Intern Review

I wouldn’t say the work itself was the most enjoyable thing in the world, although this is to be expected as an inexperienced intern – there was variety. However, the internship gives the opportunity to work alongside a charity, aiding them in fundraising activities and more. I found this aspect particularly enjoyable as we had to work as a team and dedicate a half a day a week to this activity. There was also the issue of us being in different offices which we had to overcome. We did get to visit Lloyds a few times to see how business is conducted over there which was quite interesting to see.

The first thing that stuck me was how kind people here are, always holding doors and offering others entry to the lift first. It is relatively easy to network (depending on how busy people are) and moreover it seems quite easy to network and move around the business. Even though there was often a lot of work to complete in a short amount of time, the industry seems a lot more relaxed than most (*cough* banking) and management seem down to earth and willing to speak to you even if you are ‘only an intern’. I have noticed that the social aspect does wildly differ among teams, which is good as it can suit a lot of people’s personalities.

Everyone was very happy to help with anything and my manager was always open so if there were any other areas of the business I was interested in, I could always say.

The work I was doing depended on another team. Most of the time there was a lot of work to do with would take the whole week to complete and other days there was none. However, there was always work to do with regards to the charity element of the internship, so I would say that I was never without work until the very last week when everything had been completed. Even then, there were things other interns were doing that I could help with.

I wasn’t given that much responsibility with work, although I did have a lot of responsibility with regards to the charity and the work I did for them. We had to organise events, handle money and sort the paying in process.

Some of the things I learnt will definitely help me with regards to my degree next year. Moreover, it has given me some ideas that I can base my dissertation around, which helps a lot. I have definitely developed skills such as team work and organisational as there were many challenges with each of these that I had to overcome, therefore strengthening them. The internship also provided a good opportunity to practice presenting in front of a large audience, as we had to do go over what we had done with our charities, the end in front of our cohort.

The general atmosphere in the office seemed to peter out as the week progressed. On Mondays there were a lot of people in the office with a lot of work to do and it was hard to get desks. However, by Fridays there was hardly anyone in as most people worked from home.

There wasn’t that much structure to the actual work, however there was with regards to the charity project as we had strict deadlines to submit weekly reports and summaries of how we were getting on and how we had progressed since the previous week. We also set ourselves some deadlines to help organise work.

In terms of personal training and development, I feel that the company invested a lot of their efforts in us. We had to complete compliance modules to develop our understanding during the first few weeks. We had weekly meetings where we could hear from departments and also develop or understanding of the company in addition to the other areas of business Aon conducts.

They have a lot of different business areas to suit most disciplines - which seem quite easy to manoeuvre into and around. The company has a lot of good values that actually seem to materialise, they are not solely focused on making money, and do a lot for the community as well.

The interns did try to go out for weekly drinks but not always together due to schedules and such. Many teams also do this and some go out more often than others. There are also different events with underwriters and clients which are subsidised as well, so you don’t have to pay!

Cost of living in London can be difficult if you don’t live here, and train fares aren’t much better – even with a student discount. Drinks are expensive however, living in London I guess you get used to the pain.

There are places everywhere you turn your head, but they are not cheap.

Yes, there are quite a few places to do things around the office!