My journey from University to Domestic & General has been fairly elaborate. I studied Law as an undergraduate in an attempt to follow in my father’s footsteps. Having discovered that the law wasn’t for me, I travelled for a year and then embarked on a career in the oil industry. During this time I developed a passion for business and decided to study for a Masters in International Business and Management at the University of Manchester.
After University, I still had no concrete vision of my future, so I started looking for jobs that would somehow combine my passions of business, travel, culture and cooking! I knew that the cooking thing was a long shot, but I was willing to settle for 3 out of 4. I knew I wanted to work for a company with international operations, that offered opportunities to travel, and I was keen on a generalist scheme where I could learn as many new skills as possible, and then choose a specialist business discipline later down the line. I also wanted to join a company with a relatively small graduate intake, so that I could receive tailored, in-depth training and support. I wasn’t interested in schemes where you can quickly get lost in a web of hundreds of graduates all vying for the same attention. Domestic & General ticked every one of these boxes.
It’s difficult to know what to expect when you make the transition from University to the working world, but coming to Domestic & General, I found I was being challenged from the start. My first placement in Marketing demanded that I be imaginative and analytical. I was responsible for progressing 3 key strategic marketing initiatives. For my second rotation I experienced life as an International Operations Manager, which allowed me to travel to Frankfurt, Madrid and Paris. My final placement was in the Sales Department. This allowed me to build relationships with two of our key clients and to develop my negotiation, pitch presentation and client management skills.
There was no such thing as a ‘typical’ day during the graduate programme. Depending on the rotation, it could have started at 8.30am, checking emails and planning for the day ahead, or rising at 4am to catch a flight to Madrid for a day in our Spanish office. This would be followed by meetings to discuss how we could improve our product performance, and conversations throughout the day with key members of our Spanish team, collaborating with them to find better solutions to customer call handling. Following an impressive lunch of gazpacho and paella, the afternoon would consist of further meetings to discuss our claims activity, followed by a taxi to the airport at 6pm for a flight back to London. Meanwhile in the UK, I might have been preparing to deliver a client presentation to brief them on a new product concept, or meeting with our underwriters to discuss pricing matrices. In the afternoon, I would meet with our creative teams to discuss possible improvements to our direct mail, followed by an agency presentation concerning our customer segmentation project.
I now have a permanent position in the International team as the International Marketing Developer. I’m expected to take a lead on international strategy, new product development and country entry and expansion initiatives in the International Marketing Department. Right now, I’m working on 5 different major projects. Juggling multiple commitments can be quite a challenge, but the graduate programme has prepared me well to meet such challenges.
This is a really exciting time to be at Domestic & General. There are lots of new faces, bringing with them exciting new ideas, and there’s loads of opportunities to get involved in some really great work. Domestic & General encourages you to be proactive and open-minded, and there are people here who are always ready and willing to help you succeed. We are a big company, but with a friendly, connected culture. I am delighted be part of Domestic & General and excited to see what the future holds.
