Jamie O’Brien

BA Hons Risk Management, 1^st class graduated 2008

Background

As a student, I sought to gain as much non-degree experience as possible. I held jobs at HSBC, Lloyds TSB, and Mercer; I completed a student placement at HMCS, I volunteered as a charity trustee; and I participated in extracurricular university activities – all of this helped me secure a position at Scottish Power, and the experience assisted in my progression. I was initially employed as a Risk Analyst, was then promoted to Senior Market Risk Analyst, and am now the Insurance Performance & Compliance Manager.

Tips for students:

As a student, get as much work experience as possible in as professional a job as you can get, volunteer for everything – charities, trips to conferences, student rep positions.

This experience is beneficial both in the short and long term, for beer money and the development of your competencies respectively; it also enables you to build up a network of contacts who might be able to help you in the future.