TAL

Learn the fundamentals and accept that you just need to keep learning forever, you will find the process quite pleasant.

What's your job about?

I work in the Actuarial IFRS methodology team and my team is helping life insurance transition into a new accounting standard called IFRS. We interpret the new standards, and aim to answer the what, why, and how of it.

It is difficult to put a finger on my day-to-day work since it ranges from using simple data manipulation to break down large numbers into their unit parts to exploring and explaining how parts of our actuarial model work. The purpose of all my work is to justify why we are doing what we are doing.

What's your background?

I was born on the frozen peaks of Mount Everest and then I moved to Sydney when I was 11. Experiences at high school opened me up to more possibilities for future careers and one of them happened to be a niche field of "Actuaries". I picked it up and enjoyed it all years at my university except for year 3, semester 1, so I stuck to it.

I applied to TAL's graduate program as I heard great things from alumni, and here I am enjoying it since February 2022.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes! The concepts are all pyramids built using the first principles of accounting, life insurance industry semantics, and simple maths.

The key characteristic to work in this team is asking questions. It is easy to memorize the answers you are given without understanding its core logic and then you fall prey to the Dunning Kruger effect. Luckily, in TAL's culture of open discussions, sharp and insightful questions will quickly disperse such misunderstandings. And then you start learning again.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

My job entails asking questions, figuring out answers and then finding out why my answer could potentially be wrong and then the control cycle again. This process is the coolest thing about my job.

What are the limitations of your job?

It's an entry-level role so it is certainly overwhelming when you see how much you must learn to even gather what the team is talking about during morning meetings. It is difficult to establish a rhythm at the start since you keep jumping between distinct projects.

But once you learn the fundamentals and accept that you just need to keep learning forever, you will find the process quite pleasant.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

1. Question every process.
2. Ask the same question to multiple people.
3. Use Onenote to store all your questions and answers.

It’s important to have a vision for your career, especially since you may feel somewhat lost in the first few years after university.

What's your job about?

I am currently an Actuarial Graduate rotating through the actuarial functions at TAL, one of the largest life insurers in Australia.

My first rotation in the graduate program is in Group Pricing, in a team for one of our cornerstone clients. The particular project that I have been working on over the last six months is our Annual Pricing Review, whereby – broadly speaking – we review the contract’s past year’s experience, and put forward the next year’s rate changes after accounting for future adjustments. My role in the team has spanned verifying data, setting new discount rate assumptions, evaluating our membership profile, deriving Covid-19 adjustments, and more. Throughout the process, we communicate closely with our client, our reinsurer, and our internal governance teams. On top of this, we also receive various requests from other teams to help with ongoing initiatives.

What's your background?

I was born overseas and moved to Brisbane when I was eight.

After high school, I moved to Melbourne to do a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Melbourne. During my time at university, I worked part-time at a U.S.-based general consulting firm in my second year, and then I interned at AIA Australia in Retail Pricing in my final year.

I enjoyed life insurance when I was interning at AIA, so naturally, I applied to the TAL graduate program. I started at TAL in February 2022, and have loved it since.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes and no. It is fairly easy to transition if you’ve come from a background similar to actuarial (e.g. data analytics), else it might be a while until everything’s clear.

As an analyst, technical knowledge will be important, but not more important than your ability to pick things up quickly and your attention to detail. It is also important to be able to communicate efficiently and confidently.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

In general, I enjoy actuarial for its value in technical excellence and its blend with the business context.

From my first rotation, I’ve found that I love the last stretch of a project – when I’ve gained an understanding of all of our assumptions and outputs, and where the focus would be on finalising and communicating the results. You see the value of what you’ve completed then.

What are the limitations of your job?

I bared a lot of responsibility during my first rotation; as a result of this responsibility, I’ve gained a much broader and more in-depth understanding of pricing than I could have ever expected. Nevertheless, I’ve never had to work on a weekend, and my team is always available to help if I’m too busy.

