Kate Tarpey, Trainee Actuary (New Ireland Assurance) at Bank of Ireland

• Name: Kate Tarpey
• Current Role Title: Trainee Actuary
• Division: New Ireland Assurance
• Business Unit: Product, Pricing & Distribution
• Team: Pricing

Brief overview of your career path to date.

I completed the Actuarial and Financial Studies undergrad in UCD from 2018-2022 before starting my career on the Actuarial Grad Programme here in BOI in September 2022.

What does a typical day look like for you and your team?

I start my day by checking emails and writing out my priorities for the day. This is followed by a catch up with my line manager and colleagues to see what everyone is working on for the day and where people may need extra support.

The rest varies day-to-day from working on the mailbox responding to a diverse range of queries, working on updating spreadsheets and collaborating with team mates on various projects.

What do you enjoy most about working with Bank of Ireland?

A highlight of working at BOI for me is definitely the people. BOI truly lives one of its core values – Better Together. We collaborate, we share ideas, we challenge thinking, and we learn from and care for one another.

I really enjoy working in a collaborative team of intelligent and driven individuals. I also enjoy being exposed to senior leaders within the group and developing my understanding of the insurance business from different angles as I interact with many different teams across the business.

Within the life insurance/pensions industry, I believe that the work we do adds real value and can significantly improve people's quality of life as they move through the financial life cycle.

How do the ways of working in Bank of Ireland enable you to thrive at work?

BOI have a new approach to performance development, called Thrive, which focuses on colleagues' wellbeing, development and performance. Careers Lab also helps you to understand your skills and capabilities better so that you can further your career in a way that's important to you.

Another development opportunity BOI offers is the All Colleague Pathways which give employees the opportunity develop, grow, and thrive via up-skilling opportunities to build enduring careers. I participated in the Digital Fitness pathway and found it to be a great chance to acquire new skills in areas that align with your interests. The hybrid working model also offers all colleagues greater flexibility in how and where we work.

How do you live our company values (or any one of our values) in your day to day role?

(Our Values: Customer Focussed; One Group, one team; Accountable; Agile)

I feel like the company values are at the core of each and every role here in BOI. The customer is our main priority in everything we do. In my day-to-day providing fast responses to brokers allowing them to provide prompt, informed advice to our customers.

Everyday on our team involves collaborating and supporting each other to improve all stakeholders experiences. Even as a grad I am given meaningful work and I feel like my inputs and opinions are genuinely taken into consideration making me feel like a valued member of the team.

Being agile is a very important part of my role as priorities change rapidly nowadays based on different legislations and goals. We need to be able to adapt and quickly respond to changes in the market.

What other elements of your in time Bank of Ireland have helped improve your experience?

(For example, Sports & Social, Employee Support Networks/Inclusion & Diversity, Graduate support, Employee Assistance Programme, Benefits, Supports etc).

A key factor in my enjoyment of working in BOI is the opportunities provided to bond and socialise with colleagues in a non-work environment. There have been so many events organised between my smaller team, larger team, the grad programme and also companywide (NIA) which have given me the chance to network with colleagues in a more relaxed setting. I think this has enhanced collaboration within the company as having built those relationships I feel more comfortable reaching out and looking for help when needed.

Is there anything about working in Bank of Ireland that you think might surprise people who are considering applying?

The support you receive to encourage both professional and personal development. For my actuarial exams the company offers an attractive study scheme which reward students for exam progression via salary increases and exam bonuses. We also receive a day off a week to dedicate to study which really gives us the best chance possible to achieve our goals.

What makes you proud to say you work with Bank of Ireland?

I am extremely proud to work at Bank of Ireland because it is clear we live our purpose everyday which is to enable our customers, colleagues and communities to thrive. We work hard to meet our customers’ needs and are really open to change to keep improving the services we provide to them.

There are so many supports available to allow colleagues in BOI to grow in both their personal and professional life. We also help communities to flourish through sponsorship and the Begin Together Community Fund which provides grants to future focused projects.