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Political Risk and the London insurance market May 11, 2012

Posted by Jeff Riley in : AON, Political risk, The Careers Group Blogs, london, politics , add a comment


2012 Political Risk

2012 Political Risk Map from Aon

“Political risk is a significant feature of the London insurance market, which is the world’s number one market for international insurance and reinsurance.”  My interview with Caspar Bartington of the CII was going splendidly I thought.  I was visiting Caspar because I’ve just started careers work with Queen Mary College, University of London and he has been there a couple of times for careers events

Why doesn’t political risk have a higher profile amongst students? There are a number of reasons. Insurance is a hidden gem – it has a perception problem that means it is misunderstood by most students. On top of that, sector employers don’t recruit in the same way as other financial companies.  There aren’t, for example, as many structured placements and companies don’t attend that many careers fairs, although the CII does plenty of student sessions each year.  People tend to hear about schemes and opportunities through personal and professional networks more than careers fairs and directories.  Having said that, lots of students and graduates have found their way in to the profession and it is a competitive sector to break into.

So do all insurance companies have a political risk section? Many companies will have a political risk expert but only a few will have specialist teams. Aon is one such company, and indeed its graduate scheme allows some new entrants to spend six months in the kidnap and ransom division as well as other placements in more calm areas such as fine art! Aon also has a summer placement scheme so they are worth getting to know well.

Would students be at a disadvantage if they were too clearly focused on political risk as an option to the exclusion of considering other areas of the insurance business? Well I think an interest in, and knowledge of, political risk as a feature of insurance would be an excellent platform for any application. Frankly there is a low level of knowledge of the profession in general so any informed focus would be a good start.  Having said that I think it would be in the students’ own interest to be open-minded about other areas of the insurance business.  After all it is part of the same profession.  Until they have got some practical experience it probably wouldn’t be wise to make final decisions.  In any case the sector is pretty good at accommodating individual preferences so there is no need to panic about it.

One other point worth making is that the sector does recruit from a wide range of degree disciplines – the main focus when recruiting is the range of skills and aptitudes candidates can bring rather than just the subject studied.

What does political risk work in insurance involve? A real variety of things. On the one hand looking over historical data to generate a prognosis about future stability in a particular country.  Emerging markets, for example, can provide growth opportunities for business but they are also more liable to be impacted by government action and supply chains are increasingly vulnerable.  Issues such as unexpected nationalisation, physical damage from political violence, the cancellation of export/import licenses and default on contracts.  We rely on political risk expertise to help us take these kinds of issues into account when offering insurance.  They provide expertise in issues such as kidnapping and terrorism – and these days terrorist attacks are considered as a foreseeable risk.  There are around 20,000 kidnappings a year and these also have to be factored in when companies are considering insurance.  I know of one insurance professional who has to conduct negotiations with Somali pirates who had taken a ship that her company had insured.  Of course these kinds of negotiations are carried out in conjunction with legal authorities but nevertheless insurance professionals can be involved in this kind of work.

What advice would you have for students interested in the sector? You won’t be surprised to hear that my top tip is to become a Discover member of the CII.  It only costs £35 a year and will quickly help you get up to speed with the sector. Students should email discover@cii.co.uk for full details. Membership gives free access to lots of events, such as the lunchtime lecture series hosted at Lloyds of London (who also have a graduate programme that includes a political risk element, incidentally). The most recent series of lectures included experts talking about topics like risk around the Olympics or the issues around deep sea oil exploration. These are great places to network as well.

Secondly, you should read the FT and The Economist – fairly obvious I suppose – but also the trade press such as the Insurance Times and Post.