The biggest limitation of any entry-level actuarial position would be your limited technical understanding. There’s only so much that can be learned from university, and the application in the real world is often quite different. Nonetheless, everyone’s always happy to help here at TAL if you have a question, so rest assured!

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

1. Plan out as much as possible where you want to be in the next five, or ten years. It’s important to have a vision for your career, especially since you may feel somewhat lost in the first few years after university.
2. Connect with people as much as you can! People are always happy to chat, especially with a fresh graduate.
3. And finally – always be eager to learn. I feel that I’m learning even more every day while working compared to my first few years at university, so the learning never stops!

Don’t be afraid to put up your hand or get involved, life happens when you are getting things done and you will look back with fond memories of all the things you were able to accomplish.

What's your job about?

TAL is Australia’s largest life insurance company. It is the people at TAL who ignite the purpose, ambition and priorities of the organisation. TAL assists everyday Australians to look after what we consider to be the most important asset, life.

For my first rotation in the marketing department within Individual Life, I work as part of TAL’s graduate program where we each complete four rotations. Three of the four rotations will be in your business unit and the other rotation can be completed in any other across the company. My responsibilities include managing several adviser communications, assisting with updating marketing collateral and supporting other marketing projects.

So far, I have thrown myself into the deep end, and am proud to be part of the social committee for TAL called TAL Connect. This is a great way to meet new people from different business units and is a great opportunity to network. I have volunteered for ABCN Future Thinkers mentoring program and was a part of the National Reconciliation Week 2022 working group.

TAL has several opportunities for you to get involved beyond your role, whether it be through different projects, extra co-curricular activities or volunteering opportunities.

What's your background?

Both my parents were born overseas. My mother was born in Malta and my father was born in Croatia. Both my parents did not attend university; therefore, they saw it as necessary for me to have a good quality education.

I grew up in Sydney’s North shore, attending Loreto Kirribilli from Kindergarten to Year 12. Therefore, transitioning to university was a big change for me.

I went to the University of Notre Dame Australia where I completed a double degree and a master’s qualification. During my time at university, I was involved in various extra co-curricular activities including Founder and President of the Notre Dame Sydney Business Society, President of the Student Association and Board member for the National Student Board. I also represented the university at National University Games in Hockey, Baseball and was team manager for Table Tennis. My time as President set me up for the challenges that Graduate Program recruiting presents. Notre Dame values the student's voice, and because of this, I spent my weeks throughout that year representing students on a variety of other committees in addition to those already mentioned. I am still so grateful for the professional experience I gained from the many mentors that helped me through this time.

While I was completing my undergraduate degree I completed a short study abroad experience in Prague, Czech Republic. This was one of my favourite experiences at university as I made friends for life and experienced a different style of teaching and learning in another country.

The experiences I have had at Notre Dame have given me the confidence to be open to new opportunities. Last year I was allowed to tutor a class at university, which I was initially scared about as I had never had any experience in teaching, nor did I have a desire to teach. Looking back, this is something I would like to peruse later in life when I am considering completing a qualification in teaching at a higher educational level.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes, someone with a different background could be an individual life graduate. As individual life graduate programs you with a broad understanding of how TAL operates as a business. An individual life graduate is someone who can be a team player and can manage multiple projects. 

Most people are from diverse backgrounds but they all have one thing in common: A willingness to be proactive and the motivation to succeed!

TAL is a very supportive culture and everyone in the business is given the tools to succeed to provide the best outcome for our stakeholders. 

What's the coolest thing about your job?

The coolest thing about my job is the opportunities that you have as a graduate, especially since your people leader and business sponsor want to help you grow within the company. When I accepted my offer at TAL both my business sponsors called and gave their congratulations and wished me luck for upcoming exams. This really set TAL apart from other organisations that I had applied to, and the care I felt in those initial interactions has stuck, and I can now go to work knowing that my company has my best interests at their core.

One of the reasons I enjoy working at TAL is everyone in the business is supportive and wants to help you grow and develop your skill set.

What are the limitations of your job?

