Underwriting Summer Intern Review

I enjoyed learning about a new industry of which I had no prior knowledge about before this placement, particularly because Insurance is relevant to the lives of the population at large. Working in such a dynamic and supportive office in which everyone wants you to succeed was also enjoyable.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues as a new member of the team with a fresh interest, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn, and therefore a means of reminding the team of the interesting and valuable nature of their own roles. However, I did not feel hugely valued in terms of contribution to the business in general. I did not feel I was given the opportunity to get involved in many projects and tasks which truly made a difference to the business as a whole.

I was given great support and guidance by my line manager who was more than willing to answer any questions I had on new tasks. However, I was not given much guidance on what was expected of me in terms of my own performance and contribution over the 9 weeks.

Although there were was not a great deal of variety among the tasks I was given, I felt there was always something I could be getting on with. During the days I spent shadowing people in different departments I was kept very busy.

I was given very little responsibility other than for myself and my own personal development and hence didn't feel I was able to make as much of an impact on the business as I would have had hoped to.

I have learnt a lot about myself and the way a large business runs and this will stand me in incredibly good stead in the future by enabling me to identify my own strengths and weaknesses and the type of company I want to work for - one with a culture parallel to Allianz.

The atmosphere was exceptional. Everyone was incredibly friendly, welcoming and supportive and more than willing to help and answer questions.

The weekly organisation of the placement was great but in terms of overall structure it felt disjointed.

I was given ample opportunity to explore the departments that I was interested in and also benefited greatly from the two peer development days during the placement.

The culture is very appealing, the types of roles available are less so.

There was a very good social scene and much opportunity to get involved in extra-curricular activity such as pub quizzes etc.