Actuarial Intern Review

The office were very welcoming and made an effort to make me and the other interns feel as comfortable as possible. The 9 weeks flew by and I was kept busy the whole time. The Corporate Social Responsibility Project (CSR) was a great way to get to know the other interns across all the other offices.

I was given a wide variety of work from the very start. It felt like the people I worked with were glad to have the help and did not get annoyed when I asked questions. The work that I did seemed to be actually useful to the company and most colleagues took the time to explain the wider impact of what I was doing.

When I first arrived I was paired up with a "Buddy" from the graduate scheme, she helped me to settle in and answered my day to day questions about the job. Every fortnight I would have a meeting with my manager where we would discuss: how I was finding the internship, whether I was being kept busy enough and feedback from the people who I had worked with. This helped me to get a feel for how I was doing throughout the 9 weeks.

My workload varied a bit, but most of the time I had something to work on, and I never had to stay past 5:30pm. If I was bored and had nothing to do, a quick email round the office letting people know I was free would usually have people giving me work pretty quickly. I also had the CSR project to work on whenever I didn't have much technical work to do, especially in the first couple of weeks. Some days were pretty quiet though, but this might be due to it being a quiet time of year.

I was expected to get on with the work that I had been given on my own, asking questions if and when I needed to. There were also occasions during the internship where the responsibility of calling admin to ask questions and get data fell to me. The CSR project was another quite large responsibility, we (a team of 8 interns) were working completely on our own with Dementia UK to create a corporate fundraising product.

I have definitely developed my interpersonal and communication skills, as well as my ability to work in an office environment. This will probably help me in the workplace once I leave uni. However the technical actuarial work will only assist me if I were to pursue a career in the area, they will definitely not assist me in my degree studies.

Everyone in the office was very friendly and welcoming. There were a few office socials during the 9 weeks, as well as a couple of team lunches etc. Towards the end of the internship I was even invited to play 5-a-side football and cricket after work with a few of my colleagues. This was great fun and a good way to get to know the people from the office in a less formal setting. Sometimes it felt a bit quiet, but this is to be expected with a regional office.

Very well organised, with a clear structure that was outlined at the beginning. Aon have clearly had many interns come through in previous years and have a lot of experience in running a successful internship. It all ran very smoothly and I knew what I was working towards the whole time.

Before starting the internship we all spent 3 days in the Chelmsford office where we had induction training. I attended workshops in things like: project management, presentation skills and business communication as well as a whole day spent learning in detail about what my role as an actuarial intern would be over the 9 weeks. Every wednesday during the 9 weeks the company arranged "Lunch and Learn" webinars where we attended sessions on topics such as Divesity and Inclusion and the Future of Aon.

Employment prospects with Aon are very appealing, it was on the whole a great experience and it has given me a good taste of what it would be like to work for them. It seems like a great place to work and if they were to offer me a place on the graduate scheme for next year, I would probably accept it.

During the induction training we had 2 nights where an open bar and food had been laid on by Aon, this was a great opportunity to relax and get to know the other interns early on in the internship. For the most part of the internship I did not have much of an opportunity to socialize with the other interns, as they were mainly based in London and I was out in Epson. At the end of the 9 weeks we had a CSR project presentation day after which we had a great social provided by Aon in the London office.

I was lucky enough to be able to live at home with my parents for the internship so cost of living was not too expensive. However, I understand that rent is expensive near to the office. Drinks prices were expensive, but we didn't go to the pub or go out all the time so it was definitely manageable.

Very poor. There were only really a few pubs around. Though London is a 30 minute train away if you wanted to go somewhere with a bit more choice. There was an opportunity to go out in London at the end of the internship.

Yes, I had a variety of different opportunities. As well as the previously mentioned socials, I had the chance to play rounders with the office, play cricket and the local nets and play 5-a-side after work. Other interns that I met during the 9 weeks traveled up to Manchester for the Aon 5-a-side tournament one weekend, this sounded like a great opportunity.