Further Resources

www.discoverrisk.co.uk

www.facebook.com/DiscoverRiskFB

www.twitter.com/discrisk

Don’t forget you can read more on careers in political risk by searching this blog or use the search term political risk at careerstagged.co.uk

Download Aon’s 2012 Political Risk Map produced by Aon here http://www.aon.com/2012politicalriskmap/

Mobile phones, international relations and a summer internship April 25, 2012

Posted by Jeff Riley in : The Careers Group Blogs, international development, internships, politics, work abroad , add a comment


This blog is one of several produced by myself and colleagues who work for The Careers Group, University of London or one of the constituent colleges.  A full list of them can be found  here http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/output/Page808.asp The Web and social media really helps us exchange information about the issues facing our readers.  On the other hand it’s still really handy to be sharing an office so people don’t forget to pass on useful stuff. This explains why I’ve just posted up a terrific summer associate position in London or Bangkok – thanks to James Weaver at Queen Mary who passed it on to me.  You can download the information from our Careerstagged.co.uk site  http://bit.ly/JB34w3 but here’s an outline of what’s on offer

GSMA the trade body for the mobile telecommunications industry has a summer associate position. Closing date May 10 2012. What is it doing featuring in a blog about development and international relations? Well mobile phones are hugely important in the developing world and the role amongst other things may involve writing country profiles.   ” The candidate will work on such things as 1) research specific issues related to mobile money regulation; 2) To prepare country profile for the online mobile money regulatory database; 3)write mini case studies on a deployment and the relevant regulatory context…”  So scoot on over to careerstagged for the download on how to apply (see above)  and we’d love to hear how you get on.

A visit to Lloyd’s Banking Group April 24, 2012

Posted by Jeff Riley in : Graduate recruitment, Industry Information, Uncategorized, finance, internships , 1 comment so far


I’ve changed roles recently and have been finding my way at my new postings at Queen Mary (including their excellent politics and history departments) and UCL.  I intend to keep on posting here about getting into international development as well as international relations and related careers.  Occasionally I post on other things and I have just uncovered this report I wrote on a visit to the Lloyds banking group towards the end of last year.  I normally ask the companies to double check my visit reports but on this occasion it got a little lost. Rather than just chuck it I thought I’d post it here and hope it gives readers an idea of the kinds of roles and internships a bank offers – this was for the 2012 programme but the 2013 programme will no doubt be unveiled later this year…

Lloydsbankinggrouptalent.com

Jeff Riley, The Careers Group, University of London 

10.30am  I’m on my last corporate visit of the summer.  Graduate recruiters use these group visits to brief careers advisers about their forthcoming recruitment campaigns. I push the boat out by bringing a suit to change into as I cycled here.  Top facilities to get changed in and I emerge looking all presentable and normal and head like an arrow for the tea and hob knob biscuits.

 11.10am  Michael Nathan from Lloyds graduate recruitment team does the housekeeping, you know the usual cautionary note to prevent death by burning.  Even more ominous to me is the phrase ‘buffet lunch’.  Perhaps I misheard?

11.20am Lloyds 2012 campaign has started with the launch of the website yesterday.  I’m feeling autumn term has arrived early this year and this kind of keeness isn’t helping.  I see a tidal wave coming at me with data projectors, roving mikes, students and recruiters all bearing down on me with no higher ground available.  Apparently Lloyds have already received 600 applications from pre-registered students.  These statistics are going to take pride of place in my tough love campaign I’m planning for  students in the new academic year.  “Hello welcome to College ….you are already behind in the race.”

A corporate video to start…that’s technologically brave but it works a treat. These guys go back to the 17th century.  Since then they have amalgamated with  Scottish Widows, TSB, Halifax,  Bank of Scotland, Clerical Medical,   Cheltenham and Gloucester (and most recently, of course, with the UK government).    Now the largest retail bank in the UK with 30 million customers (including it turns out half of the careers people in the room) and a £1 trillion balance sheet.   All this to a Carmina Burana style sound track.  

11.30am  Graduate leadership group. 360 degrees of opportunity This strap line really rooted in the breadth of organizations that now make up the group. One of the key themes of the day is that this breadth means retail banking is only one option for graduates.  They can become  involved in insurance, wholesale and corporate banking, foreign exchange, risk and more. Trainees can opt for  many different streams and, during their training (typically two years) rotational placements give a varied foundation for future careers.

