Insight day attendee Review

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Most sessions consisted of a brief talk about a particular branch of the company (RCS/Rewards/etc) before a group task or activity. Most were very enjoyable (dare I say fun!) and provided an opportunity to talk to someone working in that area.

Plenty of staff milling around throughout the day for you to chat to. All very friendly and helpful. During the tasks we were treated as professionals with no one shying away from explaining everything from first principles to somewhat complex ideas.

Besides the guidance in the tasks, we were also given general advice on applications which could be applied to all jobs. We were also walked through the Towers Watson application process in particular and given a sense of what life as a newly-qualified actuary would be like.

The application/CV advice will be useful for applying for all jobs in future and the introductions to the various branchs of the business will serve anyone who is applying for any actuarial role.

Sessions lasted for about an hour each which gave just enough time to squeeze in an introduction and activity. We ran over slightly in each one regardless which caused lunch to be curtailed by a few minutes. In the afternoon we were given a choice between sessions.

Naturally a bit tense at first but it quickly picked up once the tasks started. The staff did well to get us talking in the tasks. The tea/coffee/biscuit breaks also served well to get people talking.

The staff often talked about what they had just been working on and some went through an average day in the life of a TW employee. New graduates also spoke briefly about the exams required to become fully qualified.

Everyone was professional in the extreme while still having a good laugh which lent itself to a really great atmosphere. The staff were always careful to be confidential about what they were working on, referring to eg 'a big energy firm' rather than 'British Gas.' They also drilled into our heads that TW prefers quality of work over quantity.

It left me in no doubt, not only that I want to become as actuary, but specifically that I want to work at a firm like Towers Watson that does not do audits. It also gave a great insight into exactly what type of work I want to do as an actuary.

After every session, during the breaks and over lunch we were able to have a chat with the people in graduate recruitment as well as the actuaries who were running the sessions and the others on the insight day as well.

It is a great day that does exactly what it should - offers a good insight into what work as an actuary is like, specifically at TW. It also offers general advice for graduate applications so even if you decide that actuarial work is not for you the day would not have been a waste.