I found that one of the limitations of my role is the learning curve. For the first few months, I felt lost and confused, which was challenging, after being so involved and organised at University. 

I am sure, like most companies these days, there are several systems and processes which you will need to learn when you get started. TAL is no different and saw me learning things that were very different to anything I have done before. Insurance is not something that is generally taught at university or studied at school which meant I was starting from the ground up.

Thankfully, everyone at TAL is willing to teach you, and no question is a silly question. If you need help or you are struggling, there is always someone around, whether it’s your people leader, team member, business sponsor or graduate buddy. 

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

1. Be involved – At university I was involved in various extra co-curricular activities whether it was leadership, volunteering or mentoring. Don’t be afraid to put up your hand or get involved, life happens when you are getting things done and you will look back with fond memories of all the things you were able to accomplish.
2. Be open to opportunities – I was given various opportunities at university, which to this day I am still grateful for. At the time, even though I was scared or thought I might fail; I gave it a go. Don’t be afraid to fail.
3. Have fun - make the most of your university experience. Some of the best memories I have come from spending time on campus and hanging with friends before class. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Being a student is about learning, and building soft skills that will be of great value when you eventually look for a job after graduating. Look for ways to challenge yourself and be open to new ideas.

What's your job about?

TAL is Australia’s biggest life insurer, paying $2.7 billion in claims to 39,628 customers in the financial year 2021. My first rotation in the program is in the Data and Analytics Management (DNA) team. A standard day for me would start at 8.00 am to ensure the daily reporting has been sent to the business correctly. Then at 9.00 am my team will have our daily morning meeting where we discuss what we’re working on, any progress or big achievements we’ve made, and anything we need help on. After the meeting, each day will look slightly different. A typical day’s work will be split into a couple of categories which include: meetings with internal stakeholders to discuss report requirements, report building using Power BI and SQL, and presenting/ showcasing new reports. On top of this, there is a lot of project work the team and I work on whether that is moving our data onto cloud-based storage, helping integrate data capturing processes for new software systems in our claims teams, and optimising our reporting catalogue. The main project I’ve been working on in my first rotation is the optimisation of TAL Direct’s reporting catalogue which has seen me interact with many of our internal stakeholders to determine which reports provide the most value to the business. I have then had the opportunity to build new reports that consolidate key pieces of information to help improve business efficiency.

What's your background?

I was born in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, I lived in the lower parts of the Blue Mountains my entire life until I got married in January of 2022 and moved to the city with my wife.

I went to school at St Paul’s Grammar School just north of Penrith from Kindergarten to year 12. I had several great experiences at school, having the opportunity to be school vice-captain, visiting Cambodia on a service-learning trip, and completing my Gold Duke of Edinburgh award hike in New Zealand.  

After high school, I initially went to UTS and was studying Civil Engineering, however, after the first semester I wasn’t quite enjoying it. So, I took some time off and found myself working at EML a worker’s compensation insurer. During this time, I worked across several different claims teams and had some great experiences. While I was at EML I had some time to think about what I wanted to do and decided I’d go back to university and study a Bachelor of Economics at the University of Sydney. At university, I also began volunteering for Foster the Future, a charity that provides free tutoring for students in foster care and after a couple of years I became a director of the charity. During my final year of university, I began applying for several graduate programs, I was fortunate enough to be offered a position in TAL’s graduate program which I accepted.   

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes, in the Individual Life graduate program there is a broad range of areas you will be exposed to, and you aren’t expected to be an expert in all of them. While having good technical knowledge is certainly useful, much of the knowledge in the insurance industry will be learnt on the job. If you have a willingness to learn, enjoy challenges, and are motivated and proactive, you will have every opportunity to succeed. TAL’s culture is also really supportive, so if you are ever stuck, there is always someone willing to help you out.   

What's the coolest thing about your job?

