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Career Heroes - Bernie Greer

Job title

Consultant

Employer

Liberty IT

Tell us more about you

I’m a Consultant in the Incubator Team at Liberty Information Technology (Liberty IT or LIT). Liberty IT is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Mutual Insurance.

My Consultant role has evolved from being internal - focussed on process improvement, problem-solving, change management, and coaching - to external, providing that service to our customers in Liberty Mutual.

What kind of work do you do?

I’m currently working with a team of Data Scientists based in the US to help identify how to educate the organisation on the importance of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence to insurance. Data Science is basically the prediction element of insurance, using scientific methods to solve problems.

I’m part of a team of Consultants distributed across Belfast and Dublin. We typically collaborate on internal Liberty IT projects, but we also work independently with customers of our parent company, Liberty Mutual. We have weekly team meetings to discuss what we’re working on, and any challenges we might have, or share our learnings and successes.

Individually, I have regular touch points throughout the week with my Liberty Mutual customers to collaborate or update on progress.

Top 5 Skills & Attributes Needed for your job

Collaborative

Communicator

Critical Thinker & Problem Solver

Flexible & Adaptable

Strategic thinker

How did you become a Consultant?

After I left school, I did a music degree at Queen’s University. I then worked for a year in the NICS (Northern Ireland Civil Service), in the Child Support Agency. I then moved to a job in Capita, and whilst working full time I completed a master's degree in Human Resource Management.

What you do enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy the variety of what we do. There are over 45,000 employees in Liberty Mutual, distributed across the globe, working in all aspects of the insurance value chain, from sales to customer service and everything in between.

The impact that Artificial Intelligence will have on the insurance industry is huge, and as Consultants, we have a great opportunity to inform and work with our partners in Liberty Mutual to best position themselves for this change. From Liberty Mutual’s perspective - the very provision of insurance helps people live safer lives.

Locally, Liberty IT fundraises a significant amount of money for charity every year. We support our employees' health & well-being, we are a voice for diversity in our sector, and we actively support and promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) subjects and careers to young people.

If you could do-over, What would you do differently?

I’m not sure I would do anything differently. I think the experiences I had along the way in various roles and companies prepared me for the role I’m in now. I’ve a different perspective from those that always worked in IT, and that sets me apart from others.

Looking back, I think I was winging it. I didn’t know what I wanted to do at 18. The career advice I received at school was minimal at best. I chose a university degree based on what I enjoyed, and knew that whilst I didn’t want to teach, I didn’t know what I would do after university. I guess a degree was the end goal, regardless of what I did next.

What advice would you give someone starting out on their career jouney today?

You’ll likely change your career path many times between leaving school and retiring. There’s some careers and job roles that will become redundant during your working life, and countless more that will be created. Some jobs in the future haven’t even been invented yet!

Don’t box yourself in. Always be open to learning and to new experiences. Do what you enjoy and see where that takes you.

Do what you enjoy and see where that takes you.