Alumni Spotlight - Erin Hamm '16

As a Senior Business Analyst, what do you do at Nationwide?
As a Senior Business Analyst for Commercial Claims, I prepare reports for our executives and leaders that fall under the commercial claims spectrum. The majority of my time is spent writing out code in programs like SAS, Tableau and Excel. After I have created the code for a request, I then validate the output data and build a visualization using different software to showcase what information is relevant.

How were you able to find this opportunity?
I was able to find this position by attending a career fair that ODU hosted in spring 2016. While at the job fair, I met with several different companies and tried to develop a conversation with each that could extend beyond the job fair so I could have someone from that company that I could reach out to. I started at Nationwide in June 2016.               

What do you enjoy most about your position?
What I enjoy most about my position is being able to create different reports and visualizations that the company and its members use on a daily basis to gauge the performance of their business units.

What are your ultimate career goals?
Ultimately I would like to go back to school to continue my career and become a teacher. My hope would be to either teach insurance and risk management classes or possibly even mathematics. For the time being I am striving to do my best in my current role and earn my CPCU certification.

How did ODU help prepare you for your career?
ODU’s classes and the individuals that I met on campus helped prepare me for my career. Having math classes that allowed me to implement what I learned during self-guided videos is similar to the structure of how you learn to do a job. Also, having the ability to take classes that were specifically insurance related helped me understand the insurance industry. I have been able to use my skills of problem solving, presentation, and communication in the workplace.

How have your former professors supported you?
Carol Blaine (ODU Lecturer of Insurance & Risk Management) was a huge support before graduation and she remains a huge support today. She has reached out to several individuals within the industry for me to connect with. Having this leader and mentor has allowed me to reach out to different people in the industry and gain a deeper knowledge not only in the workplace but also in life.

Why should a student consider pursuing a career in the insurance field?
The insurance field will have thousands of job openings over the course of the next several years due to the majority of the workforce retiring. Insurance is a business that helps run our economy. As long as there is risk there will always be insurance, which means plenty of jobs. Across the industry there are several different types of jobs that you can pursue, such as positions in marketing, coding, sales, underwriting, claims, and leadership. Having all of these options available allows someone to stay within one company but transfer to different jobs over the course of their career.