Intern Review

I really enjoyed my virtual internship experience! I didn't expect to feel as involved and part of the team as I did, considering I wasn't able to meet anyone face to face, but it was a good learning and developmental experience. I would highly recommend the experience to any student, especially those looking to go into the actuarial profession. I found being surrounded my like-minded individuals who are at all different stages of the profession/exams really helps to keep you motivated and for any help you'd need.

As an intern, I was given a project to work on. This automatically gives you a chance to make a valuable contribution to the work that the team does. There were a lot of people in the team who made me feel welcome and put the time and effort in to make me feel welcome - even virtually. The firm generally has a very friendly atmosphere, but I think feelng valued is a two-way thing - as much as your team may make an effort to make you feel valued, you have to put in the same effort back, if not more, to make sure you're getting the most out of your experience and making a valuable contribution.

I was given a peoples manager who I had catchups with twice a week to make sure I was doing okay and to answer any questions I may have had. Additionally, I was assigned a work manager, who was working on my project with me. Both were very supportive in terms of answering any questions I had and supporting me through my time there. However, everyone that I had spoken to was more than happy to offer any help or support, and it felt like they want you to succeed. There were times where I felt more guidance would have been nice, for example when giving the end of internship presentation, it was quite vague as to what we were meant to include in this presentation. However, this could also be a good thing.

I felt as though I learnt a lot during my virtual internship. A lot of the work is excel-based, so I got to learn lots of excel formulae and tricks which I found really interesting since these things would be used in the job regularly. On top of this we were given training sessions on what the team does and on some of the technical stuff. This would definitely help if you have any finance-related modules at uni!

The internship was well structed, given it was virtual. At the beginning we were given training and introductions to the team and what they do. We were then given our main project to work on throughout our internship and then at the end of our internship, we were asked to give a presentation on our projects. Overall, I found the internship well structured, and better than I expected given it was all online. If your project work gets quiet, you can support others with their work.

I found the firm and team to be very friendly and supportive. Many of the team made sure to introduce themselves and make me feel welcome. Everyone was also very open to answering any questions and providing support. I'm sure it would've been better being in the office, but I still enjoyed the experience and it's definitely somewhere I'd like to work in the future. Overall it was a really good experience and I'd recommend it.

We had training sessions towards the beginning of our internship for the necessary things and to learn more about the firm, the team, and what they do. These were good but sometimes quite rushed and it's a lot of information and jargon to be taking in all at once. However, over the course of the internship, things start to sink in and you learn as you go. You're given a project to work on for your development and you van get involved in a lot of things for your own development.

Doing things virtually, you can only get a sense of working with the firm full time to a certain extent. You definitely get a feel for the friendly culture, but I think this would be elevated when in an office. However, working from home could be the new norm, so if it is then the virtual internship provides a great experience for understanding what it would be like in the full time role with the firm. You're able to get involved in a lot of the work to understand what you'd be doing full time as well.

Doing things virtually, you definitely get a feel for the friendly culture, but I think this would be elevated when in an office. It's actually much harder to keep communication going and build those rapports with your colleagues when working virtually, but the fact that I still felt very welcome and supported shows the great company culture that Hymans have. Everything we do, we want to deliver the best for the client which is great.

I was pretty certain that this was the career path I wanted to follow, but the internship solidified it for me even more. I really enjoyed the work I did, and I was able to able to get exposure to more contemporary issues in the actuarial profession, which I found really exciting and interesting. It definitely gives you a feel of what you'd like to be doing in the future, whether it's this career or not - it's still valuable to know.

The virtual internship was paid. I did not have any expenses since I was doing everything from home so I cant comment on that. The firm is very supportive so I wouldn't be surprised if you would be reimbursed for travel expenses, for example, if you were to be commuting into the office. It would be worth asking or finding out from someone who has done the internship in the actual office and had expenses to reimburse.

During my time with the firm, there were definitely chances to network and meet with other employees in your team. We were also able to meet a few other outside of your team through meetings that were set up. Overall, when doing the internship virtually, we didn't have much of a reason to meet with others outside of the team, including the other interns. I didn't get to talk to the other interns much, who you'd regularly be seeing in the office.

The socials in the LFS team were great fun! We have a weekly game and weekly quiz every Friday, on top on monthly socials. Many team members get involved and have a good laugh. It's great to create more of a relaxed atmosphere between colleagues in your team. In terms of networking events, I didn't have the chance to go to any but I know the firm does have regular networking event that they organise and others they attend.

Yes, it's really easy to chat to anyone and get to know them and their activities/interests outside of work. When the interns started, we were asked to give short introductions which included us sharing our interests/activities outside of work, which then leads onto colleagues telling you their interests/activities. This defo helps to build relationships with your colleagues and get to know them better, which then creates a much nicer environment to work in where you feel more comfortable with your team members.

I would definitely recommend this experience to a friend - especially anyone who is interested in the actuarial career. being surrounded by like-minded people who are at all different stages of their careers/exams. The actuarial exams are tough but being surrounded by people who are happy to support and give advice would really make a difference - even before you start! I really enjoyed my experience and would recommend it to anyone interested in the actuarial career.