What's your job about?
I work for TAL which is one of Australia’s leading life insurers protecting over 4.9 million Australians and their families. Currently, I am in the Performance Management team as a Commercial Analyst taking care of our Group Risk and Investment Businesses. As part of Performance Management, my responsibilities include management reporting and analysis of key performance indicators to help the commercial business understand where their profit drivers are coming from. As the name suggests, we help provide insights into the performance and position of the business and how it is tracking to Plan. This means we often work with people within the business line as well as actuaries to help develop our analysis. Although we spend a lot of time in excel doing our monthly analysis, most of the job is developing a narrative of what is happening within the business and why from a financial perspective and presenting this in a way that is straightforward to understand. However, as part of the finance graduate program, I will rotate through four different teams within the business. Three of these teams are in finance and one of them is a choice of mine anywhere in the broader business.
What's your background?
Born in Sydney, I moved to Singapore at the age of 3 due to my parents’ careers in the shipping industry where I spent half of my childhood. I lived there for 9 years before moving back to Sydney in year 6 and lived here ever since. In school I enjoyed a broad education with a significant interest in Art and History, inspired by travelling, and Maths due to a natural skill. In year 9 I took Commerce as an elective and loved the methodical and balancing nature of accounting which came paired with the practicality of business theory. However, towards the end of school, and like most people my age, I had little idea of what career I wanted to pursue. Originally, I had planned on pursuing a more creative career having attended a film school week at AFTRS driven by a passion for cinematography and photography. My next phase was wanting to study software engineering at university, which ended up being my second preference in my university applications. Finally, after a great work experience week at CBA and a suggestion to apply for the Co-op program at a UNSW open-day stall I was influenced to pursue a career in financial services. Having been accepted into the Co-op scholarship program I studied Accounting and Finance at University but had the amazing opportunity to pair my studies with real-world work experience at companies like Coca-Cola Amatil, Alexion Pharmaceuticals (now owned by AstraZeneca) and JP Morgan. These placements showed me the necessity for accounting knowledge in business but also its transferability as a skill across all industries. TAL being a sponsor of the Co-op program reached out to me towards the end of my studies due to a presentation I had given and offered me an interview. After hearing great things about the company and its graduate program from previous grads I was excited to get an offer and accepted shortly after. I started the finance graduate program here in February 2022 and have now been here for almost 8 months.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes, anyone with an eagerness to learn and an interest in the area can do this job. Accounting is an international and widely applicable skill that rewards anyone who pursues it with practical and useful life skills. Also, it is important to note that it is not required to have an accounting background to start or work in finance, but I do think it offers a core skillset that is invaluable and is worth pursuing if you want to. More specifically with regards to working in the life insurance industry, don’t be dissuaded if you don’t have experience or do not know much about the industry. As I said before, accounting skills are highly transferable across industries and the life insurance industry itself offers a highly engaging and interesting experience from a financial perspective.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
I love the ability to rotate through teams and experience different parts of the business. I think as someone new to the industry and to the company, it is great to work with as many people as possible. Not only does it allow you to understand the business and its people better, but it allows you to find out what work and areas you enjoy. I think another great thing about the company is its culture and its values. TAL is a company that puts its people first, whether that be its employees or the millions of Australians it helps to protect. Not only do I feel that my work is meaningful, and my time is respected, but my colleagues are incredibly friendly and always willing to help. It is evident these values flow down from the leadership team and are embraced by everyone at TAL.
What are the limitations of your job?
I think the job comes with significant responsibility with regards to the initiative, self-checking your work and learning curve but at the same time, this provides a great challenge and opportunity to feel rewarded for the work you do. With regards to the limitations of the job, I think the work is typically quite technical and a business background in finance or accounting would be very useful starting. Otherwise, I believe anything can be taught on the job if you have the willingness to learn.
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