Name: Yousef Habib
Track: Finance/ Risk
Studied: Quantitative Finance
Trainee year: 2020
Econometrics & NN Group
I’m Yousef and I started as a Finance & Risk Trainee at NN Group in September 2020, after I finished my Masters in Quantitative Finance at the Erasmus University. In this testimonial, I will tell you more about NN and my experiences during the first months.
NN Group is a large and broad company, which means that there is always a challenge that suits your interests. This is also one of the reasons why I applied at NN. For example, NN is a large insurance company, but also has a bank and an asset management division. The Finance & Risk traineeship also gives you the opportunity to work abroad for a year in one of the 18 countries in which NN has a strong presence, with the furthest location being Japan.
My current assignment is in the Risk department of NN Group, where my team makes sure that the risks that NN faces daily are being managed well. My team is of course not the only team that is involved in this progress. We have to communicate with many other departments and stakeholders which makes the day-to-day activities very dynamic. The major goal of my first assignment is to contribute to the data-driven insight projects NN has. Here, I try to find ways to make better use of the huge amounts of data NN has worldwide.
My experience so far is very positive. Even though I worked from my bedroom since I started working at NN, everybody I met within the company is very willing to help and share their thoughts with me. Also, virtual coffee catch-ups are very common, which allows you to connect in an informal way with colleagues.
If you like to work with a lot of data and mathematical models, NN can be the right place for you. There are many teams and departments where you can put your skills to use and learn new skills. The traineeship provides you the opportunity to explore multiple departments and find what you like the most. I, therefore, think that this traineeship is a very nice start to the career of econometricians. There is always an interesting topic to work on for econometricians, whether you want to do something finance-related, marketing-related, or even something else. And of course, as an econometrician, you can immediately add value to the company with the quantitative skill set you bring along.
Next to your hard skills, NN, and especially the traineeship, allows you to focus on soft skills as well. For example, all the trainees participate in a personal development program of ‘De Baak’. I think that this part of the traineeship is a very nice addition to my personal development.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at my email address: sayed.habib@nn-group.com
