Acturial intern Review

I really enjoyed my time at Willis Towers Watson. The sessions were very focussed and we got to learn a lot in the initial weeks. I had a good opportunity to work on client work and get feedback. Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, WTW made sure that we had a chance to get to know our colleagues throughout the work day and over virtual socials. Overall, I had a really great experience and as good a 'taste' of the office as you could get under the circumstances.

I was made to feel valued by my colleagues and other interns. The culture at WTW is collaborative and supportive. My colleagues were always happy to answer any questions I had and gave good feedback to the client work I completed. The buddy system is great as it makes you feel comfortable knowing that it is someone who was in a similar position to you very recently. WTW also facilitated meetings with senior colleagues that were very informative and interesting. I appreciated this as I know these colleagues had taken time out of very busy schedules to tell us more about their areas of interest.

I was given what I would consider a good amount of support. I understand that it is difficult to get the same kind of support that you would in the office whilst working remotely. However, I always felt that I could get in touch with my colleagues and ask the questions that I needed to. However, I also appreciate that this career choice requires a lot of initiative and self-study and I believe that this experience is reflective of what would be generally expected in terms of showing initiative and problem solving.

This varied day to day. Some days were very busy especially during the first week. This is because the internship is front loaded and the actuarial fundamentals and pension knowledge underlie the client work that you will be doing. I was given the chance to get on with quite a bit of client work but I felt that I could be open with my colleagues about my capacity and capabilities. Although some days were busy, this is what I would expect at work.

I felt we were given a lot of responsibility for our level. All of our client work was reviewed by seniors so this wasn't a problem in terms of making mistakes. But we were given some billable and non-billable client work and there is always a responsibility to get this to right. We also had responsibility to ensure we were professional. With remote working there was additional responsibility as you had to take initiative to learn how to operate software alone and raise issues promptly if something is not right.

I'm really happy with the skills I have developed during my time at WTW. I study Economics and I found that a lot of what I was doing in my degree was relevant to the business, and vice versa. I'm particularly pleased with my development in excel and I think that these skills will be useful in my degree. We got the chance to prepare a virtual group presentation. This was a novel experience for me and I thought it was great preparing for video conferences and meetings.

The general atmosphere was good in the office. My colleagues were all very pleasant and helpful. There is a good amount of camerderie between colleagues and this makes the office an enjoyable place to be. We participated in quite a lot of social activities to say that the internship lasted only 4 weeks instead of 8. Everyone working at WTW seemed to be happy there and colleagues want to help each other in terms of workload and make things easier.

The work placement was organised really well. I was surprised with how well it had been organised in light of the fact of the pandemic. Everything seemed well thought through in terms of the structure of the sessions and what was included. All of the sessions were really relevant and there were good opportunities for socialising and getting to know colleagues. WTW were also great facilitating remote working and everything was in good order for me to start on my first day.

We had a lot of personal training and development. This was focussed on both professional development, technical skills and actuarial knowledge. We spent the first two weeks learning actuarial fundamentals and pensions knowledge. I learnt a lot of transferrable skills at WTW especially in Excel. Senior colleagues took time out of their day to share their career development stories with us. I definitely felt like WTW was investing in us and I feel that the experience has added a lot of value to me in the labour market.

I would be happy to work at WTW after completing the internship.

It was difficult to have a social scene due to the pandemic restrictions. However WTW made effort to ensure there was time to socialise inside and outside of work hours. There was virtual socials held every week

Okay

Was working remotely

Yes, virtual socials as we were working remotely.