Aon summer intern Review

I would have enjoyed it more if it was in person because we would have been able to talk to others around the office during the day. But, in terms of working from home i enjoyed it as much as i could have as it was working from home. The work that i was completing as part of my team wasn't the most enjoyable as it was a little bit repetitive however the team made an extra effort to vary our work by setting up meeting with others also.

I felt very valued. We had talks from senior leaders such as [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] the CEO of Aon. A lot of other companies had their internships cancelled however it was clear Aon was dedicated to developing young talent as they were able to adjust their internship to make it virtual. Throughout the internship we were told continuously that we were important to the firm. In my own team it was abundantly clear how valuable we were as we were given feedback on multiple occasions that the project wouldnt have gotten as far as it did without the help from the interns.

I had weekly meetings with my entire team including my manager to talk about the work the team has been getting on with. In addition to this i also had another weekly meeting with my two 'buddies' who also worked on my team to speak about the specific work i had been doing during that week and also as a general informal catch up. If i ever needed any help i knew that i could ask pretty much anyone in the company and they would be happy to help.

I was project manager of my CSR project team, which was a group of fellow interns working across different divisions at Aon. I feel like I have developed my leadership skills further throughout this experience. I have also have developed the ability to be handed a brief, dissect it and then delegate and organised tasks effectively and efficiently to get the job done in the best way possible. This will help me with my degree as my organisational skills have developed. The leadership skills will be invaluable to me throughout my career.

It was very well structured. In the first week we had a 4-day induction, the first 2 days being with all of the interns gaining a general introduction to each other as well as the firm. The 3rd and 4th day the group was split up into their respective streams for a technical induction. This was very well set up and executed. The talks arranged for us were very insightful and helpful as well. We got to speak to many senior leaders across the firm as well as gain an introduction to different areas of the firm.

The general atmosphere was incredibly friendly. Everyone was so willing to help, from the interns to the colleagues at Aon. Anytime i wanted to learn about a different business sector at Aon, all i had to do was email someone working there and they were always willing to take time out of their day to speak to me and answer any questions that i had. My manager was also very nice and willing to answer questions and provided a detailed explanation of the future of my team which was very interesting.

I think just by the company making the incredible effort to move this internship online instead of cancelling it shows their effort and dedication to nurture and develop young talent. They ensured that we had a variety of work, in terms of doing work for our team and managing our corporate social responsibility projects with the other interns. They ensured we had weekly talks that were full of learning opportunities and provided us with an excellent platform to succeed in our future careers.

I think it was difficult to convey this properly as the experience was virtual. If i was lucky enough to have a full time role at this firm then i would be of course working in the office (hopefully) and meeting clients and working with people face to face so it would be different. However, I did understand a lot more about the industry in general through this internship and i understood the culture of the firm a lot more, such as through things like their philosophies for success.

We learnt a lot about how Aon go about encouraging their employees to perform the best that they can. We learnt more about the Willis merger as well of course which was very interesting and we were assured the company cultures are similar so it wouldn't change significantly after the merger. We learnt about specific Aon policies that are put in place also throughout their divisions and we were encouraged to adopt these in our work.

It was very valuable. I was able to get a good understanding of a range of the divisions that Aon has. I was also able to understand my team well as well as my specific division. In terms of future career it has definitely helped me as insurance is something that is of great interest to me after completing this internship. The work i was doing in my team wasn't necessarily completely reflective of the work i would be doing as a graduate however.

I was paid a salary for this internship. I also attended an event before this internship which was an introduction into insurance. We were not paid for attending this because it was voluntary and it was for the sake of our own learning opportunities. It was a great experience and we were also reimbursed for any travel expenses for this event. We were paid once monthly for our salary. The salary was a fair amount in my opinion.

There was definitely a lot of opportunities to partake in networking with members all across the firm. I personally messaged a large number of employees across all different divisions of the firm such as the retirement, investment, cyber and broking divisions of the firm. The firm themselves arranged multiple talks a week with different members of the firm, including senior leaders. We could also follow up with these members and in my experience they were all incredibly willing to and did actually meet with myself on a one on one basis.

The social events were limited as the experience was virtual. However, towards the end of the internship as lock down measures eased, people were open to meeting in person to get to know each other better. However, we were given the opportunity to partake in a pub quiz right at the beginning of our internship as a social event and a chance to get to know each other as interns more. We were also given the chance to participate in a virtual trivia quiz night with interns across the world.

yes we had the opportunity to find out about other activities employees can get involved in outside of their working life. There seems to be a lot of social events. Aon i believe had yoga running on Monday morning before work for example. A lot of the graduates had the opportunity to get involved in corporate social responsibility projects also. A lot of the graduates i spoke to said they frequently used to meet outside of work.

Yes i would definitely recommend this experience to a friend because i think it was an invaluable learning experience for me myself. Everyone was so lovely and so willing to help which i understand to be quite rare in such a big and successful firm. It seems like a great place to work for, they seem to really strive to develop young talent and if you are willing to work hard then they seem to be willing to give you opportunities.