College of Business
Clodagh Mitchell
BBS
Deciding which college to go to was very tough, I knew I did not want to stay in Dublin to go to college but there were too many other options! Doing German as part of my degree was very important to me and this is where UL really stood out. The German course in UL is modern, practical and focused on business German and I would get to work for 8 months in Germany which sounded like (and was) a great way of becoming fluent and having fun! Also the system of continuous assessment really appealed to me as I prefer to build my marks as I go along rather than base them all on one exam.
The business course is very comprehensive. It covers a wide range of topics from marketing to accounting and economics, thus providing a general understanding of most areas of the business world and allowing us to see which subjects we might specialise in later on. I chose insurance as it a combination of mathematics, interpretation of risks and working with people My Co-op was spent in ”Vereinte Versicherung” the German healthcare branch of Allianz, in Munich. There I was heavily involved in a project to put together an international healthcare database and I had to thoroughly research the healthcare facilities in three countries. This subsequently formed the basis of my final year project. The Co-op experience was brilliant. I had a great time, my German became fluent, and we lived in the centre of Europe hence travelling all over but it also prepared me for what the working world would be like when I finished college.
My first job was with the Volkswagen Insurance Company, which is a reinsurance captive. As you can imagine the combination of German and insurance was perfect for this job and really helped me to progress.
Currently I am a property underwriter working for Allied World Assurance Company (AWAC) in Dublin. AWAC are a Bermudan based insurance/reinsurance company with over 200 employees in 5 offices round the world. My main focus is on European business. This is interesting and it means I get to examine many types of business and it involves quite a lot of travel to London and various other European countries. I enjoy the work and the travel aspect of it means I get to visit other countries and work with different people.
I really enjoyed my four years at UL; it turned out to be a fantastic choice. The college facilities were wonderful, the atmosphere was great and I made some brilliant friends.