Catastrophe Analyst Review

Work experience was virtual due to Covid, but it was still an experience I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend to anyone interested in the sectors. The work itself was varied and interesting, and I was able to learn a lot in a short time. I was honestly sad to leave- the team was wonderful to be around and felt like a close-knit family that they welcomed me into and allowed me to be apart of, and the work itself was interesting. There was also a lot of freedom to move around and work within other parts of the business if you found it different from what you expected, and wanted to see if something else was more interesting to you.

During my Internship I worked on a project that is going to be utilised along with work from some other members of the team going forwards- knowing that my work was going to be utilised by the business made me feel genuinely valued, and this was reflected in how I was treated by the team. They made sure I knew I was providing a deliverable that would be used and valued within the business. I may have had a lot to learn, but my input on the things I had knowledge about were valued just as any other person's would have been.

A lot of guidance- to make up for not having the freedom of being able to talk and catch up with people easily in the office I had daily calls with my line manager to check in and make sure I wasn't having any issues, which was really great in making me feel connected. The team had daily calls which I attended when I could, giving me a wider picture of how everyone was progressing and what they were working on, and gave me an opportunity to update them on my progress as well. I reached out to multiple people during my internship for support and always received help- I was never made to feel like bother, everyone was very patient and happy to help.

Time management and scheduling skills I developed further in an environment where it was really necessary to keep on top of everything I was doing, and I was provided help and support to do this. Practical skills too- some programming in SQL and a few more sophisticated tricks in Excel. These are skills you really learn best from other people who know these tips and can quickly teach you where to look or how to do a specific thing, and the team were always happy to help out. I also leant a lot about giving presentations, something I've never been comfortable on, but the support I received during my internship made me feel genuinely confident presenting to the business.

Covid meant the internship didn't occur as had been previously planned- it was all virtual, and it was a shame to miss out on the office atmosphere. However, many training sessions and virtual meetings to learn about both my own area in Willis, and the services provided by other units of the business meant there was always more to do and learn. The regular meetings made it easy to keep in touch with the team and stay up to date with everything going on in the wider teams, and I never felt lost or like I didn't know what I should be doing.

Willis feels to me like it's taken the best aspects of small and big companies- it has the reach and resources of a big company in that there's always someone who specialises in and can help you get specifics and nuance in what you're looking into, but somehow retains the close-knit family feeling of a smaller company. I never felt like I couldn't reach out to people, and only had to ask 'Can you put me in touch with someone who knows about X' to learn about anything I wanted to.

In terms of the work I was completing I was able to get a good idea of what it's like to work both in my role and in roles in other areas of the business. There's obviously a lot of training as a newcomer, but they kept us aware of their graduate training scheme too so I have a clear idea of what my first 2 years would look like if I got a job there. I was given a 'buddy' which was someone who had joined the previous year on their graduate scheme and he was a super helpful resource in both asking questions of how stuff worked.

Working and seeing people remotely is obviously very far removed from what it's actually like to work with them in an office- much harder to chat casually while getting coffee. It's a given that the experience I had isn't what the office is normally like, but despite that we chatted casually before or after meetings and arranged virtual tea breaks to give a sense of what it's like, and through many interactive presentations and training sessions I was able to interact with many employees across the company and get a sense for how the culture is.

I went into the internship both fearful and hopeful- it's so hard to get a feel for what a career looks like on a day-to-day without actually experiencing it. I came out of this internship knowing that it's what I want to do for a career and hopeful that I'll be able to get a graduate job with Willis next year, but I think even if you discover you don't want a career with Willis, you'll have a clearer idea of what it is you dislike and what sort of career might better suit you.

I was paid a good salary and given the full amount (8 weeks worth) despite the internship being made shorter (6 weeks) due to changes for covid. This salary included benefits to account for accommodation and travel, and continued to include them despite not longer having to move/etc as it had changed to working from home. I was given all the equipment needed (laptop, headset, etc) for my work, and Willis organised delivery/collection of these items with no expense to myself. They also reimbursed the full expense for travel to the interview.

A lot- I was encouraged by my line manager to get in contact with anyone who was working on something I was interested in, and he was able to suggest and reach out to people to ask for meetings on my behalf. There were also a lot of training sessions with people across all lines of the business, and these were open for discussion. I reached out to many of these people for further discussion and was always able to set up a meeting- even very senior members of the business were happy to fit in a call where schedules allowed.

Definitely. The internship was a wonderful experience and if someone was interested in the sector I would recommend it. Even if they weren't sure exactly what part they were interested in, I'd still recommend it as Willis provides a lot of opportunity and scope to learn about other areas of the business and shift the aims of the internship towards those sectors if you discover that they're more suited to you, so it's an excellent internship for confirming if you'd like to work in a specific role, or for determining which role suits you best.