C-Suite - Broker: In the scheme of things

On 7 September 1981, I was lucky enough to start my insurance career as one of two professional trainees at Sun Alliance in Manchester.

I would like to say it was planned but, like so many others – particularly my contemporaries – it wasn’t. I planned to go to university but wanted a year out, so decided to apply for a couple of jobs.

The Sun Alliance professional trainee scheme was for A-Level school leavers and designed to give the trainee a feel for the whole business with a view to later specialisation. Three A-Levels allowed you to start the Advanced Diploma in Insurance examinations without the introductory courses.

It was a two-year scheme and the first eight months were a whistle-stop tour of the organisation, including one month each in fire, accident, liabilities, motor, household, accounts and claims, and a week each in transit and engineering.

Upon completion, the trainee could choose two specialisms and would then spend eight months in each of those.

Most of the major insurers at that time ran similar schemes and a number of today’s industry leaders gained greatly from such programmes – completing examinations and getting a feel for future development. Some insurers also ran similar schemes for graduates and those people were fast-tracked into the business.

As the years progressed and insurance became more commoditised, companies merged, costs were cut and offices were centralised, these positions became rarer.

Insurers were very short-sighted to cut off this flow of talent. However, it would appear there has recently been an attitude change. This has been galvanised, first, by apprentice schemes, which have been a fantastic success and, second, by insurers and brokers once again offering professional and graduate trainee positions.

Apprenticeships have given a window of opportunity to those who want to leave school but not enter further education. With the Chartered Insurance Institute actively promoting such schemes with employers and school leavers, alongside regional road shows becoming increasingly popular, we now have a healthy new type of entrant to the industry in technical areas, customer service and administration.

There has also been a welcome return to trainee schemes for A-Level school leavers and graduates. With a structured plan and more experienced entrants, some of whom already have experience of the workplace, insurers and brokers are once again benefiting from giving someone rounded training with a view to specialisation.

And, rather than finding people who “fall into insurance”, there are now specific recruitment firms that can find the right graduate to suit the needs, culture, size and shape of the various insurance industry companies.

There is room for all kinds of entrants to our industry as we constantly strive to improve our offerings to provide a structured career plan for all those who want it.

Paul Moors
CEO, Bollington