I joined Willis Towers Watson in 2013 on the Consultant graduate scheme at the London office. Early on, I spent a lot of time attending training sessions, studying for my exams, getting to grips with the world of defined benefit pensions and climbing the steep learning curve. I qualified as a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in 2017 and around the same time I began taking on more responsibilities at work. My role shifted to focus on advice specifically for corporate sponsors of pension schemes, and I also took on some additional roles including being a committee member for the UK LGBT+ colleague Inclusion Network. I now support Scheme Actuaries and Lead Consultants to provide advice, ranging from funding to de-risking for a range of pension schemes that vary in size from tens of millions to several billions, including multi-million pound projects which span a number of years.

Truly no two days are the same. Given the unique challenges that face each of my clients, the work we carry out and advice we provide is never the same between project to project which keeps us on our toes! A typical day for me will involve responding to emails and phone calls from colleagues, other advisers or clients, attending meetings either in person (before COVID-19) or over the phone, and reviewing or drafting advice, usually with a calculator in one hand and a red pen in the other.

I’ve had a number of opportunities including managing interns and developing the graduate training programme, but my most recent has been leading the events arm of the UK LGBT+ Inclusion Network. The network has gone from strength to strength: we now have over 750 members and run several events a month, ranging from networking events to fund raising and movie nights. I also love being involved in organising coffee breaks for my team and hosting virtual quizzes to provide a much needed break during the day.

The two biggest challenges I most commonly face are time management and stamina. While many of our projects have long-term timescales, there can be unexpected hurdles which mean you need to be flexible and manage your time well in order to successfully meet your client commitments. Stamina is also critical as you can quite often have busy days, weeks or months, whether it’s speaking to several clients a day or tackling multiple complex mathematical problems, so you need the endurance to keep going. Personally I find being diligent at taking regular breaks to be the main starting point for avoiding burnout and maintaining stamina.

The graduate training programme for Retirement graduates is second to none. Coming from a teaching background, even I was blown away at how developed the programme was. It has since been further developed but for me, it was incredibly expansive, including a series of training modules that took place over a number of days, with a combination of written exercises, role-plays, practical and soft skill training and more.

However, possibly the most valuable training is what I received on the job. Learning and development are instilled in our culture, and colleagues constantly provide guidance and training as part of the way we work together. In my experience, this is particularly true of our Senior Consultants who are always willing to impart their wise knowledge and offer development opportunities to junior colleagues.

In 2018 I was working on a project winding up a pension scheme by securing members’ benefits within the insurance market. This is a typical endgame for pension schemes although not many are quite at that stage, but I observed that this scheme was getting close. I ran some projections looking at the feasibility of a future wind up on the lead up to a client meeting and shared them with the Senior Consultant who suggested I raise the topic at the meeting. This culminated in the sponsor and trustees of the pension scheme conducting a formal feasibility project, which then led to the scheme eventually winding up. This became one of the very first deals of its kind in the market due to the scheme’s hybrid benefit structure of a defined contribution and defined benefit pension scheme, and the deal tackled the inequalities of pension entitlements between males and females.

My proudest achievement is qualifying as a Fellow and passing all of my written exams first time. I put this down to a combination of hard work and the support I received from Willis Towers Watson. Between the generous study package, allowing me to pick and choose the materials that worked for me, and the proactive visible support of colleagues encouraging me to take the time I needed to study, the company made sure I had all the tools and time I needed to give each exam my best.

Professionally speaking, we have some of the greatest minds in the field who are very open and collaborative, which makes for an incredible place to work, learn and grow. However, this doesn’t detract from the fact we are all human and can have fun – even some of the most seasoned actuaries in the office can be caught at the Christmas party busting some moves on the dancefloor!

I really value being part of such an inclusive and diverse team. I had a preconceived notion that all large companies in the financial services industry would be very ‘corporate’ and that I wouldn’t be able to relate to this new type of environment. However, my colleagues are so open, welcoming and represent such diverse backgrounds and each bring something different to the table. I also appreciate the support the company has given me to move from the London office to the Reigate office in Surrey, particularly around retaining my desired client allocations but helping to identify new opportunities in Reigate. Since my move, I’ve found what I believe to be ‘the best of both worlds’ – I have the large clients and complex projects that comes from working at a leading consultancy, with the benefits of a quicker commute and more green space (which is perfect for taking my dogs on a walk during my lunch break).

I previously completed my teacher training programme and expected that it would be looked down upon as irrelevant. However, it has been a huge benefit and was noted favourably in my recruitment process. Given that my job as an adviser centers around guiding and explaining technical concepts to a less technical audience, my teacher training was an invaluable transferrable skill.

