Q&A

If someone were to ask “who is Suad?” how would you describe yourself?
I am someone who doesn’t like to talk about herself so this is hard! I would say I’m a person who always likes to learn something new, and to feel like I’m putting my skills to use. I always hope for the best and just enjoy being around good people with a sense of humour.

You work in Financial Crime Analytics for a major global Bank. Why did you choose a career in Analytics and can you talk us through your journey to date?
Funnily enough when I came out of university, a career in analytics was not really on my radar. It was not something I had really heard about and I was thinking of a more traditional career path e.g. actuary. However, once I left university and had more time to explore other career paths, I found that this would allow me to use my mathematics degree and when I got a job offer, I decided to accept.

I stayed at my first company, an Information Services company, for over 4 years before deciding to find a new challenge. Projects ranged from using risk models to improve insurance pricing to enhancing marketing strategy. I moved to the bank, in a different role from the one I am currently in. It was a regional analytics role so UK focused, but was interesting nonetheless. I then moved internally to my current role in a global team.

Can you walk us through a typical day? What activities are key in your daily role?
The first thing I do in the morning when I log on is to check my emails in case of any queries. This is a global role where we communicate with teams in HK, India etc. so it’s best we do this as early as possible. For example, when it’s 9am GMT in the UK, it’s already 5pm in HK. So there isn’t much time to waste!

My role is to look at potential financial crime risk in our customer portfolio. We look at commercial customers (so businesses) rather than individuals. We analyse our customer behaviour, which could include looking at the value of transactions being made in a certain timeframe, or even just where in the world the transaction is taking place. We then create alerts when a customer has demonstrated unexpected behaviour so that this can be investigated further. Daily tasks range from looking at ways to improve existing alerts with new data to looking at new types of behaviours that we could build alerts for.

What’s one thing you wish you had known when you began your career, and what advice would you give someone wanting to pursue a career similar to yours?
I wish I had known that an analytics career definitely has longevity. Before I even accepted the role, I was worrying if there was any future. There definitely are many opportunities in the field, now there are even more then when I started out!

My advice is that in addition to graduate schemes, it’s a good idea to look out for other graduate opportunities. Graduate schemes are very competitive. I started out on an entry-level role for graduates, and this included lots of training. It was a great experience that I can take with me for the rest of my career.

What is the one common myth about your profession or field that you want to debunk?
There is a myth to non-analysts that we like to sit in a dark room not talking to each other. I may not be the loudest in the room but I still value connecting to people and sharing experiences. We analysts also do appreciate natural light from time to time.

Who are the three most influential people to you?
I would say my parents would have to take two out of three of those places. They are always there to lend an ear to any issues, and they will not hesitate to provide any feedback whether good or bad. They will always encourage me to push myself and sometimes that reminder is very much needed.

Person number three is probably a tie between a lot of people. But I will mention one of my oldest friends, who has been influential in my career. They are always there to remind me that I am capable and that I should not settle for less than I deserve. Everyone needs a friend like that.

What does empowerment look and feel like to Suad? And have you had any empowering moments you’d like to share?
I feel empowered when I achieve a personal goal. I feel empowered when I am trusted to take an idea forward and to be autonomous. I feel empowered when someone simply says thank you.

One empowering moment would be when a work project we delivered in half the usual time was recognised in the global head of commercial’s email. Though our specific names were not listed out, knowing how I made a difference in my job made all the work very much worth it.

Statistics show we still have much work to do to truly establish an equal playing field for Black and Ethnic Minority people in Britain. Do you have thoughts about how we can better prepare and empower youth from BAME backgrounds?
I think we have to be honest and say yes; you will have to work very hard, perhaps harder than your non-BAME colleagues, so that there is not a complete shock when they get to the workplace. There is also knowledge that you won’t necessarily get taught in schools that needs to be taught a bit earlier. For example, I did not know how important a sponsor is to progress one’s career. As you want to progress higher up then this is almost a necessity.

Effort needs to be applied in the right direction. You may be a fast runner, but if you’re running in the opposite direction to the other racers then you’re never going to win. Representation is also important. It is hard to imagine yourself in a position if you cannot see it.

With iEMPOW3R what’s the one thing you’d like to see from us (this can be anything, big or small)?
It would be great for iEMPOW3R to reach the youth who do not necessarily have their whole life mapped out. They may just need to have that little push to look into fields they had never even considered they could get into.

Finally, on a lighter note, what does Suad do for fun?
I love to play netball. I also enjoy eating out at restaurants, going to musicals at the theatre and travelling. So many countries to see! And sometimes I enjoy just reading a good book, or watching a captivating film.