Actuarial Trainee Internship Review

The work was mostly varied and interesting, although some tasks could get monotonous. My colleagues were friendly and helpful and made me feel very welcome.

My colleagues seemed to appreciate the work I was doing and made an effort to make me feel welcome.

I had a few meetings with my team leader to discuss my progress and she often asked how I was getting on.

Sometimes I found I had too much work, however mostly found I could have done with a bit more work. I always had my group presentation to work on though so was never left with nothing to do.

I was given a fair bit of responsibility - I was asked to calculate transfer values and produce memos which were to be sent out to colleagues in other offices as well as clients. This work was always checked by two people before going out, but the same is true of other people who have been working here for a while now.

I have gained a much better understanding of the pensions industry as well as the financial world in general.

The atmosphere in my office was great. People knew how to work hard but also how to relax now and again. Every week we would have "Friday Fun" where the different teams would compete in various competitions. This enabled me to get to know my colleagues better and improved our team working abilities.

Upon starting in the Birmingham office I was given a folder with all the important information I would need. It include training materials on different aspects of the job as well as contact numbers for people, a seating plan and a timetable of the important aspects of my internship, such as meetings and training courses.

They spent time training me on different thing I would need to be doing, much of the first week involved learning about various aspects of Mercer as well as the pensions industry. However there were no official training sessions and some of the training wasn't very well explained.

I would be happy to have a job with Mercer in the future, however I do not have my heart set on it!

We often went out for a pub lunch on a Friday, and had a few evening social, including a summer party and a trip to play crazy golf!

I commuted from home and so I didn't get a full idea of the costs. However what I did see seemed reasonable.

Again as I commuted I didn't really get to experience the nightline. The few occasions I went out for drinks after work were very enjoyable and there seems to be a vibrant nightlife.

As mentioned before there were several after work socials including mini golf, a summer party and a colleagues leaving do.