Retirement Analyst - Intern Review

For the first 4 weeks we would take part in training. This was also alongside client work which I felt very included in early on which was great. Weeks 5-8 were primarily client work focused with a background task of a group presentation project ever present. This was a nice balance between doing actual work and being able to work with fellow interns from other offices to create a presentation on a given topic (mine was on climate change).

I felt that teamwork and numerical skills were greatly improved. My excel skills are much superior to when I started as this is the primary tool used day to day on the job. Other job specific skills such as calculating annuities and present values were of course greatly improved, but these will definitely be transferable to other careers and job opportunities. Colleagues are more than happy to help you out when you are stuck and will help you to develop new skills.

I was given lots of responsibility during the internship, as you are given client work pretty much from day 1. It is not an uncomfortable amount of responsibility, as all of your work is checked (like they would to any colleague) multiple times before being sent out to clients. It is good experience working with clients early on, as you feel that what you are learning in the training is actually applicable to day to day tasks.

There is a wide team to support you when you are unsure on any work - client or training. I never felt unable to ask colleagues for help, as everyone was very supportive and understanding of any challenges that I faced. The training in the opening weeks was invaluable to the client work, and the instructors are more than happy to help you during or after the training sessions even if you are in a different office location.

General atmosphere was very inviting, with post work drinks and summer socials being organised. As interns we even got to plan and throw the summer social which makes getting integrated into the team easy. Everyone just acted as normal, decent people who actually want to help you with your work. You can work at home 2 days a week if you would like to; although, I found that coming into the office was preferable for myself as I like to be face to face.

I loved working here and will be keeping in contact with several coworkers after I go back to uni. The work was rewarding and enjoyable and the skills that I learned will be useful whether I come back here or not. The company culture allows for new members of the team to quickly fit in and will miss not coming here to work. An small but demonstrative example of the company culture is people baking treats on our last day as a token for us leaving.

Yes

I would advise people to look at all of the offices that are available, as there are multiple GB and international offices that will take on interns+. I would also advise that candidates research what types of pension schemes there are, especially defined benefit (DB) schemes, and to a lesser extent defined contribution (DC) schemes. Candidates might also what to research CDC schemes and have an understanding of the exams that they will take if they choose to pursue being an actuary as a career.