Patrick Golden, Loss Adjuster, Cunningham Lindsey

What skills do you need?

You’re dealing with a lot of people, between customers and insurers, so good communication skills are very important. Other skills required include empathy and patience with policy holders, who could be suffering a loss due to a flood, storm or fire damage. Technical knowledge of current building rates and so on to help adjust losses. Good negotiation skills; when we’re adjusting claims it’s a very challenging role in some ways. You need a good work ethic and the ability to work well under pressure.

Tell us about your career choices.

No matter what route you take through college, there are a lot of options open to you after that. I studied manufacturing in Limerick. Little did I think that eight years later I’d be studying and working in the insurance sector.