I joined Allianz in September 2007 on the Corporate Management Trainee scheme. I'd just completed a BA in English Literature at University College London and wanted to find a graduate scheme that would give me the right balance of training and breadth of experience. Since joining Allianz I've worked in a variety of departments and offices:

• Commercial: Property and Casualty Underwriting, Birmingham
• Commercial: Operations, Birmingham
• Claims: Operations, Guildford Head Office
• Retail: Operations, Guildford Head Office

During my Claims placement I was sent to our Trivandrum office in India for 2 weeks to review one of our processes. It was probably both the biggest challenge and the highlight of my career with Allianz so far. I have also worked as a Business Analyst on a major project whilst in Retail which has involved meeting and working with people from across the division.

I joined the company at the start of September 2008 on the Underwriting Graduate scheme, having completed a degree in Earth Sciences at Durham University in June 2007. Currently I'm based in Guildford at our Head Office as part of the Commercial Motor account underwriting team. It's been a steep learning curve - but an enjoyable one - as I've rapidly become involved in a wide range of projects, liasing with the many different divisions across Allianz UK and also internationally with our global head office in Munich. I've been given responsibility from day one, taking ownership of various reporting functions and learning to analyse the account. I've also been pushed to understand all levels of the business and as part of my development have had the opportunity to spend time "on the frontline" dealing with our customers, working in a branch and building a different set of skills trading with our Brokers.

"I joined Allianz on the 22nd of September 2008, after having applied for the Claims Graduate Scheme in January earlier that year. I was attending the University of Leeds at the time, where I was studying for a Single Honours German degree. As is standard with all language degrees I spent 12 months in the country of study to help improve my speaking and listening skills. This gave me an opportunity to work for Allianz in an Internship for 12 months in the Re-Insurance part of the business in Munich, which is also happened to be Allianz's Head Office. Luckily this was something mainly organised through Leeds University itself, who give Students the opportunity to apply for a years Placement out there. I had a brilliant time in Munich and learned a lot from my time with the organisation. The people were great and I was interested to learn more about the Industry and pursue my career in a Company which seemed very organised, had a global presence and appeared respected and very successful. This is the reason I am now 9 months into my Claims Scheme, currently placed in Guildford doing my Technical placement. My first 6 months were spent in Milton Keynes where I learned all about dealing with Claims (Opening, Settling, and Progressing) and the more operational side of the business undertaken in the Claims Handling Centres."

I joined Allianz on the 22nd of September 2008, after applying for the Retail Management, formerly Sales, Marketing, & Business graduate scheme. I attended the University of North Carolina, USA studying European Politics, Language, & Business. My first placement was in Broker Marketing looking after development and implementation of marketing materials for a new household product we were launching for our brokers. My second placement is in Retail Operations and I have been working on a project looking at operational resource planning. My final placement will either be in Business Change or Technical Underwriting. I have just recently taken part in the Retail Routes to Success leadership development programme, which has been a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the business and myself. Finally, I'm working towards achieving the advanced diploma in insurance and hope to have earned my qualification by 2011.

"Since joining Allianz in 2008 as an IT graduate I have been exposed to many different areas and roles within IT. In my first placement I was working in the animal health web team, delegating and managing tasks to maintain and improve the various Animal Health web sites such as the Petplan website. I have now moved into commercial lines and have progressed from working within project portfolio management office to working as an assistant project manager and business analyst on various projects. There are endless opportunities to gain experience and try something new. It can be tough and the learning curve is steep but I feel confident that by the end of the graduate scheme I will be well equipped to be successful in my career here at Allianz."

I joined the Finance Graduate Scheme in September 2007 after reading Physics at Oxford University. My first placement was in Management Accounts where I helped with expenses, variance reporting, budgeting and the fixed asset register. I'm currently on my second placement which is in Group Accounts where I help with financial reporting and carry out financial risk assessments. I've also been involved with a project to redesign a financial training course for managers, which was featured in The Times. Whilst working with Allianz I've been studying for CIMA and am now part qualified, and hope to finish studying and become fully qualified before the end of the scheme.