Dominic Ludden

Name: Dominic Ludden
Age: 32
Role: Executive assistant to the commercial distribution director
Company: AXA
Degree/University: Business studies, University of Central Lancashire

Why did you choose the insurance industry?

I was a professional footballer playing in the Nationwide League Division One for teams such as Halifax Town, Watford and Preston North End. When my career ended through injury, I was studying for a business studies degree part time.

I decided to transfer to the full time programme, and during my final year at university I noticed the great opportunities that AXA offered on its graduate programme. It gave you the chance to experience at least three different areas of the business before specialising, which is what really appealed to me at the time.

What have you done in your career so far?

I am one year into the 18-month AXA graduate programme. My first placement was in Manchester with AXA's commercial distribution arm. Here I gained a top-level grounding in how a branch operates by working with the underwriting teams, going out to meet clients with account managers and surveyors, and taking part in management meetings.

My second placement was working with the motor claims relationship and development team - a challenging role where I was producing and sending out communications for motor claims and building financial claims models for corporate partner new business deals. The job also included developing and implementing a bespoke motor claims fleet proposition, which will be rolled out in the next few months.

My current role is as an executive assistant to our commercial distribution director - he's a senior and well-respected figure in the industry and it's a great opportunity for me to learn from his experience.

What do you do in a typical working day?

No day is typical as my role is always changing and there are constant new challenges. As usual, I'm on a steep learning curve but I'm in the lucky position of being able to sit in and contribute to senior management meetings.

I'm usually in the office by 8am and my day consists of different meetings and delivering strategic pieces of work at short notice. Reporting directly to the commercial distribution director, I'm working to help ensure our commercial distribution strategy meets our 2012 ambition and vision.

My working day usually finishes at around 6-7pm, but recently I've been staying in the office for another hour or two to finish off my CII assignments - the deadline is looming fast!

What training have you received?

AXA has been very supportive when it comes to training, both in terms of giving me access to courses and also allowing me time out to study for my professional qualifications. 'm four exams away from gaining my ACII qualifications, and studying hard for my forthcoming exams in reinsurance and marketing.

I've been sent on numerous management training courses, which the AXA graduate programme allows and encourages me to do.

I was also very proud to win the AXA graduate award for the highest-performing graduate across the whole of the AXA internship, including AXA Life and AXA PPP Healthcare.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Very much so. I have the opportunity to work with some very talented and respected senior managers on a daily basis who help to nurture my talents by sharing their experience.

Since joining the graduate programme I've been given immediate responsibility for some very important pieces of work, which have needed buy-in from many areas across the business. It's a been a key challenge for me to strike up sound and lasting relationships with people, and to ensure that projects run smoothly and tight deadlines are met.

At the moment I'm learning a huge amount about how commercial distribution fits into our sales strategy and how it will evolve over the coming years. To be able to play a part in this and contribute to the overall development of the company really motivates me.