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Applying for internship - tips
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hi guys
If any people from financial companies (basically I want to be an actuary) have any tips on how to get an internship that would be great. I mean, obviously you need to apply which I'm in the process of doing at the minute, but I've read websites where you can 'train' for interviews and how to answer questionaires perfectly and everything... which is a bit bizarre because surely they just want you to be honest and yourself so both you and them can get a good idea if you're suitable for each other. Afterall if you were pretending to be someone you're not then you're probably applying for a job you won't like...
But any general tips about people who have done it would be great!
If any people from financial companies (basically I want to be an actuary) have any tips on how to get an internship that would be great. I mean, obviously you need to apply which I'm in the process of doing at the minute, but I've read websites where you can 'train' for interviews and how to answer questionaires perfectly and everything... which is a bit bizarre because surely they just want you to be honest and yourself so both you and them can get a good idea if you're suitable for each other. Afterall if you were pretending to be someone you're not then you're probably applying for a job you won't like...
But any general tips about people who have done it would be great!
Post edited by JustV on
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Comments
It's got questions like 'why do you want to work for Norwich Union' and such... I was speaking to my lecturer about stuff and I was saying I always just write these like its a stream of conciounce but now its such a competitive level for these limited internships (I want to be an actuary, mmm - insurance) you can't just be honest, you need to practice everything. You need to know what the *right* answer is to open ended questions like 'where do you see yourself in 5 years time' and all that jazz.
Greatest achievement I've written in my draft is that I've changed my work ethic dramatically - from A level where I just 'coasted through' on natural ability, to working in a bank where there was friendly competition through performance where I developed an enjoyment of work, to starting a different course at uni and being really proactive in getting things done. I don't know if that counts as an achievement though .
Supervision meeting on Tues anyway so hopefully... *crosses fingers*.
http://www.insidecareers.co.uk/act
http://www.actuaries.org.uk/careers/graduates
note that PWC are a recruiter (i didnt know!) and are also times online's #1 employer in the UK: http://www.top100graduateemployers.com/employers/
280 UCAS points to get onto their summer placement scheme with only 120 positions available, I think it's going to be very competitive especially considering I'm not studying Actuarial Science or Mathematics (preferred subjects).
It takes about 6 years of training and exams to actually become an actuary, but then you are set up for life the same way a qualified lawyer or doctor would be.
It's quite funny because in a loose sense an actuary is basically someone who is paid to predict the future - obviously risk concious companies are going to be quite interested to have that information.
Im so anxious about this and don't really know where to go for advice. ..
It's good that you've got your supervisor meeting tomorrow shyboy, hopefully he'll be able to give you some advice. It's good that you're preparing for it though.
so I went to the careers office who said I need to make an appointment, but appointments are released daily at 8am and its particularly busy this time of year - but the receptionist lady went round with me and helped me pick out some relevent forms. Apparently if I complete an application form and email it to them they will check it over.
The problem is when applying for some places, your form gets read by a robot and you need to get *coached* in a way to put the right things and say the right things in interviews. You know like you can get coaching for oxbridge.
All in all its enough to have me calling in sick because I get so stressed about it I had the idea of a ucas-style system for internships. Would make it sooo much easier.