The coolest thing about TAL is the work we do has a real impact. TAL is Australia’s biggest life insurer, which means we have a responsibility to provide for the community when they need it most. My job at the moment has me providing reporting insights into different parts of the business. This reporting then allows TAL to provide better support to our customers and claimants. With every improvement to our reporting, I know this will improve our ability to help Australians when they need it most.

What are the limitations of your job?

Depending on which part of the business you end up in and what kind of work you’re doing, it can all be a little overwhelming. There is quite a bit to learn as TAL is such a big company with a broad range of products and functions. The life insurance industry is also constantly adapting and changing with new regulatory changes so there is always more to learn. Thankfully, the work-life balance is excellent, I’ve never had to work weekends, and the stress level is manageable.   

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

1. Learn: being a student is about learning, building soft skills will be of great value when you eventually look for a job after graduating. Look for ways to challenge yourself and be open to new ideas.
2. People: connect with people where you can, most people are nice! Making friends is a great way to help you achieve more, have support when times are tough and will help you establish good work relationships in the future.  
3. Enjoy it: being a student is a great time of life, make sure to take the time to have fun with it!

What's your job about?

I spread my responsibility over many key areas. I am in the Cyber team, which is divided into 4 key teams – Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC), Cyber Threat Management (CTM), Identity Access Management (IAM) and Security Architecture. I am currently working for the last 3 respective teams with business as usual (BAU) tasks or aiding in projects.

My current focus is within the Identity Access Management team, spearheading a project regarding Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). I am consolidating the mapping of the certificate requests and renewal process as there is currently a disjointed understanding of the current process among the team. My responsibilities include liaising with the relevant stakeholders of the process to understand their responsibilities and the general lifecycle to create a process all stakeholders can agree on.

While mapping the current process, we have found other methods or services which can be integrated to optimise our current process. Thus, I am also responsible for coordinating the installation

What's your background?

I grew up in Seven Hills and started my education at Seven Hills Public School. As a kid, I was always interested in video games – playing them for hours nonstop and constantly arguing with my brother to play on the single computer we had at home. Mind you he is 7 years older, and I never stood a chance. Forward along a couple of years to high school (Castle Hill High School), where subjects such as Information Process Technology and Software Design and Development furthered my passion and fascination for video games and similarly technology. I was interested in the hardware the games were played on, the way technology is used in everyday life, and the concept of coding. I was hooked.

By the time we had to choose our university courses, I knew it had to involve technology. After some consideration and advice, I discovered that cybersecurity was a rapidly growing field and something I should look at. My high school studies never discussed cyber security other than the basic malware or cyber dangers, so I picked a Bachelor of Cyber Security at Macquarie University to discover what Cyber Security holds. This further piqued my interest in what cyber security and information technology look like in a professional setting. So while applying for grad roles, and browsing GradAustralia’s graduate stories for TAL, one of the rotations was cyber! A perfect fit.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

The IT graduate program offers so many different opportunities that any person that is willing to learn can benefit significantly and grow towards their desired path. So yes, someone with a completely different background from myself has a great chance at excelling at my role and even more so at the grad program.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

The coolest thing about the program is not only the breadth of exposure you can achieve in a short time (rotated between 4 teams in just 8 months), but it is also the faith and trust that’s placed in you for that short period. I was placed in Identity Access Management for just 3 months, but in those 3 months, I was given the opportunity to support and even spearhead 4 different projects. Project work is nice to experience as it feels meaningful and, in some cases, able to see tangible progress in the sense of its integration with the company.

What are the limitations of your job?

The main limitation of the program is time. Sometimes when you are put into a team, you may enjoy it too much, to the point where you don’t want to leave. I am currently experiencing this, as I wish I had more time in the team to explore and learn more. But the opportunity to explore different career options so easily is not something presented often. Considering my next rotation is software development, I am still excited and happy to move on.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

1. Take the opportunity to study abroad / Student exchange program. Never did it when I was at university but wish I did.
2. Don’t let a casual job limit your opportunities to apply to internships. During my time at university, I was working at Coles for 38hrs/week so i felt like I didn’t have to time apply for other jobs.
3. Be more involved and join more societies. As an introvert, I often shied away from joining societies which I wish I had the courage to do as it could lead to lifelong connections and experiences.

