Actuarial Intern Review

This was an incredible experience. The people here were so welcoming and friendly and the work was very challenging and interesting. It was very well structured and my time here flew by so fast because there was always something to do! Despite it being virtual, I have gained so much experience and learned so much on the pensions industry and on the role of an actuary. and pushed me outside my comfort zone at times - which was great for my personal and professional development! The fact that it was virtual did not hinder this aspect of it as there was still so much work to do and I was busy throughout the entire internship.

I felt incredibly valued. Everyone was very kind and welcoming. They gave very useful feedback on any work completed and always gave praise and appreciation where it was due. This really gave me the confidence that I needed, especially when the work would get really challenging (due to the nature of the work itself and/or due to IT issues). You are truly treated like a full-time colleague and not an just an intern, so it makes you feel very important and meaningful for the company.

There was always support available from the very beginning. I could instant message anyone in the team and ask any question that I had or for any help I needed. There was no such thing as a stupid question and this was very reassuring when settling in and throughout my internship. We had a lot of training sessions for the software we was going to use. Even though it was hard with it being the first virtual internship, they made a huge effort to make sure any problems were sorted ASAP.

The skills and information will huge hugely beneficial in my future. The real world job experience will help me build professional relationships with academic colleagues and students in any leadership or representative roles, both in my studies and beyond. My resilience and determination to solve problems has definitely improved as some of the client work during the internship was very challenging, especially with the IT issues faced when doing the work through my virtual desktop.

The internship was structured extremely well. There was a lot of training sessions early on to learn about how to use software and technical training on actuarial fundamentals. In the later weeks there was mostly client work alongside a group project the whole way through. The group project concluded with a presentation at the end of the internship. There were also many social events and opportunities to chat to senior colleagues to learn about them and the work they do.

Amazing. The environment was very friendly, open and welcoming. Even with it being virtual, you could still absorb a lot of the open and friendly atmosphere that you would get in an office. Everyone was incredibly helpful and kind which is very reassuring. Colleagues are always more than happy to pick up work if you a struggling for time or having IT issues for example. Also, there's always opportunity for work as there's so many colleagues within each office to ask for work from.

There was a huge investment in me. There were many hours of training sessions over the course of my internship to teach us about the company, the pensions industry, the role of an actuary. There was also technical sessions on the actuarial fundamentals and calculations. There were also recap sessions and opportunities to ask any question I had throughout the whole internship. This aspect of the internship was not significantly negatively impacted by it being virtual, as the online resources were great to learn from in our own time.

It was a great insight into what it would be like to work as a full time colleague there. Interns at WTW are treated like new graduates so the training and client work is quite similar. Hence, I was able to get a real taste of what it would be like as a full time actuary. I was practically able to complete all the work that I would carry out in the office, so I was not significantly hindered in this regard.

WTW truly act by their company values of integrity, teamwork, respect, client focus and friendliness in all aspects of work. This was consistent throughout my internship and there is always a supportive environment in regards to learning. You are assigned buddies who are always on hand to support you or point to you the appropriate contacts whenever you need it. The first hand experience at this internship has helped me understand why the core values of WTW are truly so important for WTW's success.

The content is very similar to what you would get as a new graduate, so it was hugely valuable in helping me decide whether this work and path was interesting for me. There is a huge amount of skill and knowledge needed to work in this role and industry successfully, and I've gained so much experience that will further support my career path decisions. I had an idea before starting that the role is very technical, and this has definitely been confirmed by the technical fundamentals and type of work.

I was paid very well for the 4 week internship. This is another reason that WTW make you feel so valued even as a summer intern. You are paid and treated similar to a new graduate and in this way you get reassurance that the work you are doing is so important and meaningful for WTW and their clients. Many colleagues that we were able to talk to also emphasized the number and range of career progression opportunities in this role and company.

This was a challenging opportunity for the company to provide as it was the first virtual internship. However, huge efforts had been made by WTW to ensure we were able to meet many colleagues. We had a huge number of 1 to 1 chats with senior colleagues throughout the internship which were amazing opportunities. They made great use of the technology available and we were all able to schedule meetings and talk via Microsoft teams and Outlook.

Of course, with an in person environment comes much better social opportunities. But the internship being made virtual was "virtually" out of anyone's control. Nonetheless, WTW made a great effort to bring everyone together through events like the virtual talent show and pub quizzes which have all been incredibly fun. I cannot fault the efforts made by colleagues and leadership to make the most of the situation we had all faced and I have thoroughly enjoyed the social events.

Colleagues were very informative when describing the activities outside of work that normally take place at WTW when everyone is not working from home. I have heard about teams and clubs for many sports including football and cricket. There are also typically many fundraising events throughout the year for company charities, which many colleagues would normally volunteer for. Activities like these really emphasizes the culture at WTW and the strong relationships between colleagues across the offices and country.

The experience that I gained from this internship will hugely benefit me in deciding my career path going forward. I would definitely recommend this virtual experience to anyone who is very passionate about a role that can be very technical and involves complex problem solving. This is also combined with working with people in a team and communicating with colleagues and clients. I enjoyed the latter aspect more than the former, but this is why it's so important to gain experience so that you find out what you enjoy more and what you don't enjoy.