Intern Review

I really enjoyed my internship. My colleagues were friendly, they went out of their way to ensure I could see the entire industry, and really made me feel like part of the team, as I was invited to drinks events outside of the office. In the office, I was able to learn a lot about the reinsurance industry however my one criticism was that sometimes there was a lack of work for me to do. I appreciate it was a quiet time of year for my team but I felt I had to work really hard to find work sometimes.

I felt valued by my colleagues. They gave me feedback on my work in a timely manner and when I had done a task well, they made sure to praise me. I was treated as part of the team as already mentioned and invited to functions out side of the office where possible. I was even asked to attend a client meeting when I had done some of the prep work, which definitely made me feel valued.

My supervisors were great. Whilst my manager had a lot of work on his plate, he ensured there were two people who had more time available I could report to. These two people were very approachable, one had recently done the graduate scheme and so was useful in this context. When I was lacking in work and spoke to either my manager or supervisors, they would try to reach out to the rest of the team on my behalf to find me work.

There were definitely peaks and troughs. Some weeks I would be so busy the time would just seem to disappear whilst other weeks I had much less to do. In general, I had a very manageable workload however there were definitely some push points. This was amplified as when I had less to do I would ask as many people as possible so they may all then turn up with work for me to do at the same time.

Probably about the right amount though at the time it felt like I had a lot resting on my shoulders. I completed work for a client meeting that I struggled with and felt like it maybe hadn't been checked enough before it went to the client. However, I did feel that they valued me by giving me 'real' work to do rather than making me re-do work that had already been done or making work up for me to do.

I learned a lot about how to manipulate Microsoft Excel to better serve me. I also had never had any experience working in a large corporation so that was good for me to see. I developed a larger professional network and have made contacts in the wider industry which is also great.

The atmosphere was good. It was complicated by an office move part way through the internship which left people slightly confused and also maybe caused a slight decrease in the atmosphere as we started hot desking. However in general, the atmosphere was relaxed and people would be working hard however still chatting and it felt like I could easily ask for help without everyone overhearing my conversations. My team would joke around a bit as well which was also nice, as it made it much easier to relax into the team as a whole.

From a HR perspective, it was well organised. We had a project we were undertaking with the other interns and this was all very well organised. However, my team dint seem to know if I had been given a project to do whilst I was there or if they were supposed to be the ones to give me work so this was slightly harder to overcome. However, my supervisors made sure to give me work where possible and this helped to overcome this.

All the interns undertook a course on improving our personal impact when we meet people, but other than that, and the money they spent paying and recruiting me, I was not sent on any official development or training courses. However, merely by doing the placement I was able to develop both my professional and personal skills so do feel like I have developed in character.

Very. The graduate scheme is very attractive both in terms of the training it offers (e.g. putting you through the ACII exams and providing you with study time, study materials etc..) and the salary. I have been offered a job off the back of the internship - despite the offer being delayed, this came within a few weeks of finishing and has a reasonably good pension scheme, holiday pay and allows you to buy up to 5 more days of holiday on top of the holiday you receive. There is also an extensive graduate on boarding scheme which aims to develop you both professionally (e.g. presentation skills) and your overall knowledge of the industry.

Yes, there were a lot of interns in London so we would often go for a drink after work. Some events were put on by Aon at the beginning of the placement so that we could get to know one another. The social scene definitely improved when we had moved offices as all interns were then in the same office. There was also a chance to get to know interns in other regional offices during the first week as we all completed training together and so got to know the entire cohort, not just those in our teams.

It was expensive. Though we were being paid, in comparison to other internships in the same area, they pay wasn't that high and buying food in the local shops was expensive so I often brought lunch for example. Drinks were expensive too which also put me off going out and socialising sometimes. However the cafe in the office did do free hot drinks at certain times to promote agile working if you stayed in to drink them, so that was really helpful from a budgeting perspective.

It was good. I didn't go out too often however would often go for a more casual drink in the pub/bar after work. When I did go out, either with the other interns or with my team members, I had a really great time. Drinks were quite expensive though so I couldn't buy too many.