What do you do at Great West?
As a predictive modeler, I analyze data and transform it into useful measurements that help other employees and managers make business decisions using objective information.
What does your day-to-day work look like?
While there is a typical flow to what I do every day, no day is ever the same. My day starts with checking emails to see if there is anything I need to address before continuing to work on my project. Most of the time, I’ll be writing code to manipulate data into what is needed for the task at hand. Some examples are creating datasets to export to Excel so that others can access the information, creating visualizations that allow others to easily understand relationships in the data, or creating predictive models that help others do their job.
Later in the morning, we have a team meeting where everyone gives a brief update on what they are working on, and our manager gives us general updates and informs us of new projects that might be coming. Checking my email and that morning meeting are about the only things that are constant every day. Some days I’ll have other meetings in which I might be presenting the results of a project or listening to stakeholders explain what is needed on a new project. Other days I won’t have any other meetings so I can focus in and work on my projects. Sometimes bigger projects get assigned to multiple people so we get a chance to collaborate with each other on those. Most days I’ll have the freedom to choose which of my active projects I want to focus on, which really helps me to avoid burnout on a single project.
What surprised you about this role when you first started?
The sheer amount of data that we have available to us, and all of the different possibilities that analytics can be used for.
What's challenging about your job?
Making the data make sense isn’t always straightforward. Data can sometimes be messy, so it’s our job to clean it and get it organized in a way so that we can produce accurate metrics. This is sometimes the hardest part of a project.
What is the best part about working here?
The work environment – from the people to the company policies. I have always felt that I’m a valued part of the overall business here at Great West.
What's your favorite memory from working here?
The virtual talent show during our COVID remote working. It was such a fun way for us to see the different things that our coworkers enjoy doing outside of work.
What advice would you give to someone who just joined our team?
Never hesitate to reach out to a coworker for help. We’ve all been there and know how challenging this job can be at first, so we’re all extremely willing to help when someone is struggling.
Did you ever think you'd be working in Insurance?
Not. At. All. To be honest, until my senior year in college at Morningside I was completely unaware that we have one of the nation’s top commercial trucking insurance companies right here in Siouxland. Couldn’t be happier that I found out about Great West and started my career here.
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This blog post was created by Megan L., Great West Casualty Company HR Communications Specialist.
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