Everyone is new at some point, and you aren’t expected to always get things right the first time – however, try not to repeat the same mistakes – learn and adapt!

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.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

1. If possible, try and get some work experience in areas you are interested in as soon as possible. This could even just be shadowing someone for a day or week or reaching out to people and asking lots of questions. Not only this could help set up job opportunities in the future and it will help you figure out what you are interested in (…or not so interested in!).
2. The time between school and work goes very quick – make sure you make the most of that period whether that be learning new skills, travelling or even just taking time to yourself to reset.
3. Never sell yourself short. Be confident in your abilities but also be prepared to learn from mistakes. Everyone is new at some point, and you aren’t expected to always get things right the first time – however, try not to repeat the same mistakes – learn and adapt!

What's your current role at TAL, how long have you been doing this sort of work?

My current role is a Claims Consultant. I have been in the Life Insurance industry for just under five years. 

What's your background?

I studied a Bachelor of Applied Science (Physiotherapy) and worked for a number of private clinics for a few years before moving into the Life Insurance industry. I started off as a Claims Consultant before moving into a Rehab Consultant role. I then transitioned from Westpac to TAL, moving back into the Claims team as a Claims Consultant once again. 

Tell us a little bit about working in Claims at TAL (what it involves, how you learn, what new skills and knowledge have you developed in this time)?

Working in the Claims team at TAL is a very rewarding job. We spend each and every day assisting customers throughout what is usually a very difficult time in their lives. It involves a very high level of empathy – we really need to put ourselves in their shoes to understand just how life changing their illness could be, how it affects their everyday lives and what we can do to make it easier on them. You learn to be a very good listener and communicator; to see things from different perspectives and communicate in a way that people can understand. It has definitely made me a kinder person – you start to understand just how important life insurance is for people in their time of need and how providing a high level of service can really brighten their day. 

What were some transferable skills that you have brought to TAL from your previous career?

My medical knowledge and background have definitely helped me as I transitioned from a Physio to a Claims Consultant. Additionally, my ability to understand function and how this translates into everyday tasks, as well as how a lack of function can prevent someone from returning to work. Having an allied health background has helped me understand treatment and potentially some extra services we can provide to assist our customers in their recovery. Above all, working in healthcare provided me time to really perfect my communication skills, which in my opinion is the single most important skill we need in claims. 

Tell us about some of the things that attracted you to this line of work?

The work-life balance! TAL is extremely flexible, allowing us to work from home three days per week. This cuts down travel time and means we have more time left in the day to spend with the ones we love the most. There are a number of perks, including lifestyle days, ongoing learning opportunities and an amazing office culture!

Tell us about some of the challenging things about this role that anyone from outside the industry needs to be aware when deciding if this is a career path for them?

Dealing with people who are unwell everyday definitely takes its toll. Not all customers are happy and excited to talk to you, and not all of them appreciate the lengths in which we go for them. It can be difficult to deal with some of these more difficult customers, in combination with tight time frames and the other stressors of the role.

3 pieces of advice to anyone thinking about making a career change into Claims or the Life Insurance Industry:

1. People choose to work in healthcare because they have a desire to help people. Although this is in a different way, we spend every minute of the day helping those in need. If this is something you really want to do, I suggest giving the Life Insurance industry a go!
2. Really embrace the culture – this is a great place to work, and we spend so much time with our colleagues – make the most of it and get to know people through attending social events and making friends. It makes our job a lot easier to know we have people around us to support us!
3. Ask questions! No question is a silly question. There is a lot to learn – sometimes you will need to ask the same question multiple times, please do not be afraid to do so. There is so much support and so many people here to help you through your transition, you will never feel alone.

Tell us about some of the things that make TAL a great place to work?

I only have great things to say about TAL. The culture, opportunities, flexibility to balance life and an overwhelmingly large sense of job satisfaction is just the beginning!