Placement Profile
Adam Posner
Adam is currently
studying his third year of a Business Commerce degree at the
University of Birmingham. He is completing an Industrial Placement
as an Aggregate Modelling Assistant as part of his optional
sandwich year for his degree.
Why did you choose to complete your sandwich year at Catlin?
I had previously completed work experience at Catlin and was aware of the company's excellent reputation within the insurance market. I enjoyed the atmosphere and working values of the company and knew that it would be a great place to complete my industrial placement year.
How did you apply?
I sent my CV to a few companies but was drawn to the Catlin opportunity as the role was so unique and sounded really interesting. I then had an interview during which we discussed my skills and experience gained at university as well as my future career aspirations. I was offered the role soon after and accepted straight away.
What was your impression of Catlin before joining?
Catlin is not as well known as other companies that offer industrial placements. However, once I started researching, I realised that Catlin is a publicly traded company with a market value of £1.2 billion. When I first worked with Catlin, I really liked the professionalism of the company and the building we are based in is really impressive.
How have you found your time at Catlin so far?
I have really enjoyed my placement year so far. I have enjoyed being able to develop my skills and experience as well as gaining knowledge of the insurance market and the Lloyd’s market specifically. Everyone in my team has been really welcoming and helpful, and I am looking forward to the possibility of returning after graduation.
What is Catlin’s culture like?
Catlin has an open-door policy, and I feel comfortable speaking to managers and senior members of staff. All the staff are friendly and I was able to quickly settle into my team. A major bonus to me is that I am always treated as a fellow employee rather than a student on a work experience placement. I am given real work and real responsibilities and feel my work is valued and appreciated. The Aggregate Modelling department has a strong team spirit, and people are always available to help each other if needed.
What’s the best thing about working at Catlin?
Catlin offers you the support you need to develop and get the most out of your placement year. It also gives you the independence and responsibility to experience different projects and situations to give you a real experience of the working world. For a student, the perks are also appealing with free hot and cold drinks and biscuits throughout the day. You are also entitled to a £3.30 daily lunch allowance which definitely helps us poor students! Catlin is also based in a great location, and you really get a feel for busy city life.
What development opportunities are available at Catlin?
Catlin offers a lot of training courses which they are happy to support if you are interested. I am currently studying towards an extra professional qualification called the LLMIT Test which will really help me stand out when I graduate. This is a compulsory qualification if you want to work in the Insurance market so I am really pleased to be able to complete it so early. Catlin also holds monthly training programmes which give you background information to different classes of business. There is also a potential job after graduation which is really promising.
What does your job involve?
Catastrophes are rare events that cause severe loss, injury or property damage to a large population of exposures -- for example earthquakes, hurricanes or terrorist attacks. Our team advises the underwriters as to what our losses would be should a certain event take place in a certain area. This in turn helps the underwriters decide how many risks they should accept in that particular location as well as how much premium they should charge to accept the risk. We use statistical models to help us with these recommendations.
Since being at Catlin, I have been working on the Terrorism account. Here we receive a quote from an underwriter who has been approached by a broker and is looking to write a piece of business. The underwriter wants to know what the impact would be if they were to insure a building (or several) in a particular location. We look to gather all sorts of information about the site, for example where it is located, what the value is, as well as what the building is made of, the year it was built and what the building is used for. We then enter our data into a model which calculates the Group’s exposure within a bomb blast zone and this informs us as to how large a loss could be expected if there were to be an attack in that area. We can then go back to the underwriter who can make a more informed decision.
The role therefore involves good analytical, inter-personal and communication skills, and the ability to work under pressure as there are often times where there will be many quotes outstanding that must be completed as soon as possible.
I have been here for around three months and am greatly looking forward to moving around the team so I can fully understand and integrate within each aspect.