Jo Datz was a Valuation Actuarial Intern at Kansas City Life. She did her internship in the summer of 2017.
How did you get your internship?
I applied for the internship late in the fall and interviewed in February or March. I had heard about the internship when Brenna from KC Life visited Truman to give a presentation during my sophomore year.
What sorts of things did you do during your internship?
I mainly worked with the valuation department on any projects they needed help with. My biggest project was morphing an annual projection spreadsheet into a monthly one—which sounds simple, but took some real effort! I also worked on annual tax forms and various other annual valuation tasks they needed. Primarily, I did a lot of the prep data work for my bosses to then finish the valuation, but I did use their valuation software and did not just do data entry or “simple intern work.” My completed projects were included in their second quarter accomplishments list.
How did you benefit from the internship?
I benefited so much from my internship! Not only did I make great connections, but I learned Microsoft excel / access skills that were beyond anything I learned in my computer applications class. I also gained the basic knowledge of how life insurance works in general as the company put all of their interns (8 in total) through “Insurance School” during our first two weeks, which consisted of two hours every morning on various terms, acronyms, and procedures we’d encounter during our time there. This knowledge and my experience with valuations are what helped me land my current job.