Intern - Life Actuarial Review

The internship was really enjoable, and it was just so interesting to see what it's really like to be an actuary - online reviews always seemed so vague!

My colleagues were always very grateful for any work I'd done, and expressed that sincerely. They were also very welcoming - I was invited to all their socials after work, and I felt like they were putting in effort to get to know me.

Whenever I was working on a project with someone, I was given the time and support I needed to get the work done to a good standard, and to understand what it was I was doing. My buddy and counsellor were also really good at checking up on me, to ask how things were going and to make sure I felt I got everything I could out of the internship.

Fairly busy - as an actuarial intern I had to complete a project over the 6 weeks, to be presented at the end, and it was designed with the intention of filling up any down time. The only time I felt bored was on the very last day! But I was never worried about being too busy, it was a good balance.

All of my work would be reviewed many times before a client saw it, but that's standard for anyone not too high up. A few of the tasks I was given allowed me to be a bit creative, eg. in improving a process, so I felt somewhat responsible in those areas.

So much! I've learned a lot just about the office atmosphere, how to act in professional situations, and how to network. I've also gained a lot of general knowledge about finance and insurance, etc. Also some technical skills, particularly Excel, have suddenly become a lot better! I feel a lot more prepared entering the working world...

Everyone was very approachable - whenever I needed to ask someone about a piece of work, I'd just pop over and ask them. Similarly, sometimes people would just stop for a chat. We often went to have lunch together, too, so it was pretty relaxed.

Very well! We started off with 2 days induction in Manchester, and then when I went to Bristol on the first day, my buddy had set up all of my training, and had started me off with a few projects for me to get involved in.

I waas included in most of the graduate training sessions, and my first few days were almost completely filled with inductions (after the 2 days induction in Manchester!). I was also invited to all the company learning and development opportunities, such as 'lunch and learn' sessions.

Very appealing - my colleagues were absolutely lovely, and I would love to work with them again in the future. Also, EY clearly cares greatly about its employees' welfare and happiness within the organisation, so they're definitely a great company to work for.

We had a few socials amongst my colleagues, but unfortunately everyone was very busy with client work during my internship, and I'm told that there are usually a lot more!

It was pretty expensive where I was staying, but I was only a five minute walk from the office. I think you can get some cheap mid-term rental accomodation if you're happy to go a bit further out. Bristol is pretty cheap for socialising.

Lots of places to go, and there were festivals really regularly in Bristol.

There were some socials with colleagues and other interns. There were also a few emails sent out about sporting events in Bristol and London, that we could get involved in if we wanted to.