I was also surprised to find people with such varied interests – whether that’s baking TV shows, sports or roleplaying games, you’re bound to find someone who has common interests with you here.

My hope is to continue climbing the career ladder and be supported by the amazing colleagues and leaders at the company, as well as to help my clients solve their problems and deliver positive outcomes for pension scheme members.

You must! Take the time to find more out about the company and the role on the Willis Towers Watson website and reach out to the recruitment team to get your questions answered.

I was hired after university as part of a graduate intake. I have worked with a large variety of clients and taken on various different roles during my time at Willis Towers Watson. Currently the majority of my work involves acting as a consultant, advising trustees of a wide range of defined benefit pension schemes. I also do a small amount of corporate work and I have also taken on a managerial role in the team.

In my role as a people manager, I need to keep in touch with my direct reports daily, allocate work to the appropriate colleagues within my team and help with wider long-term resourcing of projects. Being a manager provides unique challenges different from my consulting role, and no two days are the same.

For my consulting role, I need to make sure I work collaboratively with my client teams in order to complete work efficiently and in line with the required timescales. This can vary between simply providing a quick response to a client with some ad-hoc advice, to delivering a large project that takes place over a number of months.

Having lots of things on the go at once can be difficult, but this role has taught me the importance of being organised and prioritising or delegating my work when needed.

I worked as a Project Manager on a major project for one of our largest Reigate clients. This involved over 30 people and months of work. My role was to co-ordinate the different sub-teams and keep everything on track. Sending out the final reports to the client after months of effort by the entire team was probably one of the most satisfying and exciting moments of my career. Knowing that the team has produced something that will impact so many people can be daunting, but the level of care taken with deliverables in Willis Towers Watson can give you confidence and pride in the end product.

The project described in the previous question was probably my proudest achievement and earned me a Circle Award from our CEO. However, I personally feel that the best sense of pride comes from how we work as a team and help each other. For me, the sense of “team victory” is always when I feel proudest of being a part of Willis Towers Watson.

I completed the graduate training programme during my first two years at the company which was invaluable. This programme provides the vital base of knowledge which underlies the work that we do. More informally, a huge amount of training and development comes from working on the job day-to-day and, in particular, from working closely with senior colleagues and learning from their experience. Being in such a large company enables me to work with a wide variety of people and therefore learn new things from each of them. I am still learning new things each day.

Like the rest of the world, 2020 has been an odd year for us. I think that the collaborative culture at Willis Towers Watson was highlighted during that period. People are so supportive, take time to check on their colleagues and always have time for each other.
Unlike many other companies, to shine here you just need to complete work to a high quality and people will notice and appreciate it. The culture lends itself to this way of working.

Willis Towers Watson provides so many opportunities and a wide variety of clients and projects to work on. But for me personally, the people are the best part about working here without a doubt. I’ve learnt so much from the people around me and will continue to do so. I can’t remember a day where someone didn’t teach me something, or a day where I didn’t laugh working here. I’ve made lifelong friends at Willis Towers Watson and for that I am very grateful – my graduate year intake still all go away together every year!

For such a large company, there is still a small team feel where everyone knows everyone. We have so many people who are experts in their field, and you will inevitably end up working with many of them at some stage in your career.

I am looking forward to exploring the various opportunities that are available to me at Willis Towers Watson and hope that in the future I will have a breadth of knowledge and experience in a wide range of work. I hope that in years to come I am still learning and doing new things.

Do it!

Having studied for some actuarial exams at university, I was keen to understand the practical aspect of the theoretical knowledge I was gaining. Willis Towers Watson gave me the opportunity to work for some of the biggest pension schemes in the country, which was a perfect opportunity to learn the essence of the industry.

I started my career as an intern with Willis Towers Watson India a few years ago and now I work as an associate with Willis Towers Watson UK. Having worked as an associate on defined benefit schemes in India, I wanted to get exposure to the pension industry in another country. As one of the largest actuarial companies with a presence in multiple countries, Willis Towers Watson made getting an opportunity to work in another country easier. I applied for a position in the UK, was contacted by HR and after a few in-depth interviews, was made an offer to transfer.
Willis Towers Watson’s Global Mobility team made the transition a smooth one, and I felt supported at every step. It was definitely a big change driven primarily for the purpose of career advancement. Now that I have been in the UK for almost 10 months, I feel the move has helped me grow both professionally and personally.

