This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
It was thoroughly enjoyable - I got involved in many different pieces of work from different areas within Retirement, giving me an excellent insight into the work of an actuary. The people were extremely friendly and happy to answer any questions I had, which made me want to come to work.
My colleagues were very friendly and quickly made me feel integrated and part of the team, helped by having many different socials. I am shy around new people but they really helped to 'bring me out of my shell' and by the end I felt totally at ease with them.
My line managers were excellent at integrating me into the team very early on and were happy to answer any questions I had. They were also very good at giving me work when I was quiet and helping me to understand why we were doing a certain process and the theory behind it rather than simply telling me what simply needed doing.
Sometimes I felt very quiet with little to do, particularly at the beginning of my internship. This improved towards the end but there were still some days where I was having to ask all the members of the team if there was work they could pass onto me, sometimes to no avail. However, there was one week where I was very busy with lots of jobs from different people and so the workflow ended up being very sporadic, I would have liked it to have been a bit more even.
I got involved with quite a lot of client work but at WTW there is a set process that every piece of work must go through before being sent back to the client, so I always knew any client work would be checked by others. This meant I didn't feel under too much pressure of doing something wrong when I was doing client work but still could actively get involved in things.
I definitely understand the world of working as an actuary and particularly in pensions much better. As I am planning to pursue a career in this field , the knowledge gained will be invaluable beyond my degree. I think entering into the world of work has made me more independent and confident which will help me for life.
The Company
It was excellent - people were happy to have a chat both work and non-work related, however, if people needed to do some work urgently then colleagues wouldn't distract them. Having many social events and people bringing in treats from holiday etc. helped to create a fun and friendly atmosphere where everyone felt welcome.
The internship was very well set up with lots of training at the start, to give an overview about different pieces of work we would get involved in a career as an actuary (both pre and post qualification). This meant I felt like I knew enough about a particular topic before starting work on it. My only slight issue was that sometimes there was a lack of work and thus I ended up reading up about different actuarial related things rather than being actively involved in some work.
At the start of the internship, all the interns from across the business and different offices went to London to have an induction day, which gave an excellent overview of the different parts of the business. Once we came back to the regional office, we were given lots of training including things we needed for day to day working and things we wouldn't meet for years as a graduate, such as how to successfully propose for business off new clients. I was also fortunate to go to a trustee meeting helping me feel as if the business valued me and thus invested in me as an intern.
Flexi Time
Healthcare/Dental
I hope to get a graduate job and my feedback has been very positive. I will find out around a month after my internship has finished whether I have been successful or not.
The Culture
We had many different social events, probably around once every fortnight but then also every Friday we would go to the pub at lunchtime for a drink and sometimes food. After work, sometimes we would also go for drinks. Our social events were great for both drinkers and non-drinkers (like myself) as we had a pub quiz, a board games and then just general networking events within the office.
I lived at home so I saved on the cost of rent and commuted in via train. I thought my train ticket was relatively cheap given the time on the train and the office was close to the station, which was very convenient. As it is Leeds city centre, I thought drinks were quite expensive but most people bought me drinks so I didn't have to pay the prices! When we had social events at the office we usually got pizza paid for by the office, so I didn't really have to pay for much in terms of socialising during my internship.
Leeds is a good place for nightlife and the centre being only 10 minutes walk from the office means if you want to do that sort of thing, there would be plenty of opportunities. I personally don't go out that much and even though some people did go out for results night (from the actuarial exams), I didn't feel like it so left before they went.
As already mentioned, there were many social events, which were a great opportunity to get to know people better. As part of the complex where the offices are, there is a free running group and access to an outdoor area, where there are picnic benches a chessboard with giant pieces and other games, so I think there were opportunities to get involved with this but I didn't explore.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
Actuary
Yorkshire and Humberside
August 2019