Working for Control Risks January 24, 2011
Posted by jefffromclapham in Intelligence and security, Political risk.trackback
We recently spoke to one of our alumni from King’s College London who graduated with a Masters in Imperial and Commonwealth History from King’s. Less than a month later he started work with Control Risks – one of the biggest political risk outfits with offices in 35 countries. He came back to talk to our new intake to talk about his work but prefers to remain anonymous.
What do Control Risks do? It’s a UK-based risk consultancy that covers a whole range of things for different clients. We are involved with everything from corporate investigations, political and security analysis, security consulting in-country, kidnap-and-ransom advice, and so on. In short, helping our clients succeed in complex environments.
What is your role? I’m an editor. I do everything from compiling regional summaries to simple spelling and grammar checks to more in-depth criticism of the analysts’ reports; essentially ensuring that the written reports from our in-house analysts are solidly based and well written. While our in-house analysts know their stuff they may sometimes have errors creep in,
What helped you get the job? Well, I had a reasonable amount of internship experience and previous work, with a think-tank as an editorial assistant, for example, and with publications in India. I’d also built up some regional knowledge both of India and also several other countries through working on a business magazine there. I was also interviewed twice after sending in a CV and covering letter and I also had to do a 90 minute test editing some sample reports
How does the work differ from the analysts you mentioned? I work with the analysts to produce the reports – they do the bulk of the research and writing. They build up a lot of expertise on specific countries and regions – though we do have a small number of people who focus on global issues such as piracy and financial regulation. They’ll also do client presentations and speak to journalists and so on. Interviews are intensive – you can be interviewed by five people and will often have to give a sample presentation to a client, say a mining company.
What skills do they need? Regional experience and preferably work experience in one or more of the countries you’d be analysing. Languages are obviously useful, as is any knowledge or experience working in the areas that Control Risks tends to deal with most often – oil and gas, mining, insurance and shipping, for example, as well as political knowledge. Contacts in the given countries are also a massive plus. The material we produce is specifically designed for companies, so it might be useful to be able to demonstrate that you can write in a style that’s more suited to business or journalism than just a university context.
What would an analyst’s typical day look like? Most days would start with a review of newspapers – including our database that gives us access to lots of local newspapers. Fairly early on in the day a headline for a particular update on a given topic has to be sent to the editor. This update involves writing a 500-word briefing on an aspect of the specific project the analyst is working on. This is ‘predictive’ in tone: not just what happened, but what it means for the future. We also do longer 3- analysis papers dealing with longer-term scenarios, produce bespoke reports on particular areas or projects, and respond on a daily basis to client requests. There are occasional opportunities for analysts to take research trips to their countries of focus.
How easy is it to transfer from one region of expertise to another? Not that easy, frankly. You would have to demonstrate that you have the necessary expertise which is hard to build up when you already engaged with a region.
Do the analysts get training? They start out covering a whole region, picking up things from a range of countries and receive feedback from more senior people. They get opportunities to network and attend conferences and also get overseas trips to help with their research.
I hope I am sending this to Jeff Riley, or jefffromclapham, whom I wish to communicate with
about Jan Valtin (Richard Krebs).
I had never heard of him until I had a conversation with my sister in Oxnard, CA two weeks ago. She had a great career as a librarian, and told me a little about Krebs and “Out of the night.”
His name came up while we were discussing our father, who had traveled from Los Angeles to New Jersey to meet a woman he wanted to marry. My wife and I were living in upstate New York at the time. They came to visit on their way back to Los Angeles, (where indeed they did marry). I had no time to spend with them as in the morning I was taking my family on a vacation to Washington and we had made reservations. Their arrival was a surprise and the truth is, I wasn’t on good terms with my father. They spent the night; we talked with her at dinner. So I had met this woman, my soon-to-be stepmother, but learned little about her. Later, they divorced, so I never knew her at all. Her name was Abby, I believe. I wonder at the stories she had to tell.
In this conversation about our father, my sister said, “Did you know she had formerly been married to Richard Krebs?” I knew nothing about Richard Krebs. She told me the name of his book, and his real name, Jan Valtin. I hadn’t heard of his book, although the title sounded vaguely familiar.
Now we are at home, in the State of Kansas, and I was searching the internet to find out more about Krebs, and found you and your short biography of him.
You obviously know something about Krebs. I will now begin my search to find a copy of Out of The Night. I’m sure I will find it fascinating and hope then I can stay in touch with you, in case I have any questions.
If I do have the right person, please will you be so kind as to send me a response so I will have your email address?
I will tell you just a little about me. I am a student of History, and a semi-professional writer, having sold more than 120 free-lance articles. I also for seven years wrote a monthly business column for Washington Post/Newsweek.
I also worked for IBM in Los Angeles, New York and Kansas City, where now we still reside.
~ Ross Murphy