Summer Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my summer placement at Hymans Robertson. Throughout the eight weeks, I felt as though I was doing work which would actually be beneficial to my team and to the A&B private practice. Everyone I had contact with was friendly and would go out their way to help you understand anything you were unsure of. It really is a great firm to work for.

I was made to feel like a real part of the team throughout my placement. I felt like my colleagues had a real aim for me to get the most out of my placement at Hymans Robertson. I was also invited out to social events outside work hours which allowed me to make stronger bonds with my team.

My direct supervisors were happy to support me with anything I asked for guidance on. They really went out their way to give me an insight into a whole range of work. By the end of my placement, I had a better commercial awareness on current pension issues and a better understanding of the technical processes within an actuaries work. It was also useful having a catch-up with my intern lead every week to express any concerns that I had.

The flow of work was slightly slow to start, but by the second week of my placement I was given a whole range of work to do. It forced me to plan my days and prioritise work. I also felt that the work was actually of real value to my team and to the practice area. Overall, I completed a large amount of work throughout my placement, and whenever I was left without work I either asked for more, or worked on my summer project.

I believe I was given a great amount of responsibility during my placement. I was involved with a generous amount of client work on a daily basis which also involved emailing and phoning clients. I was also involved with projects which would be used my other practices within the firm. Overall, I think I was given the right balance of responsibility.

Throughout my placement, I think I have developed a lot of confidence by talking in-front of audiences and speaking within groups. I have also gained more technical knowledge, for instance, I have developed a great deal of experience in Excel by learning how to use complex functions and filters. I have also learned more about the pensions world and the theories and assumptions which lie behind actuarial calculations.

The A&B private practice is a very busy area and everyone works tremendously hard to complete work on time. With that said, everyone in the practice was upbeat and up for a laugh. The A&B away day was also a lot of fun and I got to talk to some people from the public sector who I hadn't met before. Overall, the whole office is very friendly and everyone is made to feel included.

My placement was very well organised. HR do a great job on the recruitment side by keeping you 'in the loop' from start to finish. I was also given a timetable of key dates, such as my project presentation date and training dates at the very start of the placement. HR also had a catch-up meeting with all the interns to ensure the placement was going as we thought it should which was valuable.

My intern lead was very proactive in inviting me to training sessions and informative sessions which she thought would be useful to me to widen my knowledge of work within the firm. Members of my team also took time out of their diaries to train me on pieces of work, or allow me to shadow them on some work. Overall, my team were very focused on developing my knowledge and allowing me to get the most from my placement.

It would be a great opportunity to work for Hymans in the future in a graduate role. The firm puts a lot of time and effort into finding people which possess the qualities they are looking for. Throughout the placement, you are asked to complete a learning log which you can write examples of when you have shown these particular properties. Overall, Hymans really feels like a firm I could learn from and I would gladly take a position in future with them.

On the Friday at the end of the month, drinks are put on for the whole office. This is a good opportunity to meet new people and to talk to people in a more relaxed environment. I was also invited to a night out with my team which was paid for by the firm. Hymans understands the importance of social events to allow people to create networks and friendships.

I travelled from home to my placement every day which was appropriately priced. Glasgow is relatively cheap for socialising depending on where you go. Overall, nothing was more expensive than what I thought it would be.

There are a massive amount of bars and restaurants in Glasgow to choose from. The bars surrounding the actual office are good and the train station is less than a minutes walk away.

Myself and the other interns occasionally went for a drink after work, sometimes along with other people in the office. I also invited to various lunches and drinks/dinner after work.