Mentorship | Blog #2

As an actuarial intern, I’ve come to realize the industry learning curve is awfully steep. In my second internship at Jackson National Life, I’ve learned many new skills and further developed the ones I had prior to this summer. However, there is still so much to learn. While I have gotten much better at data analysis in SAS, reserve modelling in ALFA, Excel reporting and other job-related skills, I am still very much a beginner as an actuary. I’ve also learned many details about the annuity market and our own product specifications, but again, I am certainly not even close to being an expert. One integral part of my development so far is my mentorship. At Jackson, I’ve had the ability to work alongside fully-credentialed actuaries on a daily basis. This summer, I’ve worked under two managers: Michael, an Associate, and Betsy, a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. Beyond exam experience, they have also worked at our company for a total of almost 20 years. Without their guidance, expertise, and support, there isn’t a chance that I would understand half of what I do now. I have the ability to ask them in-depth technical questions, theory about the industry, or even personal or professional advice. At the end of each week, I am happy to report my progress to my personal mentors- they have made my internship experience a huge success.