 Michael then asked us why Lloyds had been in the news lately .  Hang on I know this….No it’s gone.  Was it something about separating retail from investment banking?  No one could remember but we all then remembered it was about a big redundancy programme the Group had announced.  Michael assured us though that these would be phased redundancies and in the coming campaign they still want 200 graduates and 60 summer interns.  

Trainees take a series of placements, usually between 3 and 4 across divisions such as insurance and banking all underpinned by a different theme eg customer service, leadership and different aspects of risk, for example risk focusing on HR issues.  Most likely these rotational training programmes will involve working in different parts of the UK

Lloyds see the graduate training programmes as a chance for trainees to see which discipline and area would suit them in the longer term. All trainees are supported by a central team and a personal and a professional development programme which includes including a formal qualification in such things as accountancy, human resources and IT.

Options include 

Benefits package.  £28k-£38k plus £3k joining bonus. Laptop and mobile phone and, where appropriate, London weighting.

Entry qualifications.  Need 2.1 and between 260 and 320 UCAS points.  

In addition the application process looks for

‘Leadership’.  If the only evidence of leadership is  as part of an academic module then it is not going to be considered sufficient.

A Numerical test is included but the good news is that most people pass this.

Telephone interview covering communication skills and the other competencies

Assessment centre

*****

The Internship Programe. -  A 10 week summer internship programme with the same recruitment process as graduate entry.  The good news though this can convert into a job offer (called ‘referral’) after a successful internship. Consequently around 80 % of interns get referred. Finalists who are going on to a masters programme can apply to the internship programmme after their degree but more typically internships go to penultimate year students.

Hints and tips

*           Research Lloyds banking group

*           Attend university events where Lloyds are taking part

*           Catch the webinars on the graduate web site

*           Keep abreast of finance and industry news eg independent commission on banking report – going beyond tabloid front page news. 

Current Trainees

This section introduced us to some current trainees on different programmes

#          Corporate markets trainee – a computer science grad from university of Manchester from 2009. Range of work includes

 

#          Amy Walter – HR from University of Bath. Relevant degree is unusual. Had done a bank of England internship. Now executive resourcing  A new chief executive means lots of changes at the top

#          Alex fogg a business studies graduate from University of Cardiff

Currently insurance manager in risk. Negotiating with brokers

Why Lloyds? A  colleague  points out that all the trainees comments sounded like they could be equally applied to other graduate schemes.  All the trainees acknowledged that they had applied to other schemes but found Lloyds recruitment process less ‘gruelling’ and gave a chance to meet other recent trainees which gave them a  sense of the culture.  At Lloyds it felt like looking for reasons to recruit you rather than weed you out.

1 pm Okay it’s lunchtime now so why is James Weaver asking a question?  It’s my fault I should have briefed him more precisely about my lunch needs.  Having said that the dread phrase ‘buffet lunch’ was heard earlier so I am braced for disappointment

The legendary  lunches at Deloitte and Accenture are hard acts to follow but I can’t be doing with fancy little sandwiches with fruit to follow.  In fact I stopped providing buffet sandwiches at my careers events because I disapprove of them in principle.  There is a little cafe right in the atrium where our lunch is served and I toy with the idea of making a raid on it but hold off because I realise my food preferences might seem like borderline phobias.  I plough through a third slice of melon.

After lunch a very thorough outline of Lloyds diversity programmes. Suffice to say the length of the session  did underline how seriously  the issue is being taken.

4pm – Cycling home. Weather good but wonder if I have eaten enough melon to get me home.

