Retirement Actuarial Intern Review

I really enjoyed my internship at Towers Watson. It was a great insight into the actuarial profession and the pension's industry.

My colleagues were really supportive throughout my internship and always had time for any questions I had. On completion of a task I was often given feedback on my work regardless of it's importance which helped my development and made me feel valued.

The support I received on a day to day basis was excellent and the source of that support varied depending on who I was doing the work for. This enabled me to build strong relationships with several colleagues. I wasn't sat close to my line manager so I didn't receive much support from them daily. However, he frequently got in touch to check on me and gave me tips on how to get the most out of my internship which were invaluable!

This varied lots. The team were really good at delegating downwards and as a result the majority of the time I would say the workload was just right however there were a few occasions when I had very little work to do. This did give me the chance to go and work for another department for a few days which developed my excel skills further and taught me about different parts of the company.

I was roughly given the responsibility of a new graduate. The majority of my work was calculation based which involved me using excel, in-house computer software and pen and paper! This was then reviewed by more senior members of the team before being sent out to clients. Seeing the end result being sent out to clients made me feel proud of my work and motivated me throughout my time at TW.

During the internship I learnt lots of general skills such as time management, effective communication, flexibility and team collaboration etc. These are vital to fitting into the office environment and are transferable to any career. I also received lots of training and work very specific to the actuarial field and TW specifically which won't help with my degree but if I return TW will be extremely useful.

The Leeds office was fantastic, everyone was extremely welcoming, friendly and helpful. The day to day atmosphere was fairly quiet as everyone was busy producing fantastic work but there was a good amount of banter between my colleagues! The office was open plan and there was also a nice kitchen.

The initial introduction day in London allowed us to meet all the other interns working in the other offices and a chance to learn about all the lines of businesses TW have. On my second day I was introduced to the Leeds team and received a full introduction from my line manager. The rest of the internship went well as the team have lots of experience with working with interns from previous years.

Throughout the internship I received lots of training which was mainly pension/calculation/software based however, we also received talks from senior members of staff on more general topics such as marketing and the future career outlook of the actuarial profession.

I am still waiting to find out if I have been offered a job with the company but in general the future prospects for interns is good.

The social scene was very good in the Leeds team especially between the younger members of the team. The was a pub lunch organised every Friday, as well as BBQ's, a pub quiz and many after work drinking events to celebrate birthdays and exam results.

I am a student in Leeds so was already renting somewhere so there was no additional cost but accommodation costs are reasonable. More generally Leeds is fairly cheap however as its financial sector is growing fast the new flats, bars and restaurants in the very center are beginning to become pricey.

Leeds has lots of nice bars, clubs and restaurants. If that is not your thing then a short drive or train journey will get you to the excellent countryside around Leeds.

Loads of opportunities to socialize outside of work.