As an intern I was responsible for shadowing consultants in the preparation of valuation reports for clients for accounting purposes. It gave me a good understanding of how pension liabilities impact the ledger for multinational corporations. I also got an opportunity to sharpen my Excel skills by creating a spreadsheet for automating a process.

Willis Towers Watson has an extensive training programme, along with great study support. To succeed an actuary, we need to maintain a balance between work, study and social life. Having a generous study policy made things easier. Also there were frequent social events with the team where I got to interact with senior consultants and actuaries; learning from their experiences was definitely an added benefit.

At a very early stage in my career, I had an opportunity to work closely with a senior consultant supporting a client that was implementing a government-driven defined contribution pension scheme. It involved managing a project with multiple stakeholders and tight timelines. We started by selecting a third-party administrator, and then had discussions with senior management at the client company to ensure they had the platform required to introduce the new pension scheme to employees.

From having the opportunity to attend client meetings and work with communication experts to prepare content for employee awareness, this experience provided incredible exposure to project management and to the client.

The culture is diverse, with something for everyone. One of the best things about my job is the ability to interact with members of the team at all different levels. I love that I get to learn new things from highly experienced actuaries. I also enjoy the sincere appreciation I receive from not only my manager, but from the people I work with directly.

I was hired as a consultant, advising trustees of defined benefit pension schemes and supporting the scheme actuary lead consultant. From there, I became a scheme actuary leading client accounts. I’ve also completed secondment work, in which I worked in-house for a large banking client supporting their internal pension function through a significant period of change in regulations affecting their pension scheme. I then moved my career focus to de-risking pension schemes, i.e., removing pension scheme risk through the purchase of bulk annuities in the insurance market. Today as head of Edinburgh, Retirement, I am responsible for the strategic direction of our team, revenue and growth, and overall team performance.

As head of the Edinburgh office, my day-to-day job is varied and unpredictable — which I love. One week I am on the road going around Scotland fronting external events in the local market, promoting our brand and the work and solutions we provide. The next week I can be behind closed doors with key members of my senior team considering business strategy for the year.

Time is always in short supply — as it is with most jobs these days. And having my first child, a one-year-old daughter, can put additional pressure on the time I have available to give to my role. But the company has been exceptionally supportive during this time of change for me, and I have been able to reshape various work priorities to ensure I can still achieve the best outcome for the local team.

I was fortunate to be selected for our Emerging Leaders training programme a few years ago. This was a two-year programme that brought together more than 30 colleagues from across Europe. I met some incredibly talented individuals and, importantly, some great friends along the way. I’ve learned to be open to opportunities, such as this one, as you never know where they will take you.
If you remain open to new things, you develop along the way. You need to be brave and sometimes take a less obvious move (maybe sideways) rather than always aiming straight up. Working for an organisation like Willis Towers Watson allows you this flexibility, given the breadth of services we offer. The skills you start with develop along the journey, and the roles you end up taking may differ greatly from your original career path or plans.

As part of the Emerging Leaders experience, we were split into smaller project teams and my group was tasked with considering the benefit package of 2025. We were given access to senior leaders and research facilities across our company. This also involved travel across Europe (Madrid, Munich, London), culminating in a proposal to our company’s leadership committee offering ways to help shape where we take our business in the future. It was fantastic to be given the opportunity to add our voice to the future direction of our company and enjoy the freedom to pursue such an ambitious initiative.

I’m proud to have been given the flexibility to make a difference in how we drive our team forward locally by becoming head of the Edinburgh office and being entrusted to run a team of 40 colleagues. The role allows me to hire top talent, and then I’m tasked with putting them in the right scenarios to ensure both they — and as a result, we as a team — reach our full potential.

The culture is exceptionally collaborative and supportive. I continue to be amazed at the lengths colleagues will go to in supporting each other, putting clients first and getting results.

Being part of such a large organisation means you have access to the very best ideas to take to your client base. But somehow, we have not lost the friendly feel of a small company, and there is a real sense of team here.

The degree to which the environment is collaborative. Given the size of the company, it continues to surprise me how supported and connected you are to so many people across different fields.

My hope now is to continue doing a job I genuinely love. I know that working at Willis Towers Watson will continue to challenge and stretch me, and allow me the flexibility to take my career wherever my future skills and interests go. I love working with our clients and our team so whatever it is, it will involve both of these.

Do it! I’m so glad I did. I was very happy with my previous employer and it took quite a bit for me to convince myself to move — but I’ve never looked back. The breadth of opportunity is unbelievable and, most importantly to me, the culture is fantastic.