So, you want to work in GI...
...but why work for a consultancy rather than a company?
Name: Greg TaylorDegree: MSCi Mathematical Sciences from University of Birmingham
Work History: Joined EMB in October 2007 after spending a year travelling
Being a good consultant relies not only on your technical ability, but also your ability to relate to and get on with clients. From early on you will be contacting clients and attending meetings, often with senior members of the company where you can have a real influence. As your career progresses you will also have the chance to give presentations and training courses. All of these are great opportunities to meet new people and develop your networking skills.
One of the best things about working for a consultancy is the sheer variety of work. In my time at EMB I’ve:
- Helped to run software training courses for clients (including one in Zurich).
- Attended conferences as a representative of the firm
- Priced insurance contracts for some large household names
- Reserved live Lloyd's syndicates (translation: worked out how much money they need to hold to pay out all their future claims)
- Advised clients who are seeking to “commute” contracts – the company insured agrees to no longer have insurance coverage.
- Helped to prepare presentations for senior consultants.
Which is not a bad mix for one year!
Other areas that are covered by the firm include work on mergers and acquisitions – large multi-million pound takeovers that you could help to decide the price for; expert witness work (giving evidence to support a court case); and pricing of everyday insurance products such as motor and household insurance and software development. At EMB you are not sidelined into a particular speciality so you can be involved in a variety of work throughout your career.
All this variety creates numerous opportunities to travel too – be it meeting a foreign client, working with one of our overseas offices or giving training courses abroad.