Actuarial Intern Review

It was very enjoyable, with the work being challenging but I felt I learnt a lot during the 6 weeks. There was also a very good social side to the office which was good, with a range of people attending the socials so there was an opportunity to talk to lots of different people at different levels within the company.

Obviously there is only a limited amount that interns can do given limited technical knowledge, but I felt like I made a difference to those I helped in taking tasks so that they could get on with other things. The social side helped with getting to know people better, so they were then more likely to approach me with work to assist on.

We were given fairly comprehensive training which was a cut down version of what would be given to the new graduates. Everyone I was given work by explained it very well and was always willing to answer any questions that I may have, about the work or life at the company in general.

Some days were a lot busier than others in regards to client work, but we has several intern projects to work on during the quieter periods so I was never sat with nothing to do.

I was given a lot more responsibility than I thought, in that I was checking work done by other people, some of whom were quite senior. Everything which is done is later reviewed before it is sent to clients, but the work I did myself included individual calculations and spreadsheet work.

The training given was very good in giving an insight into the sort of training you would receive during a career here, and gave a good background knowledge of pensions and skills needed to be an actuary. I also developed group work, presentation and communication skills that will be useful for my degree.

There were many office socials, involving a range of people at different levels. These included a trip to the Oval for t20 cricket, exam drinks, a rounders tournament and a pub quiz organised by the interns.

They take interns every year so were obviously well practised in how it would work, but it was very easy to fit in and everything was organised for us in the first few days.

We were given comprehensive training on things that we would need to know for the 6 weeks, as well as additional background in other big pieces of work that are done by a pensions actuary. This was a cut down version of the training received by new graduates, but from speaking to the graduates we still had as many sessions on different areas.

I would very much like to return for a graduate position, but we have been told that we will hear in a couple of weeks.

There were many social events, and we entered a team into the office rounders tournament.

A lot of drinks etc were paid for by people that worked here, but the cost taking part in most socials was minimal if anything. The area in general isn't that cheap, but it was about what I was expecting it to be.

The nightlife in Reigate isn't fantastic, but we often went to the pub and stayed late which was good. It is quite close to London, but it can be hard to get home at night if you live in Reigate.

There were generally at least 2 socials per week.