Case studies : Senior Consultant: Austin Brislen

Austin Brislen graduated from the University of Leeds with a BA (Hons) Criminal Justice and Criminology before joining Sagar Wright in June 2010 and now works as a Senior Consultant.

I’m originally from Liverpool (yes, I have heard all the jokes you can think of) and moved to Leeds to study Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Leeds. Personally London never appealed to me and I decided to settle in Leeds City Centre which boasts great bars and restaurants. My ‘commute’ to work is a 5 minute walk! This is unlike some of my friends in London who spend at least 50 minutes on a bus and then the ‘sardine can’ tube. Outside of work I enjoy music, football and spending time with family and friends. I play guitar and I am from the red (and more successful) half of Merseyside!

My remit covers premier end Lloyd’s Market Insurers, Consultancies and Multinational Insurance Companies, dealing with highly technical Insurance Risk and Actuarial professionals.

I chose this profession so that I would be able to have some control over my earnings (without any limitations) and very high level commercial skill development. I wanted a career which rewards me based upon the effort I put in. I did not want my career and financial aspirations restricted to a ‘dead man’s shoes’ scenario or limited to an annual inflationary pay review of 2%. I want to be 100% certain that my hard work and continual professional development will have a direct impact on my career and financial aspirations. I did not want to leave these to somebody else or something else to decide for me.

There are so many parts of the job which I really enjoy, none more exciting for me than finalising a placement with a client after dedicating a lot of time to their assignment. It gives me a huge sense of satisfaction when my hard work results in my client ‘getting their man or woman’, and a very happy candidate who thanks me for getting them such a great new role (and a large pay rise)! I also enjoy the excellent feedback and praise that I receive from clients as to the consistent high quality of my work and how this is far superior to the service that they receive from my London-based competitors.

I have learned so much at Sagar Wright I literally wouldn’t know where to start! Put quite simply I have been mentored and coached by the very best in the industry. As such I have developed my skills to an extremely high level in persuasion, negotiation, business development, and people management. Some examples of the results that these skills have produced include securing lucrative contracts with FTSE 100 Insurers and negotiating fantastic packages for candidates, one of which exceeded £350,000!

A proud moment for me was when recently I produced my highest fee to date, c£100,000 for only one placement with a prestigious multi-national insurer. This was an extremely high quality piece of consultative work for a client - the process was lengthy, the assignment was challenging, and it really tested the strength of my skills to facilitate such an important hire for their business. The bonus I received for this placement was enormous which is the funding towards a house deposit, and all of the fancy furniture…and a very high spec home cinema system!

My favourite things about working at Sagar Wright is the environment, opportunity to progress my career and the people. The atmosphere at Sagar Wright is fantastic; we all enjoy such a good laugh at work and we are also surrounded by the best people in the industry which means I learn more every day and therefore get even better every day. I have also enjoyed fantastic career and financial progression…with no sign of a glass ceiling in sight!