Actuarial summer student Review

I really enjoyed my placement, the firms values of being friendly and straightforward really came across and I feel like I now have a much greater knowledge to pursue a career as an actuary.

I was working on a project and was given much greater responsibilities than I was expecting and often asked for my opinions in team meetings. I could see myself quickly growing with confidence thanks to the trust my colleagues gave me

I was given a lot of support from my supervisor, who especially helped me focus my 8 weeks towards what I would like to achieve as part of my placement aims and she helped to point out how I had fulfilled certain tasks in my learning log, which will also be useful for me recognising my competencies in the future. However, I also appreciated that I when I wanted it I was challenged and given the chance to work independently

It varied how busy I was day to day but there working as a team on a project, I enjoyed that we all would be busy during the same periods and it was never a hassle for anyone to find me work.

I was given a huge amount of responsibility on my placement, taking control of certain areas of the project meant that I had a chance to write first drafts of reports and was able to be creative in how I wanted to present my findings. I was also given opportunities to check other peoples work and even senior colleagues would be interested to listen to my views on industry events.

After doing this placement I am really excited to start work but there are a number of skills I now have that I know will be helpful to my last year at uni. I delivered a presentation at the end of my placement, which I am not used to doing, and this was definitely good practice in planning and controlling nerves before the presentations and oral exams I will have at university next year. I also learnt computer programming skills, which are highly valued by companies as well as specifically helping me with my maths degree, where being able to model equations and environments is crucial to your understanding.

The office was really friendly and I felt I built strong relationships with a number of people not just the people I was directly working with. There was a great balance in the atmosphere between work and socializing, which allowed me and colleagues to concentrate but everyone was light hearted in explanations and there were plenty of socials organised to get to know everyone well.

The internship was well organised in my development with useful meetings set up to improve my commercial awareness of the whole firm, frequent catch-up meetings and a learning log to fill out as I went along, as well as a general atmosphere of colleagues wanting to share their experience and willingness to give advice. However, I also enjoyed feeling like every other person of the team and got a real impression of what working here would be like.

I think the firm was really good about answering any questions I had and they were very flexible about letting gain experience in different practices within the firm. Anything I asked to learn about, the firm would gladly give me any resources of help I needed.

I am not at the end of my placement yet to know if the graduate job is available but it is certainly a firm in which I would like to work

The students in the firm seemed to have regular organised social events (bimonthly) as well as there always being people free for after work drinks or lunches during the day. This helps the friendly atmosphere of the firm and gives reassurance for the support that would be available for studying and exams

I was working in London so it as expected but I was aware of this when applying and the firm were generous at organised social events.

There were invitations to talks by the SIAS, which have been very helpful gaining an insight to the industry for the start of a career, and there have also been social events with people from work such as monthly company drinks, treasure hunts and the student actuarial societies work party.