GDP Intern Review

I enjoyed my internship at Willis Towers Watson and would recommend it to my peers who are interested in discovering relatively unknown career paths. (Re)Insurance broking and risk consulting is not what I thought it would be, and if more people knew what it was like, they'd be more interested. I enjoyed the things I was doing with my team, the meetings I was attending and the topics I was learning. The schedule and structure worked well, with some fantastic socials like volunteering in a community garden, insightful lunch and learns and seminars from senior members of the business, and cocktail making. The working balance was also good, with the Dragons' Den presentations being rewarding on top of the work we contributed to real-world business issues.

I felt valued as part of the team, being allowed to contribute to actual business. Everyone was helpful and had time for me - my team buddy and one of the new joiners were both inclusive and helped me settle. I also met lots of people beyond my team, who all were welcoming and helpful. There was never a moment I was made to feel inferior, but was always invested in.

My senior mentor on the scheme was fantastic! He listened to my thoughts and answered my questions, giving advice and insight whenever I needed it. He was always available, always helpful and made it crystal clear to me that he was there to guide me. His support was so valuable. Our project support for the group project was also great, balancing out his guidance of where our project should go with also giving us freedom to steer it where we saw fit. I would have liked my line manager to give me more support and guidance day in and day out. She's not a bad manager by any means, helping point out some areas for me to improve, it's just that our styles are different. Nevertheless, that did not hinder our relationship, which was good the whole way.

The balance was as good as it could be. Since it was the summer months, it is very slow in Reinsurance for the last few weeks so there wasn't very much to do for me. I had completed most of my objectives, and asked around for work but couldn't get my hands on all too much even when I asked for it. Thus, I would have loved to have done more for my team, but such is the nature of the business. The group project, however, was lots of work and balance out the work, therefore giving a good balance for work, meaning I normally had something to do.

I was given a good amount of responsibility during the internship. My team gave me responsibility through the real-life projects they gave me, as it meant getting numbers and analysis dead right. My group project also gave me responsibility in terms of defining scope for the project, and making sure the team was working together and contributing. I would have liked a bit more responsibility with more projects and managing some things for my boss.

I gained so much learning about reinsurance, what the nature of risk management and resilience is, and how interlinked the financial world is. I gained so many technical and analytical skills that will serve me well in careers down this sector, i.e. my Excel skills improved, I learnt to use iFM, an online in-house pricing platform etc. I also gained lots of other qualitative skills, like learning to ask the right questions, prioritising well, and managing expectations. I gained valuable skills for life.

The general atmosphere was good in the office. Since it was the summer time, it was not tense at all, with a good environment to be working in. Everyone I spoke to was welcoming, and happy to help. I enjoyed the mix of cultures with the German, Nordic, and UK teams, and the cat modellers too. The humour was also flowing well.

The structure for the programme overall was good, with many socials and learning experiences for us. Our group project was also well structured and we knew what deadlines we were working towards. My internship within Re was a little bit disorganised, sometimes changing weekly, but still good. I work well with good structure, and would have liked my objectives and projects for my team to be better defined from the start.

Willis Towers Watson invested into me plenty. The lunch and learns developed my general view of the company, the financial sector, and how this sector, including WTW, is leading the change for the future. The reinsurance team made sure to educate me on what reinsurance is and all the complexities that come with it. We were lucky to be exposed to so much learning and be able to glean from. I was happy with the investment.

Future employment prospects are very appealing because there is so much opportunity within the company. The Graduate Development Programme will allow for rotation, and thus seeing different perspectives within the company. While I enjoyed reinsurance, I want to try my hand at something different, and WTW offers lots of this.

The social scene amongst fellow interns was good. Aside from the internship organised events, we hung out at lunches and after work, and have made some friends from the programme. Being on a programme with nice people whose company you enjoy is what you want, but not what you always get. We were a good group.

London is an expensive city, so obviously this was a high cost. Luckily, as I live here, I knew this already.

Not bad, although that's not a factor for me.

Yes, there absolutely were. I got involved playing football with colleagues here which was so much fun.