Humanitarian Relief – a talk by RedR March 9, 2012

Posted by Jeff Riley in : emergency relief, international development , add a comment


A few years ago, when I first started to research the development and humanitarian relief sector, one of the first organisations I approached was RedR, who train and support relief workers around the world. They were very helpful and generous with their time but because I was knew so little I didn’t really know the right questions to ask.  However, since then I have been able to stay in touch and they have worked with us in many different ways.  Most recently I was really delighted that Martin McCann, their Chief Executive, took time out of his schedule to talk to some students at UCL – one of the colleges I work in.  I took some notes from his talk.

Volunteering in Uganda February 28, 2012

Posted by Jeff Riley in : international development , add a comment


A key factor in getting into international development is international experience.  Organising this can be daunting.  It’s also expensive. So while there are several agencies that can help typically they aren’t NGOs but more likely other kinds of charities or private companies. Interventions facilitated in this way can also be controversial – you can read about a debate in an earlier blog here http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/blog/development/index.php/2010/12/14/416/#comments

 

Recently I met with Dr Prue Chamberlayne who helps run Kanaama Interactive (www.kiafrica.org),  a non-profit development project in south-western Uganda.  We talked about the kinds of internships Kanaama offer and their take on the issue.

Dr Chamberlayne, what is Kanaama Interactive? Kanaama is a small village in southwest Uganda.  KI  offers volunteering and research placements developed with local partners. This ranges from things like working with orphans, microcredit training and monitoring, and project development such as organic farming, journalism and health outreach.

How did it start?  Well quite organically. We had a family connection.  My son’s late father was a doctor in Uganda and my son, who is a social worker in London, has cousins there.  He saw a great need to facilitate volunteering experiences in this rather remote part of the country that wasn’t well served by NGOs.  I had more time on my hands as I was doing less teaching (formerly also at the LSE).  We had an initial meeting with local organisations and were amazed when around 50 turned up.  Since 2007 it has been quite a journey. We have had to get ourselves established as a charitable association. This allowed us to apply for things like gift aid and helped with fundraising initiatives – people aren’t inclined to raise money for a private company.  This whole process took a lot of effort – and legal advice which isn’t cheap.  This side of the work isn’t necessarily over either as we may yet become a charitable company to provide more protection for our trustees.

What kind of people go on your placements?  We get a lot of students who go to do field work as part of undergraduate and Masters courses.  Their experience is then academically accredited.  We work quite closely with the University of East Anglia as well as others.  Offering placements that meet academic criteria means that they have to be well planned.  Other volunteers come who want their placements to  give them  the international experience. They might tend to come during summer vacations

What  is the advantage of KI placements? Kanaama is outside the ‘ngo belt’ of Kampala. So we offer a direct rural experience.  Having said though there are agencies that operate in the region so we are able to share best practice with them – and work with them as well.  We have a house in the village of Kanaama which offers our volunteers a degree of comfort and community.  There aren’t many volunteers at any one time – around six or so – and they will be experiencing the local community fully – including the challenge of accessing IT, working with local organisations and eating local food.

Some students volunteer in London. They enjoy seeing what’s involved in the administration of a small charity and in the development of partnership working in a rural community. They help with publicity and organise London-based events jointly with students who have been to Kanaama.

What kind of placements are there? We do have a wide range. Many of them have been developed from ideas and initiatives from previous volunteers.  Students have come to do nutrition projects – one student conducted lots of interviews with local people in the market.  Others have studied teacher morale, women’s savings groups, and livelihoods.  We have a microcredit project using the Grameen method.  We have over 150 loans that have been set up through this channel.  The project is really focused on working with the ‘unbanked’ – this is over 40% of the population.  Volunteers help with monitoring the groups and loans. What we are concerned with here is helping local people diversify their livelihoods. So local women have been helped with loans to set up tailoring, goat keeping and brick-making projects. Other volunteers might be working with a local vocational centre that offers training in such things as automobiles, secretarial work and agricultural training – with the challenge of climate change it makes it even more important we make better use of our resources.  We have recently started a stove building project. This is a good example of an idea that came from a volunteer. We are developing health placements, mainly for community nursing placements.  Volunteers working with local people to help prevent the spread of disease and promote healthy lifestyles.  We don’t offer technical nursing placements because the health infrastructure wouldn’t lend itself to that. 

