Alyssa Breiner
Provide a General Description of the Internship. Include daily tasks completed, the company and its employees, and any other information.
I had one main project that I worked on for a couple of weeks and then a lot of smaller projects. The work hours were flexible; I'd come in at 8amand leave around 4:30pm. Though I was on the Annuity Product Development team, I didn't develop products. My part of the team worked on managing the existing products.
Did you have a mentor?
Yes
If so, how did he/she help you during your internship?
My mentor was extremely helpful to me this summer. Anytime I had questions about anything I would ask her and she would give me great advice. She was in the process of taking the exams for the FSA so she also gave me a lot of useful information about the exam processes.
Did you feel your RMI/AS classes better prepared you for the internship?
The classes gave me a good technical background, but they don't prepare for the office atmosphere. Gamma does a better job at that.
Interviewing/Hiring Process Comments:
After the career reception, I had a phone interview that lasted about half an hour. After that, I had an interview at the office in West Chester that lasted 2 hours and I interviewed with 4 people
Were you assigned any special projects? If so please describe.
I did have one project that was a big one and lasted a couple of weeks, but I also had a lot of other smaller projects that would take a shorter amount of time. I enjoyed the smaller projects better.
What were the supplemental benefits besides the pay? (Internship Lunches, Housing, Sports Games, Happy Hours, etc.)
If you lived far away, they provided housing with the other interns. We also got a paid day to volunteer at Habitat for Humanity. We had almost 2 Lunch & Learns every week.
Describe the company's internship program(atmosphere, work load, work, housing, outside work activities, etc.).
The office had a great atmosphere. I learned so much every day and I got to use the mathematical concepts from class in practical situations. We had two different Lunch & Learn series: one was with the interns in West Chester and the other was a video conference with the interns across all locations. There was also an intern Day of Service where the interns at my location got to go out and volunteer at Habitat for Humanity for the day.
Was the internship what you expected after the interviewing/hiring process?
Yes
Were you provided time off besides the weekend?
We had a paid volunteer day.
If you had to relocate, describe the process of adapting to a new city.
The housing they provided was in the middle of Malvern Borough, so it was a cute little areas with quite a few restaurants and shops. I felt like there was a lot around to explore. However, it was a little difficult adjusting to a roommate that I didn't know.
I had one main project that I worked on for a couple of weeks and then a lot of smaller projects. The work hours were flexible; I'd come in at 8amand leave around 4:30pm. Though I was on the Annuity Product Development team, I didn't develop products. My part of the team worked on managing the existing products.
Did you have a mentor?
Yes
If so, how did he/she help you during your internship?
My mentor was extremely helpful to me this summer. Anytime I had questions about anything I would ask her and she would give me great advice. She was in the process of taking the exams for the FSA so she also gave me a lot of useful information about the exam processes.
Did you feel your RMI/AS classes better prepared you for the internship?
The classes gave me a good technical background, but they don't prepare for the office atmosphere. Gamma does a better job at that.
Interviewing/Hiring Process Comments:
After the career reception, I had a phone interview that lasted about half an hour. After that, I had an interview at the office in West Chester that lasted 2 hours and I interviewed with 4 people
Were you assigned any special projects? If so please describe.
I did have one project that was a big one and lasted a couple of weeks, but I also had a lot of other smaller projects that would take a shorter amount of time. I enjoyed the smaller projects better.
What were the supplemental benefits besides the pay? (Internship Lunches, Housing, Sports Games, Happy Hours, etc.)
If you lived far away, they provided housing with the other interns. We also got a paid day to volunteer at Habitat for Humanity. We had almost 2 Lunch & Learns every week.
Describe the company's internship program(atmosphere, work load, work, housing, outside work activities, etc.).
The office had a great atmosphere. I learned so much every day and I got to use the mathematical concepts from class in practical situations. We had two different Lunch & Learn series: one was with the interns in West Chester and the other was a video conference with the interns across all locations. There was also an intern Day of Service where the interns at my location got to go out and volunteer at Habitat for Humanity for the day.
Was the internship what you expected after the interviewing/hiring process?
Yes
Were you provided time off besides the weekend?
We had a paid volunteer day.
If you had to relocate, describe the process of adapting to a new city.
The housing they provided was in the middle of Malvern Borough, so it was a cute little areas with quite a few restaurants and shops. I felt like there was a lot around to explore. However, it was a little difficult adjusting to a roommate that I didn't know.
Lauren Haupt
Provide a General Description of the Internship. Include daily tasks completed, the company and its employees, and any other information.
I worked on various projects for my manager and other members of the team as they became available. My manager was flexible with my hours as long as I reached 40 hours every week.
Did you have a mentor?
Yes
If so, how did he/she help you during your internship?
She helped me to prepare for my final presentation by setting aside practice time. She also met with me a few time to answer questions about the actuarial profession.
Did you feel your RMI/AS classes better prepared you for the internship?
Theory of Interest gave me some familiarity with annuities, but most of my learning was done on the job.
Interviewing/Hiring Process Comments:
I spoke with someone from their internship committee at the career reception. A few days later I had a phone interview with the same person. They followed up about a week later and scheduled an on-site interview where I met with four different actuaries. They got back to me with an offer about two weeks later.
Were you assigned any special projects? If so please describe.
I worked on a project to create a summary dashboard to show the current status of all fixed annuity products. I had to find appropriate data and organize it a way that non-actuaries would be able to quickly understand.
What were the supplemental benefits besides the pay? (Internship Lunches, Housing, Sports Games, Happy Hours, etc.)
Lunch was provided once a week, and housing was offered even though I did not need it.
Describe the company's internship program(atmosphere, work load, work, housing, outside work activities, etc.).
The work load was manageable, but I was always busy. The atmosphere was laid back, and casual dress was appropriate for the summer. A big part of the program was that each week there were inter-site lunches where executives from various areas of the company would share their personal work experience.
Was the internship what you expected after the interviewing/hiring process?
Yes
I worked on various projects for my manager and other members of the team as they became available. My manager was flexible with my hours as long as I reached 40 hours every week.
Did you have a mentor?
Yes
If so, how did he/she help you during your internship?
She helped me to prepare for my final presentation by setting aside practice time. She also met with me a few time to answer questions about the actuarial profession.
Did you feel your RMI/AS classes better prepared you for the internship?
Theory of Interest gave me some familiarity with annuities, but most of my learning was done on the job.
Interviewing/Hiring Process Comments:
I spoke with someone from their internship committee at the career reception. A few days later I had a phone interview with the same person. They followed up about a week later and scheduled an on-site interview where I met with four different actuaries. They got back to me with an offer about two weeks later.
Were you assigned any special projects? If so please describe.
I worked on a project to create a summary dashboard to show the current status of all fixed annuity products. I had to find appropriate data and organize it a way that non-actuaries would be able to quickly understand.
What were the supplemental benefits besides the pay? (Internship Lunches, Housing, Sports Games, Happy Hours, etc.)
Lunch was provided once a week, and housing was offered even though I did not need it.
Describe the company's internship program(atmosphere, work load, work, housing, outside work activities, etc.).
The work load was manageable, but I was always busy. The atmosphere was laid back, and casual dress was appropriate for the summer. A big part of the program was that each week there were inter-site lunches where executives from various areas of the company would share their personal work experience.
Was the internship what you expected after the interviewing/hiring process?
Yes