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.

As one of the leading and most sought after companies for actuaries, Willis Towers Watson enjoys goodwill in the market. The highly positive reviews of people who work, or have worked, here was the most compelling factor for me in deciding to start my actuarial career here.

I have primarily been involved in life insurance consulting projects, with a bit of exposure in non-life insurance consulting as well. For life insurance consulting, I’ve worked extensively on valuation and regulatory reporting as well as various other aspects of life actuarial work. For non-life insurance consulting, I’ve worked on competitor benchmarking for an overseas insurer.

In my current role as an analyst, my primary responsibility is producing quality work within a defined timeline for various projects. In one year’s time, the scope of my responsibilities has expanded, and now I also get to review the work of my peers.

The main challenge that I face is adhering to deadlines, especially in light of unanticipated events. However, this has taught me how to work under pressure and ensure accurate, high-quality output.

The graduate program has been a great stepping stone for my career. As part of my graduate onboarding, I was provided with extensive training sessions and workshops, which helped me build industry knowledge, gain practical insights and learn various software used in the industry.

The culture at Willis Towers Watson is unmatched. Everyone works as a team here and is always willing to lend a helping hand. People are hardworking and passionate about what they do, which is conducive to a great work environment. There is also a focus on training and development; everyone has numerous opportunities to learn more and progress in their careers.

The best thing about working here has got to be the people. The people who work here tend to possess great knowledge and also great humility at the same time. If you need someone’s help, they often take the time to assist you even if they’re loaded with their own work. Everyone loves what they do and is really ambitious, which serves as a source of motivation — especially when you’re just starting out in your career.

I aspire to become an actuary. I would like to learn and grow, and become a seasoned professional, excelling in my field of interest, which is insurance.

Research the company well and make sure it’s the right fit for your ambition and career path. If it is, then give it your best shot by preparing well in advance and progressing a bit every day, instead of leaving it all to the last minute.

I am currently responsible for a team of 27 consultants spread across Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay that work with multinational companies headquartered in Latin America in their cross-border operations. Our team also assists global client teams in coordinating inbound multi-country projects in Latin America including global benefit management, benefit benchmarking reviews, retirement governance, pension plans accounting consolidation, and mergers and acquisitions. My daily tasks include a combination of client project work, project sales, people management, business planning, dealing with administrative issues, and post-business results and marketing activities such as posting in social media and speaking at client events.

A key challenge of my role is the need to coordinate my work with people in different geographic locations and business segments to deliver a consistent service to our clients. One notable project includes collaboration with the Corporate Risk and Broking Latin America team and the Client Management group to develop and execute an offering and sales strategy for Latin multinationals. It’s very gratifying to work cross platforms on this project, which is aimed at positioning Willis Towers Watson as the premier partner for the risk and human capital needs of these companies as they grow and cross borders.

The culture at Willis Towers Watson is client-centered, collaborative, inclusive and people-oriented. Additionally, it is performance-driven, positive, fun and ethical. The company is very respectful of its people and clients.

The best aspect of my job is the talented people I get to work with every day. It’s a very collaborative culture — it’s easy to find help from colleagues when required at a global, regional or local level.

I was surprised by the wealth of research the company undertakes every year on so many different issues that are important to our clients. It’s a clear differentiator and creates knowledge that can be used to understand trends and best practices, and applied to our client work.

I would like to keep working in roles that allow me to interact with clients — developing relationships and helping them solve their different issues in our areas of expertise. I’d also be interested in leading larger teams within the business and expanding the scope of what I do to other geographies outside Latin America.

Do it! Having worked at some of the leading global consulting companies, I have found Willis Towers Watson to have the most supportive and collaborative culture. Some of the most talented professionals in the industry are working here.

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.