Trainee actuarial consultant-intern Review

The eight weeks I spent at Hymans were an excellent experience, I had the chance to experience so many different types of work undertaken by the firm and not just in the department in which I was working. I also had the chance to work with a very wide range of employees, from the newest grad to some of the senior partners. I felt that everyday I was learning something new and being given the chance to broaden my knowledge base. I think the opportunities offered are excellent.

Every piece of work I undertook was clearly something that would have been completed regardless of my being there and not just a piece of work which had been created for me to complete and would then be ignored. I felt that on some of the projects where I was given more of a chance to work independently any suggestions I made for changes to approach or layout for documents was carefully considered and often accepted.

The office has a friendly welcoming atmosphere in which every new face would come and introduce yourself and people always had time to stop and explain anything you didn't understand or were struggling with. For every piece of work there was always at least one person to go to for help and everyone was always willing to answer any questions about work regardless of whether they were working with you on that piece. However there was also the right amount of independence to allow me to try to work things out on my own. In most cases I would be given an initial run through of a piece of work, go away and try to do it and try to work around any problems and then go back to the person who was helping me with any questions and then repeat the process.

There were one or two days when I was slightly too quiet but for the majority of the time I had the right balance between being busy and not feeling overwhelmed. If ever there were times when I was quieter and asked people for additional work they were always happy to take the time to look for something that I could help with. Having a project to complete over the eight weeks also meant that there was almost always something that needed to be completed on any given day. It was a good opportunity to learn how long certain work would take and to practise getting the balance between too much and too little.

There were plenty of opportunities to take responsibility for pieces of work particularly as a number of pieces of work I was doing were longer term and therefore I was setting my own deadlines and ensuring that the work was completed to the correct deadline. There were also a couple of projects where I was told the aim of the project and then left to work out the right way to achieve that aim. In addition there were opportunities to contact clients via both email and phone to make queries. I thought the balance of responsibility was good because it didn't feel overwhelming but you felt like you were reasonably independent.

One of the key skills I think I developed over the last week was an increasing confidence in approaching different people and learning how to work with a number of different people, both of which will be key in my future career. Additionally I think that the work I undertook improved my presentational and speaking skills, allowing me to perform both with significantly more confidence than previously. All the more technical skills that I developed over the last few weeks will also help me in my future career as an actuary and the greater commercial awareness I have developed could certainly help me in day to day life.

I thought there was the perfect balance between taking the work seriously and ensuring that everyone socialised. Each week there were a number of more social events which gave us a chance to meet everyone and get to know everyone. On a day to day basis within the office everyone was always very helpful and friendly. If there was anything I wanted to ask about various aspects of the firm there was always someone to ask. I thought that although everyone is very career driven there isn't any serious competitiveness which could make for a harsher atmosphere. Everyone seems to get the right balance between enjoying themselves and concentrating on work.

I thought I was very well run day to day, we knew who the key people we were working with were and we knew who our key points of contact were. However the timing for the training seemed a bit odd at the start, especially the IT training where you had already used most of the programs before receiving the training. It might make more sense to do a couple of more solid days of training at the start before the main body of the internship starts. Other than that though I though that everything went very well and was very well organised.

We were given all the essential training I would expect to receive and I'm not sure what additional training or development we could have received. To a large extent we were expected to learn on the job, which is a perfectly reasonable expectation. There could however have been some additional training sessions on different aspects of the business and maybe some introduction sessions to different aspects of commercial awareness. I think some sessions on the budget changes, maybe some on the difference between DB and DC would have been quite useful.

This is definitely a firm I could see myself working for long term. The majority of people who work here seem to stay here for a long period because it is a very friendly and welcoming environment. The amount of support on offer isn't something I think you would find in many offices. Additionally the location of the office is great and there is a good social life within the office.

Having so many actuarial students meant there was something going on almost every week, from rounders matches to a treasure hunt, to a board games nights as well as end of month drinks, leaving drinks, celebrations of people qualifying. although some events were specifically for the actuarial students at many a mixture of people from the firm would attend. We were always invited to any social events happening at weekends and in the evenings. There were plenty of opportunities for us to organise additional meals or nights out amongst ourselves as well.

It is the centre of the city, I lived at home and commuted in which was the cheapest option for me. To rent somewhere fairly close to the city would be very expensive and a lot of the bars and clubs and restaurants in the immediate area are very expensive. However you are earning a wage equivalent to the area you are in so it isn't that unreasonable and on most drinks evenings as interns you aren't allowed to pay for anything and everyone will pay for you.

The bars in the immediate area are very busy from about 5-8 but after that start to quieten down but it is only a very short journey to areas with more a lively nightlife and the actuarial students in the office are always happy to direct you to good places to go. In the immediate area there are some nice cocktail bars and places to go for after work drinks.

There was always plenty happening, either things organised by the office, such as end of month drinks or things organised by individuals such as parties at the weekend. There was also the chance to join in with the actuarial students sports day, the SIAS ball, and other sports teams set up by people within the office. If there was something you wanted to do there were always people happy to get involved or take part as well.