                We also offer education placements.  We will sometimes get experienced teachers on placement.  At  primary level they have tended to do creative projects, kites, plays, photography. One student teacher worked up a project proposal for orphans – that was wonderfully helpful. Others will be helping students studying subjects like English, Economics and Business at O and A level. 

How do you respond to critics who object to organisations sending unqualified people to work in schools in the developing world?  I can imagine the protest if an unqualified Ugandan was sent to the UK to teach in a school?   Well, it is true that it is a delicate area and it is not unknown for local teachers to feel insulted by the presence of volunteers. As mentioned earlier we very much welcome experienced teachers but there are still positive contributions to be made by those without formal qualifications. Teachers are badly paid and often absent, and schools particularly seek help with specialist subjects. Volunteer placements often lead to other benefits, notably a school link programme, and fundraising for a water tank and  for class room floors and windows.  Most importantly school students greatly enjoy dialogue on the wider world: ‘You call yourselves good Christians, so why did you enslave Africa?’ One headteacher regards this exchange and widening of horizons as the most valuable asset.

How much do placements cost?  We charge between £300 for a 7 day experience visit and up to £1000 for an 8 week placement.  These include accommodation and most food. Flights are extra but living costs in country are fairly low.

Development work in Mongolia February 21, 2012

Posted by Jeff Riley in : international development , 1 comment so far


Adrienn Gecse, was a Masters student at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), in London  and is currently completing a PhD.  She has kindly   written  to us about her experiences of finding paid work and volunteering opportunities in Mongolia. Thanks Adrienn

“I hold Master’s degrees in Tibetan, Mongolian and African studies and I did the African studies course at SOAS. My  PhD is  in Tibetan and Mongolian studies at the Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary. I am in the final stage now of writing my dissertation. I always get asked why I do both African and Inner Asian studies but it’s not as strange as most people think. I am interested in what’s going on in the world as a whole. To me it doesn’t make much sense to focus only on one country or people, don’t mind me. You can get a much better understanding of a country or a continent if you know those parts of the world too it is connected to historicaly or any other way. You can hardly separate Asia, Africa and the rest of the world nowadays. I have been asked to choose many times in recent years but I wouldn’t like to.

         “I came to Mongolia with the primary aims of doing field work, learning the language and also to gain work experience, preferably within development and ideally within development in research/writing. When I started my research regarding development agencies most people suggested I should wait until I am in the country because there is no chance to find anything through the Internet. However, I decided to  contact people and I got very positive answers. Not from bigger agencies who would have been happy to employ me as a volunteer, but wouldn’t have been able to give me a salary. Because I couldn’t afford to work for free I continued looking.

        ” LinkedIn and the SOAS Alumni Office was a great start. Through the SOAS alumni group I managed to find a gentleman who has worked in Ulan Bator for a while, within development. He was kind to give me his colleague’s contact who I had a little chat with and who offered her very generous help. I have tried to contact the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts in Ulan Bator before but I didn’t get any answer. This lady offered to take my CV to the Museum’s Director, personally. It doesn’t happen every day that you get this kind of help. To my surprise, they were happy to hear from me. My dissertation topic is related to their work and I am starting work for the Museum next week. For a salary! It’s a chance for some crucial  work experience -within my fields it is tough to get the necessary experience. This will definitely help my dissertation as well. I will work part time as a start so I still have time for other things as well as my dissertation.. The work I have been offered will also help to improve my language skills a lot, and this was also one of my aims.

