Actuarial Consultant - Summer Student Review

I enjoyed my work placement at Barnett Waddingham. The work was varied and interesting, and I felt that it was representative of what I could expect to be doing as a graduate Actuary. Further to this, I was able to spend time doing both Pensions and Investment work, further adding to the varied work I was receiving. In addition, the presentations at the end gave me a taste of using important presentation skills in the future. I also had the chance to join the staff Cricket team, and football team. This allowed me to make friends at work and socialise after it.

At Barnett Waddingham, you feel valued as an employee, whether an intern, graduate, or an associate. Everyone made an effort to ask me how the work was going, if I was fitting in well. Besides that, all work we do gets feedback. If something isn't quite right, instead of employees quietly changing the answers, we are spoken to, and told how we could potentially improve our work in the future. This allows the learning process to happen more quickly, and it makes me feel valued as people are spending time to check my work and offer improvements.

My management team and supervisors were all very supportive. Ways in which they achieved this varied. Firstly, I had a "Mid-Internship Review". This review gave them the opportunity to talk to me about how I was finding the placement, what they thought I was doing well, and what they thought I could improve on. This review was important as it gave me clear objectives and goals for the next four weeks. In addition, as I mentioned earlier, all work is peer reviewed and so as an intern, you are never left in the dark as to whether you are doing a good job or not.

The majority of the time, I had a lot of work to do, and a long list of tasks to be getting on with! Although it can be stressful as there are deadlines, its a challenge that you would rather have on an internship, than having too little work, in my opinion. The reason we never had no work to do was because if there was no client work to do, you could get on with the final presentation. In addition, there was other work, larger projects, that always had something you could work on or update.

We were given lots of client work to do, almost a surprising amount. Work ranged from calculating Transfer Values, data checks, actuarial valuations, and writing reports for clients. I'd say around 1/2 to 3/4 of my time was spent doing proper client work that would then be checked by a graduate. This brings responsibility to do the job properly. In addition, the time pressures of the job were often manageable, but because it was client work, it was vital that you met deadlines and produced the work quickly and efficiently, which brings responsibility.

There were some vital skills that I developed over the period. The first was using Excel! Especially in this industry, Excel is a vital tool, and something I wasn't very familiar with. I'm sure the work based skills, such as using Excel and being able to do actuarial calculations, will help me in any role in the industry that I have in the future. The other key skill you pick up very quickly, is communication in the workplace. Whether it be meetings, formal presentations, socialising at lunchtime, there is a real emphasis on communication and presentation. You quickly learn what style is appropriate for particular scenarios, and this is important beyond degree level.

The atmosphere was good for working. At lunchtime there is time for a chat with colleagues, but when people work they are focussed and organised, which encourages high standards from you too.

The internship was very well organised. There was a two day induction in Liverpool that set out exactly what we would be doing. In addition, upon arrival, there was a spread sheet that was filled with tasks different areas of the office expected us to complete. In addition, there were 3 main tasks we knew we were to complete by the 8 weeks. Because the spread sheet told us exactly what work we were to expect, and when, planning our time was easier. Overall, it was clear a lot of time had gone into making sure the internship ran well and effectively.

Making sure I was always provided with detailed feedback, but other than this, my colleagues always had enough time to explain a difficult concept to me. Instead of just quickly editing the calculation themselves, they sat down and explained exactly what I should be doing, and why I should be doing it. Overall, it was the time rather than anything else that the firm continued to invest in me.

Very appealing. From what I gather, the firm has a good graduate programme that helps the transition from being a graduate, into being a qualified actuary. The help given ranges from helping fund your examinations, to exam mentors.

The social scene here is fantastic! As I briefly mentioned before, I played in the staff cricket team, which was good fun. In addition, over the 8 weeks, we played in a Football Tournament, went on a SIAS Boat Party, and went to a Beer Festival. Getting involved is really encouraged here, and I feel everyone really made an effort to include me in the social events the firm had running.

Depends on which office you work in! In London, where I worked, clearly it was fairly expensive.

In London, the nightlife is fantastic. Especially on a Friday night after work, where colleagues would meet up afterwards, there would always be plenty to do.

Yes. Sports activities, and social activities happened often and participation was always encouraged.