Summer Student Review

During my 8 weeks at Barnett Waddingham I worked alongside the Actuarial Consulting and Investment Consulting teams. No two days were the same; I was always challenged with new and interesting work and by over the 8 weeks I really felt I had added value to the team. My day-to-day involved mainly client work, along with some meetings and other smaller non-client projects specifically for the interns.

From the first week I was given real client work to do which made me feel like a valuable member of the team.
The interns were also given the responsibility of organising a social for the end of the internship which turned out a success.

I feel like I knew nothing coming into the job, and during my time there I learnt a lot. There was lots of time to work on my technical skills, such as Excel, which have improved massively. However, I think my softer skills developed a lot during the 8 weeks. I had the opportunity to work on skills such as presenting and working in a team.

The whole team were very approachable and I felt I could ask them anything, no matter how silly some of the questions were! At no point did they make me feel like a hinderance, and the office was always busy so there were plenty of people willing to offer their help.
Everyone acknowledged that they were once in my shoes, so they were great at supporting me throughout.

The work-life balance was better than I could've imagined. Everyone was easy to get along with and there is always a nice atmosphere in the office. Outside of the office there is always another social to look forward to. During my time there were company netball and football tournaments, as well as a social at the end of my 8 weeks.

I had a great time and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in a career in actuarial/investment work, or to anyone who isn't fully sure yet!

Yes