Working with AIA- Work Experience

Last week was known to many of the students in my school as "Work Experience Week", a week where students utilise to work with the company of their choice, depending on their letter of application and qualifications for the job. As I have mentioned before, my profound interest in Economics and Markets has placed me in the first company of my choice, AIA insurance. AIA basically stands for "American International Assurance" which, ironically, started in Shanghai and expanded exclusively in Asia despite it's name. It is now known as one of the biggest insurance firms in Asia and was the insurance agency that I was most familiar with, which was one of the main reasons why I joined it. 

The company assigned me to work with the Actuary department, a department unknown to me until last week. The department basically dealt with the production of predictions and projections in the potential profit of the company the company's stakeholders. The decisions of the company rest heavily, although not entirely, on this department. The department dealt a lot with mathematics (of which a minimum of a bachelor's degree is required) and basic experience in Microsoft Excel, of which many of the workers could utilise very efficiently. Many were also good with computers and could flick through web pages and windows at a very fast speed and process the information listed upon it.

The company headquarters in Indonesia, located west of Jakarta.

My personal job was to interview these members one at a time about their part in the department and it's significance to the company. At the end of the week I had to create a presentation based on the results that I have found both from the internet and the interview with the workers themselves and present it to the head of the department, as well as a few other key members in the department. Overall I found this a little pointless at one point as I did not do any mock assignments or tasks that would be given to the everyday worker. However I assumed that the work given everyday was to a very difficult standard  and would require years and years of study and practice, something that I did not have. Nevertheless something basic should have been given; just to get a rough idea of what the work given was like. However, the presentation I had to give was effective in the sense that the research that I had to do have me a rough understanding on what the actuary department do in a company. I personally felt however, that it was meant to please the Head Of Department rather than give us a hands-on, learning experience in the company. 

From what I have observed, the Actuary department looks repetitive and a little boring as it required you to sit in front of your computer all day, doing calculations. The job looked repetitive and a little meaningless, albeit in my opinion. However, many of the company members were very happy with their job and were meaning to spend a long time with the company. It is for this reason that the Actuary department still remains a mystery to me, as there are still hidden factors in the department that keep the workers motivated that I have found yet. However, from the expression given to me from this department, the job of an Actuary does not appeal to me and I doubt that I will be seriously considering it as a profession in the near future.