Actuarial and Benefits Summer Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship at Hymans Robertson. I feel that I've learnt a lot about the nature of an actuarial career, and have gained good experience. I am now certain that this is the career for me!

I was made to feel part of the team immediately. Everybody here is extremely friendly, and has five or ten minutes for a chat or to answer some questions. I've really enjoyed the productive, warm working atmosphere in the offices.

I was assigned an "internship buddy" who took me through various pieces of work. I also had an "internship lead" who oversaw the whole internship, and I could go to her with any issues. I felt that I had lots of support with work tasks given to me; everyone took the time to explain not just the work, but also background information and context, making the learning experience very valuable.

I found that on the whole I was very busy! Whenever I experienced a lull in workload, I would simply ask for more work, or ask if there were other projects that I could get involved in, and this enabled me to keep constantly busy.

I was very impressed that I was allowed to send out advice and documents with my name on them, even to external clients. I enjoyed this feeling of responsibility; it just made me more keen to get to the right answer and to do the work well.

I've learnt and developed a lot of work place skills. Some of these are transferable to my degree, for example I am sure that many of the new Excel skills I have learnt will come in handy back at University. Some of the consultancy skills I have learnt are extremely valuable at work, but do not come into practise at university. However they are very important life-skills in my opinion, and will stand me in good stead in my future career.

The atmosphere in the offices was extremely friendly. Everybody has five or ten minutes for a chat, or to answer questions. I enjoy the fact that it seems to be a fairly relaxed work place, with events like Dress Down Fridays and Away Days in each office. At the same time, they are very productive.

I thought the internship was very well organised. Before I started I was given an itinerary, including training, a trip to the London based office, and the end of presentation interview and presentation was even planned that far in advance. This made me feel like Hymans really cared about their interns, and making the internship a really valuable opportunity.

I was sent to the London offices for IT training, which was useful. I was also given training on internal systems such as Cascade and lync. I completed work based training in the first few weeks, by working my way through the Trustee Tool Kit.

I would absolutely love to be offered the graduate role at this company - it is definitely the career for me, and I feel that I would fit in very well to the team here.

Yes, the younger trainees often organise pub quizzes or after work drinks, which I was always invited too, and included. There is often a Friday Lunch at a local restaurant, which many people attend.

I commuted into Birmingham from nearby Leamington Spa. I found the cost of the commute to be reasonable, but if I was to be permanently based in Birmingham I would move to the city. I found the cost of living and socialising to be acceptable.

There are vibrant pubs and bars nearby. There was also a New Fridays event; networking for young professionals, which was very enjoyable.

I was invited to the company away day, which was fun.