Actuarial Consulting Review

Doing calculations such as transfer values for various members of different schemes with different requirements, shadowing colleagues on more complex tasks, editing newsletters/letters for trustees and pension scheme members, completing training on specific actuarial calculations and using excel for data manipulation and running models.

At the forefront the main skill I developed was working with Excel, an extremely essential skill for actuarial work. I have also gained experience working in a professional industry developing skills in communication, professional relationships and team-work. Personally, I have also become more confident in my abilities.

In this industry every piece of work that you complete must go to a more senior colleague to be checked and in some case signed off. Because of this I was able to complete various tasks ranging in difficulty as they would always be checked off by someone with more knowledge. As I was only here for 9 weeks I didn't get assigned to specific clients, however this meant exposure to many different clients.

Aon have a very good support system for everyone ranging from interns and grads to those who have been with them for 5+ years. For myself as an intern I had a buddy, who was a grad as of last year, and also a line manager. Aside from this, everyone was willing to help me and answer my questions on anything.

The general atmosphere was extremely welcoming; on my second week my buddy arranged a lunch for everyone so that I got the opportunity to meet the majority of the team. We have also had a team-building night whilst I was here. During my 9 weeks I have also been working on a project in creating a video and presentation on the business resource group for pride alliance. Through this I have been able to speak to lots of people who are great advocates for diversity and inclusion.

Overall I have very much enjoyed my 9 weeks with the company, and would highly recommend partaking in an internship here at Aon. Before I joined I didn't have any expectations as I had never worked in a professional industry before, the only thing that concerned me was that people in finance are usually stereo-typed as not being friendly - working here over the Summer has most definitely proved this stereo-type wrong!

Yes

The application, assessment center and interview process is very overwhelming especially if you have never done anything like this before, which I hadn't! My best advice is the one thing I was told over and over by many people whilst applying is to just be yourself - don't pretend to be completely clued up on everything, be openly honest that you don't know a lot but that you are prepared to learn. Always do some research on the job first thought, don't go in completely clueless! Try finding someone on linkedin who has done an internship with Aon before or is on the grad scheme; ask them questions about working life, everyone is always willing to answer your questions.