         “At the moment I would have so many opportunities to take that it is difficult to decide. All the other work would be volunteering, but that’s fine now that some basic money is secured with the Museum work. Since I am interested in education, its effect on both the individual and the society, it was obvious that I should contact agencies working within education. They either help street children by giving them a sense of family and trying to guide them back to school.  Others may work with the youth trying to show the disadvantaged they still have  a future despite their background. The majority of organisations I I came across during my research, work within this field in some form. I have been to Mongolia twice before, and my first time was shocking. I saw so many kids on the streets sleeping rough and spending the winter nights in the tunnels of Ulan Bator. That is the only warm place during the harsh winter next to the hot water pipes. Even now, in the middle of February it was -27 celsius this morning. I was here in 2003 the first time. Since that the city has changed a lot, but the issue of homeless children still exists. The city becomes overcrowded, people come here for a better future but turn to alcohol when the city leaves them disappointed. As a result, kids run off home, leave school behind and seemingly they have no prospects for a healthy life. The gap between cities and the countryside is huge. Many NGOs are trying to bridge this gap.

        ” There are also opportunities for English language teaching if you want to earn some money, but as I’m not a native English speaker I won’t do that. Having said that, many people do do, even if they have  a very low level of English themselves. There is a big demand, especially as mining, unfortunately,  is a huge business here. I say ’unfortunately’, because I would not recommend working with mining. I disagree with most forms of mining techniques as they tend to cause irreversible harm., But everyone can make their own decisions about this.

       ” Right now I am deciding between two opportunities.  One is working with children in an orphanage. They have an office in London too, that’s where I know them from. The other possibility would be a chance to help in research and writing articles for another NGO, also within education. Seemingly two different jobs but related in  the sense that they both work for the future of the next generation.

        ” Once you are in Mongolia  you can contact places and organisations easily.  It is really easy to approach anyone. I haven’t experienced this kind of attitude anywhere in Europe. For example one of my friends just asked for directions  in an office and she now might start working  for them doing administration like emailing and secretarial type work.. There are lots of different types of organizations doing environmental or conservation work and if you are interested in this area it is worth looking into as there are  some really interesting projects going on.

         “FinallyI would really recommend finding local agencies. You need to see the reality to get close to a country and to understand its problems. When an organisation is affiliated with a big international agency and you work with other Europeans you might spend more time partying together than getting to know the country you live in, its customs and traditions.  Without this level of knowledge I think it is impossible to do development work properly. I say come here with humility and an an open mind.”

Read another post about Mongolia here http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/blog/development/?s=mongolia&searchbutton=go%21

CV advice for International Development February 15, 2012

Posted by Jeff Riley in : international development , 3comments


Comfort Osilaja was pulling her hair out. It’s a regular experience for recruiters who are looking through CVs for international development internships and jobs.  Comfort has many years experience in the sector and has worked for Anti-Slavery International, Cafod and the Commonwealth Foundation.  One of her current projects is ‘Identity Careers’ which she runs with Kevin Cusack. Identity Careers provides training and coaching for people looking to start in the sector. (www.identitycareers.com/

We spoke to Comfort about the damage she is inflicting on her hair.  “The problem is we do get lots of applications.  For example a recent internship was up on our site and JobOnline for just a week and I had to look through 42 applications. In some ways basic errors make my job easier. For example I can easily set aside applications from people who don’t include a covering letter when asked to do so.  Or applicants who plaster Curriculum Vitae in big bold letters across their CV and have lots of ‘special effects’ – but then don’t include a name. Believe me it does happen.

How can people make a good impression then? One thing lots of students do is automatically start with their education.

Does developing country experience make a difference?  Honestly, its usually more important that people can find their way around an office than around Africa. Certainly for the entry level office work we were advertising recently. It is important that people demonstrate a passion for the sector but that can be done more practically through longer term volunteering in the UK than a six week experience in the summer holiday.

