Intern Review

Overall, this internship has been extremely enjoyable. It was well managed and structured, with adequate workloads meaning I gained as much experience from the learning opportunities this naturally created. The general atmosphere and colleagues I was working with was very healthy, which in turn meant I felt like one of the team and ensured I was able to easily settle in. The work itself was also the right balance of being rewarding whilst challenging, and ensured that I was able to showcase my skills and abilities.

Whilst this can be difficult for an intern, this internship ensured that interns are valued by their colleagues. This was done through providing interns with important work that other colleagues relied on, which created value to the work itself, making myself as an intern feel valued by contributing effectively to the teams day to day operations, and creating pieces of work that colleagues can use in the future.

I was provided with sufficient support and guidance by the management and supervisors in this internship. The use of a ‘Buddy’ and a manager meant that when one was away (as often happens due to work commitments) there was always someone to speak to if I had any questions or was seeking guidance related to work for example. At the beginning of the internship your goals and work are clearly set out, meaning as an intern, you have a clear view of what you are doing, and who to ask or speak to if you have any concerns. A weekly one on one meeting also ensured that I could receive any feedback or if I had to make any improvements if necessary, further aiding my development.

The mixture of work I was given ensured that I was busy on a daily basis. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project given to all interns ensured that if I ever had spare time during the day where I had completed work for my manager, I was able to do important work for the CSR group. Outside of the CSR, my manager and Buddy provided me with various tasks ranging from the creation of Excel databases, report writing, and research into potential clients to ensure I not only had a good mixture of work, but that I always had important work to do and was therefore busy throughout the internship.

During the placement, I was given adequate responsibility to match my position as intern. This meant that the work I was given was important to not only myself in my learning and development, but also other members of my team who were relying on it for their own work. This meant the work I created had to match the standards and functions they were expected to fulfil. I was provided with work which after the internship, my team would use regularly in their daily routine, thus illustrating how the work I was given provided a large amount of responsibility in itself.

One of the key skills the internship provided me with in terms of assisting my degree was improved presentation skills. At the end of the CSR project, as a team we had to present to a room of over 50 interns, managers and senior Aon employees. This helped me develop my presentation skills, which is an important part of my History and Politics degree. Moreover, the internship improved my teamwork and interpersonal skills, as you are constantly adapting to working with different teams and different people on different projects. This enabled me to improve my ability to lead and work within a team, as well as improve my ability to interact with a variety of people to achieve a common goal. Again, this is clearly applicable to not only my degree studies, but also life outside of work. Finally, the internship allowed me to develop new skills which outside of my degree, I may not have had to opportunity to do. The use of Excel databases, corporate report writing and interaction with clients were all skills I developed through the training I received on this internship. I feel these are all valuable skills which could be applicable to almost any job role and will therefore assist me beyond my degree studies.

The atmosphere in my office was both friendly and effective. Members within my team were approachable and talkative, meaning it was easy to interact with different parts of the office to aid my learning and development. Whilst the atmosphere was also that of working hard when work needed to be done, it struck a good balance of working hard with interacting with one another to improve my ability to work in the team.

The internship overall was extremely well organised. Throughout my time here, I was fully aware of what I was doing and what was expected of me. Clear goals were set out by my manager and me to structure the internship. The training days were also well organised, which provided me with a good base from which to build upon with the rest my time at Aon. Thanks to this organisation, I was also fully aware of different social events and Lunch and Learn sessions which were vital to developing my understanding of Aon.

Aon invested in the interns as a whole by holding weekly Lunch and Learn sessions. Within these, senior Aon employees would give presentations and information regarding a variety of things, such as health benefits, future prospects and the different industries Aon is involved in. This provided personal training and development opportunities outside of your regular day to day activities within your set teams, and provided us with an ability to interact with senior members of staff. Moreover, within my team, numerous colleagues took time out of their busy schedules to help educate me about the Insurance and Reinsurance market and how I can effectively contribute to the team now and in the future.

Future employment prospects are extremely appealing within Aon. The graduate scheme has a competitive starting salary, whilst Aon itself offers unique learning and development opportunities, due to the scope and size of the business itself. The graduate scheme provides an opportunity to rotate through different teams and parts of Aon, which in itself will allow you to focus on a career that not only suits you, but will allow you to be as effective for Aon as possible.

There was an extremely good social scene with both other interns and my colleagues. All the interns for example would meet regularly after work on Thursday nights to socialise, whilst the canteen and the surrounding area in general provided adequate facilities to socialise with other interns. This was also the case with my colleagues, where we would go out for lunches to get to know one another, as well as attend the various event nights that Aon had throughout my time here. These included charity nights, horse racing nights and pub quizzes, all of which allowed you to interact and socialise with your fellow interns and colleagues.

The cost of socialising was as to be expected in this area of London-expensive. Naturally, drinks and food are pricey meaning if you do socialise regularly the cost will start to add up. However, this can be overcome by choosing where you decide to live. By deciding early, you will be able to pick an area that is not too expensive but is also not too far away from the building itself, meaning you can almost use this to subsidise your desire to socialise.

The nightlife in this area for work was also extremely attractive. There were a variety of bars, pubs and restaurants that we as interns could attend without a great distance to travel and suited those who both lived inside and outside of London. If these were not your scene, there were also a range of restaurants and places to eat which meant that all interns, no matter their social circle, were able to find somewhere to interact with their colleagues and other interns,

There were some opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. These varied from team to team, however within my team I was able to get involved in things like fantasy football and a football pyramid game, where colleagues could compete with one another for the highest scores based on football results. Moreover, I was regularly invited to and social events the team was having outside of normal working hours. The CSR project also meant that in a team with other interns, I had the opportunity to work with a charity on exciting projects that allowed me to socialise with other interns. For example, one task was to raise money for the charity, which allowed us to travel across London as a team on weekends to look for ways to achieve this.