Actuarial Intern Review

I have very much enjoyed my time on my internship. I have been given a good variety of work, which has opened my eyes to what it's like working at Aon and as a Actuary in Pensions. I've enjoyed meeting all the interns (in the office and all across the UK!) and everyone in my office.

Throughout the 9 weeks I have spent at Aon I have felt welcomed by my colleagues - whether that be mean they just made the effort to have a chat to me or even that they got me involved in client teams. When working with colleagues in client teams, I very much felt needed and that people were counting on me to do the work I've been given.

All interns are given a "Buddy" and a Manager. Your Buddy is usually a recent graduate - this person is the one you can ask anything to, which is great as I know personally I ask a lot of silly questions that I'd rather ask someone around the same age as myself rather than someone senior. My manager was around 5 years older than myself, and even though he was my manager, he was very friendly and helpful!

At the start of the internship I struggled for work. This was probably because colleagues are very busy and if they passed me on work, they'd have to explain it to me too - it's probably just easier to do it themselves. However, after about 4 weeks of being in the office, this definitely changed, as people would be passing me all sorts of different work (likely to be because I was becoming a bit more trusted to do some tasks). Towards the end of the internship, I was getting involved in a variety of different long running projects for several clients, some nights staying in the office late.

I think I was given the perfect amount of responsibility - maybe similar to what a new graduate would experience. I was given responsibilities such as to complete calculations, tasks or draft emails, but these all went through a checking process before being signed off (i.e. I was allowed to get involved in proper work, but someone would always check your work to make sure you're doing it right)

During my time at Aon, I have definitely become more organised as I have had to keep on top of my deadlines - this will help me manage my time effectively in the future. I think having regular contact with all levels of colleagues in the office has increased my confidence. However, I don't think the calculations I've done will help me with my actual degree - they were more based around intricate number work, rather than any theory I've learnt at uni.

The office felt very positive and welcoming, people were generally willing to chat to you. At all the office meetings I attended, colleagues were very positive about the firm and it's future, which is nice to hear. Colleagues get involved in a lot of charity fundraising, such as office bake sales, collections and raffles

Very well set up, we received regular emails from the Early careers team with next steps and other information as and when we needed it. Also, we all knew who, in the Early Careers team, to contact if we needed any details. If we needed accommodation when not in our local offices, hotels were already booked for us!

We had technical training at the star of our internship, which was all funded by Aon - including meals and hotel accommodation (and night time social events!) Aon also let us complete a CSR project (charity project) with a group of 8 interns from different steams and offices and let us have half a day per week to complete this - this helped to develop project management, presentational and team working skills.

I would very much like to be offered future employment within Aon.

There is a designated "Social Team" in the office and there have been a few social events organised during my time here, involving different groups of colleagues. Also, the interns have done quite a few things together just off our own backs - such as meals together, a few cocktails or just a coffee.

I personally lived with family so very cheap for me. However, knowing friends who go to uni locally and hence rent houses in the city, the rent is a lot cheaper here than say London or Edinburgh. It was very cheap for me to actually get to work daily as I just got the bus - which drops you off about 15 mins from the office.

There was a wide variety of different Nightlife options. This included a vast array of restaurants, bars and night clubs - all of which was a reasonable walk from the office. Although I never really experienced a lot of the Nightlife whilst on my internship, it was there if I wanted to.

I think the CSR charity project helped the interns to get involved in activities outside work. For example, we hosted a pub quiz and a raffle for the office. Also, as part of Aon's "Empowering Communities" project, the interns got involved in fundraising for the Alzheimer's Society by bag packing at a local super market.