What is Identity Careers?  Kevin and I produce one day workshops and 2-hour CV workshops for small groups of people on getting into development – usually no more than 20 at a time.  It’s different from the one day course The Careers Group, University of London offers because participants will get individual advice and the opportunity for follow up coaching to better develop their cvs and put together an action plan to really get them started on their international development careers, which is really important, as we all know how easy it is to get fired up by a workshop and then do nothing afterwards

Junior Associate at Civitatis International February 13, 2012

Posted by Jeff Riley in : UCL Careers Service News, internships, think tanks , add a comment


Matthew Allison has recently completed an MA in Politics, Security and Integration at UCL.  He is now completing a ‘Junior Associateship’  internship with Civitatis International (www.civitatis.org.uk/) . We talked  to him about his experience

Matthew how did you find out about the programme? Well because I have a fairly clear idea of where I am heading in my career – political consultancy – I knew internships where going to be an important source of  experience.  The key site I use is W4MP and that’s where I found the Civitatis International programme.  I hadn’t heard of them before to be honest.

Was it competitive? Well they take on people for 3 month placements regularly and they told me that they had 100 applications for the three places they had available.  It was competitive but I guess things can be even more competitive than that.

How did you prepare for the interview?  Well they did provide a very clear and thorough ‘job description’ and I did come along for a practice interview with yourself, as you know. They had a lot of information about themselves on the web site as well which made it clear what their ethos and concerns were.

It was a voluntary programme. This is quite an issue at the moment. What did you feel about this?  Well it was my first internship and I was a bit anxious about being taken for a ride. It was clear though from the job spec that they had put a lot of thought into making the internship a mutually rewarding one.  There is a big emphasis on the programme on being trained in global governance and global thinking as well as assisting on  the projects of Civitatis at the secretariat in the City of London.  Even so you can’t help worrying that you were going to end up inputting data on behalf of an admin person who is on maternity leave. 

What was the reality like?  They were as good as their word. I got lots of training on things like ‘how to write briefing papers’ and even stuff on CVs as well as lots of opportunities to do things that I wouldn’t have been able to do just on an academic course. Things like going to conferences, representing  Civitatis at high profile events and meeting some very senior people. You are able to claim expenses for things like conferences.

What were you working on? I was assisting with research on things like energy and resources.  Especially resource depletion. One of things we are working on is mapping links between energy revolutions and  societal change historically to see what lessons they have for us today and in the future.  The other research work is focused on ‘European values’ and the extent to which the European Union can be used as a model for global governance.  The research is though only part of what I have been doing.  I have to contact other researchers in academia and industry to create links and gauge levels of interest in our work, I attend conferences  – often writing up reports on the proceedings.

You haven’t completed the programme yet but what have you got from it? Well it has been very worthwhile.  A lot of professional skills such as communications – how to liaise with internal and external  networks including ‘high level stakeholders’.  I have got a lot more evidence and experience of multi-tasking and it has boosted my confidence a lot.  Even my research skills have improved.  I was fairly confident about these being a masters level student but the internship has helped me see that outside of academia you need to be able to work to much tighter deadlines – two days rather than a month that you would typically get for an essay.  Also learning about a briefing style that is less academic than university work.  Authoritative but without ‘opinion’ and presenting facts in a concise way so it can be read quickly over a coffee, for example.

Has the programme changed your career ideas? Well it has more clearly confirmed for me that I’m heading in the right direction and given me some concrete evidence to present when I’m going for paid roles.  Having said that it has also helped me land another internship with the ‘Vote For Ken’ campaign.  I think having the evidence from Civitatis helped convince them I could be useful.

Intelligence and Security – increasing demand for graduates January 12, 2012

Posted by Jeff Riley in : Intelligence and security, Political risk , add a comment


I caught up with Luke Vile from BeecherMadden – a specialist headhunting firm that supply expertise to the intelligence and security sector.  We published an interview with Luke last autumn http://bit.ly/zAJhz3 and he wanted to give us an update.   You can contact Luke at  Luke Vile +44 (0) 20 3036 0509  Luke.vile@beechermadden.com

The good news for King’s students with an interest in the sector is that there is an increase in DEMAND.  I asked Luke what was driving this.

