involved team-building games, training and a chance to meet the other interns from across the country.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues. Whenever I completed work for them they were always very friendly and thankful and made me feel like what I had done was of great help to them.

The support provided throughout the placement was great. I was allocated a buddy in each department which I worked in who was always there should I have any questions about the work I was doing. Alongside this I had a more senior member of staff allocated to monitor me throughout the placement and who was also happy to answer questions and provide advice whenever it was needed.

The balance of work was in general very good and I nearly always had enough work to do to keep me busy. There was the odd day when I finished work early and had no tasks to be getting on with but my buddy always was able to provide me with interesting articles and news feeds to improve my commercial awareness which was very useful.

I was given more responsibility than I was expecting to get seen as it was a summer placement. I was doing first drafts of reports which would be sent out to clients and I was also lucky enough to help out with a proposal. I was always involved in conference calls and other meetings and was made to feel like a part of the team.

My placement greatly improved my commercial awareness and it also helped me decide that this was the correct career path for me. The training I received also improved my team working and presentation skills.

When a deadline was nearing there was an air of stress in the office but aside from that the atmosphere was great, everyone was really friendly and easy to get along with.

The organisation was brilliant, I always knew what was happening and when and my emails were always replied to swiftly. The application process was also very efficient.

The company paid for us to go on a trip to a nice hotel in Birmingham for a few days of training. This trip involved a private company coming in and improving our team-working skills and us working on a case study in groups. The whole internship was a learning curve.

As far as I am aware, if there is a position available then all interns are given the opportunity to apply and have an interview with a partner for a graduate job at the end of their placement.

I got to know quite a few of the other interns at the induction in Birmingham. I got along well with the other interns in my office and have seen them since the end of the placement.

I already had a student flat in Edinburgh as I go to university here but the price of accommodation varies. The cost of socialising also varies depending on where you go and what you do!

Edinburgh nightlife is great, especially during the summer when the Edinburgh festival is on. There are hundreds of shows on in the festival and some of the clubs stay open till 5am at that time of year.

There were lots of opportunities to get involved outside of work. While I was there I attended a charity event which involved a pub quiz and there were lots of opportunities to go out for dinner and see shows within the festival.