Pensions Actuarial Consulting Summer Intern Review

I really enjoyed my internship. I learned a lot about the industry and the job, which helped me decide that I want to pursue this career path in the future.

There were a lot of social activities organised during my internship which let me get to know all of my team members a bit better and integrate wih them. Everyone in my office was really friendly and I feel like I was a valued member of the team.

My manager and my buddy were always happy to answer all my questions and I was always given very accurate guidance before starting a new piece of work. I was also invited to ask questions about the wider context of what I was doing.

I think that it depended on the day or the week. There was a week when I had my drawer full of files and jobs waiting to be done since I kept receiving multiple tasks to do at the same time. There were other days when I did not have anything to do and I went around the office asking my colleagues for more work. Also, there were a few days when I was a bit bored in the morning but then received a very urgent piece of work to do which kept me really busy for the rest of the day. However, for most of the time I probably managed to maintain a good balance.

I did not expect to be given a huge amount of responsibility since in this industry every piece of work must be checked or every decision must be made by the experienced members of the team in order for the best value to be delivered to the client. This is due to the fact that the job is very technical. However, I was given quite a lot of responsibility for the CSR project, which was a part of my internship.

The skills I developed and training I received will definitely help me in my degree studies and my future career. I am planning to do actuarial modules at university and I have already seen how most of the actuarial methods are used in practice. This will deepen my understanding of the modules. My understanding of the industry will let me perform better in my future career.

I worked in a relatively small office where people knew each other very well. The atmosphere was really good. There were a lot of social activities organised by the office management including barbecues, football or cricket and everyone was welcome to take part in them.

The internship set up was organised very well. It was clear what my role was and what was expected of me. It was also clear that the internship was supposed to help me develop and it gave me a chance to improve various skills, including teamwork and presentation skills.

The company provided me with technical training and "making impact" training concentrated around presentation and interpersonal skills. I was also provided with a lot of training materials to go through independently.

I hope to be offered an internship with the company next year and then a graduate job the following year. Everyone who performs well in the intership and shows enthusiasm can be offered a job.

We went to quite a lot of events together, including exam results drinks, the SIAS boat party, cricket and football games and team lunches.

St Albans is definitely cheaper than London, although still probably more expensive than some places further away from London.

There are plenty of pubs around and London is also not very far away.

There were lots of opportunities, including sports, exam results drinks, casual lunches and watching tennis together.