“ A number of factors –  *             Crises. For example maritime companies are having to respond to fragile security especially off the horn of Africa.  This is driving demand both for consultancy and physical security.  One of the consequences is that there is a need for more people who are able to analyse the situation in the region.  In fact one of the students we placed from King’s College had done a dissertation on this topic so that was very helpful.

*             Regional  instability. Clearly the Arab spring has shaken things up. Egypt, for example, is no longer the stable country it was. Afghanistan is undergoing change as western forces withdraw.  New regimes demand a revision in the ways organisations and businesses relate to countries.

*             Legislation. Things like the new Bribery Act change the landscape as well as more countries adopt different rules.  Buying a bank in Kenya, for example, requires different considerations  now than a couple of years ago.

*             Economic situation.  While the economic crisis is by no means over there are emerging areas of stability and growth.  So, for example, now banks are finding their feet again they may be able to consider engaging with emerging markets like Turkey.

*             Graduates.  Intelligence and security graduates are becoming a recognised resource in the industry. Employers know that students from colleges like King’s can provide excellent analytical skills, knowledge and a willingness and ability to get stuck in.  Frankly even if they are put on a good starting salary they are going to be cheaper  than an ex-army officer”

I also asked Luke who his clients were and what kind of student he wanted to hear from?

“Our clients include small, niche consulting security firms, the larger intelligence and security outfits and commercial professional services firms who by the nature of their size and range of activities will sometime have a need for the kind of personnel we aim to supply.   Ideally we recruit people who can start work fairly quickly but I would encourage anyone with the kind of background that War Studies implies to get in touch.”

Careers In Public Affairs December 14, 2011

Posted by Jeff Riley in : Uncategorized , add a comment


Weber Shandwick is one of the biggest Public Relations companies in the world and I head its political communications section.  The public affairs industry is under some pressure right now because of the activities of Adam Werrity, the ‘lobbyist’ that attached himself to Liam Fox, the former defence secretary. What Werrity was doing was nothing to do with what public affairs professionals do. 

“So what do we do? Well we work with declared clients.  We help them in different ways.  For some it might be providing a list of stakeholders that are impacted by an issue they are involved. We might suggest an event they could stage to achieve a specific end. Provide template for letters they might use to move an argument forward or outline a campaign they could stage.  Clients usually come us very late in the day to help us easily achieve their aim.

“Or our work might be more straightforward lobbying. Our client, for example, might be a major software house who are concerned with proposed legislation and we would organise a meeting with relevant parties in the government.  This is achieved through being able to point out shared interests rather than handing over cash in brown envelopes as the tabloids would occasionally have it.”

Getting jobs in public affairs

What would be better as the next step? A media internship or more public affairs experience?  “Neither, get some Westminster experience. The UK public affairs sector really values knowing how Westminster works. Other useful organisations to get involved with are those concerned with advocacy, charities and NGOs or experience in think tanks such as Demos or the Centre for Social Justice”

Who gets hired?  “Well we recruit people with journalism experience, people with research backgrounds especially civil servants with backgrounds in defence or health and people who have worked for MPs. Sometimes we also hire ex MPs. ”

What does the work involve? “In addition to the things already outlined entrants should be aware that the work can involve long hours. Breakfast meetings and evening networking with MPs, for example.”

In House vs Consultancy.  “Weber Shandwyck is a consultancy but lots of public affairs people work for clients.  Contrary to what you might expect in-house work is paid at least the same and sometimes better that consultancy work.  With the added bonus that you can boss consultants around when they get hired by your firm. In-house also has the advantage of better terms and conditions such as more generous maternity leave”

Any advice for Interns? “In brief – don’t get ill. You have little time to make an impression and taking time off because of illness should be avoided. Also be prepared to make the coffee – really. Everyone has done it.”

Is international experience valued? “Not really though languages can be useful. A good example are talented Americans often with extensive experience in Capitol Hill but for us its a question of who they know in the UK and whether they know how parliament works.  Bigger consultancies may have more scope to use them.”