Intern - Investment Consultant Review

The day to day work was challenging, however, the work was fulfilling and the general office environment was brilliant. The induction events and the social impact projects where we would network with other interns was especially enjoyable. I would definitely recommend this internship to anyone interested in either Retirement and Investment or simply finance in general as the experience was so valuable.

The Bristol investment team were all very encouraging and supportive. Right from the first day, they were all very engaging and conversing. Any work I did on behalf of my colleagues or with my colleagues felt as though it made a difference and they were all genuinely appreciative of my contribution.

At the beginning of the internship I set Goals with my manager and we had weekly updates on my progress towards these goals, who also would assist me in meeting these goals. During my time here my line manager was on annual leave for two weeks, which on a 9-week internship is quite substantial, however, I was seamlessly given a new manager for the period where all of the support was continued.

Since it was a summer internship holidays were rife around the office and in a consultant and client-facing role this resulted in the general environment being a bit quieter. I had many days with little to do, however, with the Social Impact Project set by the graduates' team there was always something I could be doing at least in the background.

From the outset there was no cliche making of teas and coffees, rather I was given real work that I could see was being used and helping the consultants on my team as they worked with clients. Of course, there was no direct client exposure due to my lack of experience however most of the tasks I was given were similar to those that a graduate would be doing.

The general economics background knowledge I gained from this internship was invaluable. Many of my degree modules taught different concepts, however with the exposure, I gained from this, I could see in real life how they were being applied. As a result, my understanding of general economics is much better as a result and of course, my understanding of Retirement and Investment is much greater too. In terms of direct skill development, my 'soft skills' are of a completely different standard now and I confidently feel with the progression I made at this internship I could walk into any interview and give myself a real chance at getting the job.

Due to an upcoming downsize in office, many people worked from home meaning around 60% of the desks were empty most days. However, there is usually always a good amount of chat and banter within the team.

There is a clear system in place at Aon and you can tell the internship programme is an integral part of the progression culture here. From the induction to the CSR project to the day to day work, the set up is second to none.

There was a good amount of goal setting and tracking to meet these goals. I was lucky enough to have meetings with people from across the business some of whom were very senior as this really extended my knowledge of the industry and company.

There is a clear progression line from intern to senior consultants. my manger and many of the people on the team all began as interns and were all at varying levels on a clear progression ladder.

Definitely, at the induction, all the interns get along really well and many of whom I will continue to be friends with. In my office, we all socialised outside of work frequently and got along very well.

I was living at home so cannot really tell on the cost of living but bristol has a great social environment

Very lively and that is why it is renowned as a popular Student city

A good amount of social activities and some charity events