1. What is a Consultant at AIG?

As a Consultant within AIG’s Risk Consulting division—often operating under the title of Senior Loss Prevention Consultant or Field Risk Engineer—you are the frontline technical expert protecting both AIG and its clients. This role is fundamental to AIG’s identity as a leading global insurance organization. You are not just assessing risk; you are actively working with commercial clients to identify, quantify, and mitigate catastrophic exposures to their businesses, such as fire, flood, windstorm, and equipment breakdown.

The impact of this position is massive. The data and insights you gather in the field directly influence AIG’s underwriting decisions and help clients safeguard their physical assets and business continuity. You will encounter incredible variety in your day-to-day work. One day you might be evaluating the fire protection systems of a heavy metalworking facility, and the next, you could be assessing natural catastrophe exposures across a sprawling university campus.

Success in this role requires more than just engineering acumen. It demands a highly consultative approach. You will act as a trusted advisor, bridging the gap between complex technical hazards and actionable business solutions. By leveraging AIG’s internal guidelines, leading-edge tools, and the expertise of the Technical Integration Group, you will develop loss prevention strategies that make a tangible, positive impact on the future of our clients.

2. Common Interview Questions

3. Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparing for an interview at AIG requires a balanced focus on your technical engineering background, your consultative soft skills, and your ability to operate autonomously. Interviewers will be looking for candidates who can seamlessly transition from a hard-hat environment to a corporate boardroom.

Focus your preparation on the following key evaluation criteria:

• Technical Risk Assessment – You must demonstrate a deep understanding of highly protected risk (HPR), building construction, and hazard mitigation. Interviewers will evaluate your ability to assess sprinkler systems, water supplies, and the impact of specific materials (like plastics) on construction safety.
• Consultative Problem-Solving – AIG values engineers who can do more than just point out flaws. You will be assessed on your ability to develop practical, data-driven loss prevention solutions and communicate these recommendations effectively to clients who may not have an engineering background.
• Autonomy and Decision-Making – Field Risk Engineers spend a significant amount of time managing their own schedules and working without close supervision. You must show that you are highly motivated, organized, and capable of making sound technical decisions both with and without established guidelines.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – You will be evaluated on your ability to partner with internal stakeholders. Demonstrating how you have successfully collaborated with Account Engineers, Underwriters, and other cross-functional teams is critical to proving you are a culture fit for AIG.

4. Interview Process Overview

The interview process for a Consultant at AIG is designed to be thorough, evaluating both your technical engineering competencies and your consultative client-facing skills. You can expect a structured progression that begins with a recruiter screen to verify your core qualifications, driving record, and willingness to travel.

Following the initial screen, you will typically move to a hiring manager interview. This conversation dives deeper into your resume, focusing heavily on your field experience, your familiarity with light and moderate hazard occupancies, and your ability to work autonomously. The final stages usually involve a panel interview with senior engineers and account team members. During this phase, expect scenario-based questions where you must walk the panel through how you would conduct a property loss prevention survey, analyze specific hazards, and present your findings to an underwriter.

This visual timeline outlines the typical stages you will navigate, from the initial recruiter touchpoint to the final panel discussions. Use this roadmap to pace your preparation, ensuring you are ready to discuss high-level behavioral examples early on, and highly specific technical scenarios during the final rounds. Keep in mind that depending on your location and the specific team, some of these stages may be combined or conducted virtually.

5. Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

To succeed in your interviews, you must be prepared to speak deeply about your technical background and your approach to client management. AIG interviewers will probe specific areas to ensure you can handle the rigors of the field and the complexities of the consulting process.

Technical Engineering and Hazard Mitigation

• Fire Protection Systems – You must understand water supply analysis and sprinkler system demands. Be prepared to discuss how you determine the adequacy of these systems against specific occupancy hazards.
• Construction and Material Analysis – Interviewers will test your knowledge of building construction. A common topic is assessing the impact of plastics on construction and how external exposures affect a facility's overall risk profile.
• Loss Estimation – You will need to explain your methodology for determining fire and natural catastrophe loss estimates for commercial facilities.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through the steps you take to analyze a facility's water supply and determine if the existing sprinkler system is adequate."
• "How do you assess the impact of a newly introduced plastic material into a manufacturing facility's supply chain from a fire risk perspective?"

Consultative Communication and Stakeholder Management

• Client Advising – You are expected to conduct consultative visits. This means translating complex engineering hazards into business risks that facility managers and executives can understand and act upon.
• Internal Collaboration – Your survey results dictate underwriting decisions. You must be able to document your findings clearly in data-driven report writing applications and communicate effectively with Account Teams and Underwriters.
• Handling Pushback – Clients may resist expensive loss prevention recommendations. You must demonstrate how you build trust and use data to persuade stakeholders.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you identified a critical hazard during a site visit, but the client was resistant to implementing your recommended solution. How did you handle it?"
• "Describe your process for summarizing complex field survey results for an Underwriter who needs to make a quick coverage decision."

Field Operations and Autonomy

• Self-Management – Field Risk Engineers enjoy the freedom to manage their own schedules, but this requires immense discipline. You must show how you prioritize site visits, report writing, and travel (~25% overnight).
• Safety and Physical Readiness – The role is physically demanding. You will be evaluated on your appreciation for workplace safety, your ability to work at heights, and your readiness to perform physical tasks (walking 8-10 hours, lifting up to 50 lbs).

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe a time when you had to manage a complex, multi-site survey schedule with competing deadlines. How did you prioritize your time?"
• "Safety is paramount at AIG. Can you share an example of a time you had to navigate a particularly hazardous occupational environment?"