How and where to start looking for internships?

[leex3683]

Hello everyone, I'm pretty new here, so please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong or weird. I was hoping I could get some feedback on internships. I have a few questions:

1: Can someone who's scored an internship, or someone who offers internships, tell me where a good place to look online is (or not online)? I tried googling "mn internships" but that didn't work at all. It just gave me a bunch of popular job finding websites with no results. I also checked some links on this website's home page, but I couldn't find anything in MN. Which leads me to my next question:

2: Should I be expecting to move out of the state to get an internship? I live in Minnesota, but my point is, are internships so important and so hard to find?

3: Is an "actuarial internship" a very specific thing? I mean, if I could get an internship at wells fargo doing someone related to money, is that an actuarial internship? I'm guessing not, but my next question is:

4: What can I expect to be doing as an actuary intern? Should I be learning now how to deal with spreadsheets and whatnot? What can I do to prepare myself for an internship? I've passed my p exam, and gotten Bs and As in econometrics, actuarial math, multivariable calculus and some other classes.

Any other advice is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Take care,
-Michael

[Irish Blues]

Hello everyone, I'm pretty new here, so please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong or weird. I was hoping I could get some feedback on internships. I have a few questions:

1: Can someone who's scored an internship, or someone who offers internships, tell me where a good place to look online is (or not online)? I tried googling "mn internships" but that didn't work at all. It just gave me a bunch of popular job finding websites with no results. I also checked some links on this website's home page, but I couldn't find anything in MN. Travelers is the major insurer in Minnesota, and the competition for internships there is fierce [as it is with all the major companies]. After that, companies get smaller in a hurry - which means internships may or may not be available at those places. Which leads me to my next question:

2: Should I be expecting to move out of the state to get an internship? If you really want an internship, yes. If you changed "internship" to "entry level job" would you be asking the same question? I live in Minnesota, but my point is, are internships so important and so hard to find? IMO, no - they're not that important because they're so hard to find; however, others may take the contrary position.

3: Is an "actuarial internship" a very specific thing? Yes. I mean, if I could get an internship at wells fargo doing someone related to money, is that an actuarial internship? I'm guessing not nope - as a simplistic example, if your internship at WF was as a bank teller, that wouldn't really be actuarial ... right? , but my next question is:

4: What can I expect to be doing as an actuary intern? It depends on the company and area of the actuarial department you land in. Should I be learning now how to deal with spreadsheets and whatnot? Absolutely; if someone asks whether you know how to work with pivot tables in Excel and you ask what a pivot table is, that's a real problem. What can I do to prepare myself for an internship? I've passed my p exam pass at least one more exam, and gotten Bs and As in econometrics, actuarial math, multivariable calculus and some other classes. Where are you in college? If you're a sophomore or a junior, you've got time to get yourself positioned for an internship next summer by knocking out an exam, researching companies, and polishing up on your interview skills; if you're graduating in 2 months, ... not so much.

Any other advice is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Take care,
-Michael

Comments in bold.

[leex3683]

Thanks very much for the info. This has helped me plan out the rest of the semester! Take care.