I get questions all the time on how to get ready for an upcoming actuarial internship. Here are some tips for you:

Do your homework on the company. Research the company that you will be working for. What products do they offer? Who are their competitors? What area of the company will you be working in? All of this will give you insights into how you can contribute from day 1.

Treat your internship as a long interview. Great job getting your foot in the door; now is the time to show what you can do. Get your technical skills ready so you can perform from day one (a good way to do this is to take the Technical Skills Course through The Infinite Actuary where you will learn Excel, VBA, Access, SQL, R, and SAS all in an actuarial context: http://www.theinfiniteactuary.com/exams/33)  Also, dress well. Show a good attitude every day.

Ask a lot of questions but be independent. There’s a balance here between when to ask questions. You want to be independent enough to solve problems on your own. But also realize that when you are stuck, go out and ask questions. Or when you finish a project, ask your peers for a peer review and get their input.

Enjoy your time! You have a great opportunity here with your internship. Learn as much as you can. Get to know your coworkers and pick their brains about their experience. Meet as many people as you can since you are now starting to build up your network.

Looking back at my career, my actuarial internship was a great experience. I learned a lot and met a lot of great people. Be careful not to spend your entire internship learning how to use Excel though. You should try to have that technical knowledge coming in so you can learn that vital actuarial work.