Employee Benefits -
Technical Support - Manchester
Name: Atia Iram
Job title: Technical Support-Actuarial
Location: Manchester
Degree: Bsc (Hons) Maths with Finance
University: University of Leeds
Intake: 2008
First Impressions of JLT -
I have been working at JLT for just over two months now and have settled in really well. JLT offers really relaxing and friendly atmosphere to work in. I work as a part of a great team but also have the opportunity to work independently, which I believe is really important for my development. If I ever have any problems or issues, I know that everyone is willing to help me and that makes JLT a great place to work at. My time at JLT has exceeded my expectations as I have been offered a lot on the job training in a very supportive team atmosphere.
What's your role -
I work on the MetLife team within the actuarial department in the Manchester office. Our team is contracted out to assist a large multinational insurance company on their buyout quotes. There are 9 people on our team including two line mangers and each individual member is assigned separate pension schemes to work on. Up to now I have successfully completed 4 quotes which have been checked and sent through to the insurance company. There are several stages involved in producing the quote from the simple checks to ensure the validity of the data to more technical aspects such as applying manual pension increases. I have also been trained to use financial modelling software called VIPitech, which we use for the quotations. So far, my role has been a hugely stimulating learning curve as I have leant a lot of pension terminology and I am developing a good understanding of the industry.
What have you done since you've started - (i.e. training/projects/day to day)
I use spreadsheets for my daily work and having started with minimal excel skills, I am now quite confident in using all the different formulae. I have been to a JLT EB induction day, where I met a lot of new starters from all over the country. This was a good experience as we got to know more about the company and met some senior members of the team. Recently, I have also attended tutorials to compliment my studies for the actuarial qualifications, which were paid for by JLT. Here, I met students from other companies who are taking the exams and got to make some friends outside of JLT. The tutorials are really useful as they offer the opportunity to raise any questions with the tutor and fully understand the material as you progress through the course.
Social Side -
Everyone is really friendly and help you settle in quickly. The people here are very sociable and everyone goes for friendly drinks on Fridays. We have just had two Christmas dos; one team lunch and the other 4th floor Christmas dinner. We also have a company Christmas party coming up, which will be a great event as it will be an opportunity to meet other people who work in the Manchester office.
Advice to future applicants -
JLT is a great graduate employer. You get on the job training from day one and work with great people with different level of experience from qualified actuaries to students who are in the process of passing their exams. JLT fully sponsors students to take their actuarial exams from paying for the study material to offering generous study leave of up to 80 half days during a year. I would definitely recommend working for JLT as it a vibrant and flexible employer offering a lot of opportunities for career development.