I joined CANSTAR in my last year of university, which gave me the opportunity to study part time and work full time as a Graduate Analyst in CANSTAR’s Research Team. Our Team is responsible for determining how financial products should be rated – our ratings methodology – and making our recommendations to the Research Committee. Our methodologies are very detailed and different for each financial product, determined after industry consultation and extensive analysis and debate. The Team is then responsible for applying this methodology to the financial products we rate, to determine which products offer outstanding value for consumers.
My typical daily activities include analysis of data for our ratings, and quite often preparation of documents for clients and providing data for media stories. A highlight of the job is the fact that I was given responsibility straight away, I had certain tasks and jobs allocated purely to me, so great care was taken when analysing results or preparing documents post-analysis. My work is reviewed by my manager, of course, but it is terrific to be given that responsibility and the self-management that comes with it.
Canstar has a great company culture, which is very important. We play ping pong every Friday, have a fortnightly team breakfast and other team catch ups during the year, which brings everyone together.