Actuary Review

Towers Watson is just a really great company. I've been based in the Bristol office but have visited two others as well. In every aspect of the internship Towers Watson have been immaculate, I've felt really comfortable and learnt a lot whilst being here.

From my first day I already felt welcomed. Everybody is really friendly and go out of their way to help you. In the Bristol office in particular the average age is below 30 and so it's really easy to fit in. There have been plenty of socials that we've be invited to which really allow you to get to know your colleagues.

I was contacted before I started at Towers Watson outlining what my first week was going to look like and what to do on my first day. On my first day I was given a clear overview of what my internship would look like. They are always available for support and contact me daily to talk about my workload. With their help we've set myself objectives and had a catch up meeting midway to talk about them. In all aspects I've been able to seek advice and help at any point and there is rarely a day when I don't have contact with them.

My line manager checked up on me every morning to discuss my workload in order to ensure that I was neither to busy or bored. I was often asked for a workload rating which allowed me to assess how much I had to get done and how much more I felt I could take on.

In the first couple of weeks it is mainly focussed on ensuring you've got the right training and you are given very clear instructions which I felt is needed as I had never seen this kind of work before. By week 4 however, I had been given my own individual project as well as a group project which allowed me to really take on a significant amount of responsibility.

Regardless of what profession you end up in, you'll learn essential life skills at Towers Watson such as time management, handling responsibility, following complicated instructions, working as part of a team and on your own. In particular for an actuarial career, you get to be involved in various clients and in a variety of work which really allows you to see all the skills that are involved in being an actuary.

Everybody in the office was a lot of fun and I found that I found that whether it was working or having a friendly chat with a colleague I was never bored. There were often socials as well which we were always invited to and so we really bonded with the office.

Everything was planned from start to finish, I always knew who to go to if I needed help and I was given a clear overview of how my six weeks would run.

I had several training sessions with people from various levels from very senior to some of the most junior employees. The training is more heavily skewed towards the beginning of the internship allowing you to really get stuck in the second half.

They usually hire 2 out of 3 interns however, it's based purely on your own performance and you're not competing with the others. I can certainly say after working here, that I would definitely want to end up at this company and in this office.

We often had socials with our fellow employees as well as the welcome drinks, summer social, someone qualifying, a leaving do and a pub quiz we also got the opportunity to plan our own social for the office. This was all in 6 weeks and I know that similar things happened in other offices.

I already had a flat in the city and was very close so travelling and accommodation were not an issue for me. However, if you did have costs Towers Watson offered very generous contributions to both accommodation and travel throughout your six weeks. On top of that all transport and accommodation costs involved in training days were completely covered by the company and were even booked on our behalf.

Bristol has a very social nightlife and you are always able to find something to do and your colleagues and fellow interns would always be very willing to suggest ideas for your nights out.

There have been a lot of socials whilst I've been here and there hasn't been a single event where I haven't been invited or felt unwelcome. Some of the events that happened are; welcome drinks, summer social, qualifying celebration, a leaving do and a pub quiz.