Insurance Practitioner Apprentice Review

I am an Insurance Practitioner Apprentice at Aon in Redhill. My main tasks are ccount handling including renewals, servicing clients and answering their queries, liaising with insurers to place cover and invoicing. As part of my apprenticeship I also had to complete my Cert CII and complete a corporate social responsibility project.

Yes, I earned my Cert CII. I have also earned my Aon Academy Foundation certificate. I also have been on the cyber team for over a year and have completed internal training on that. Skills include analysis, teamworking, organisation, prioritisation, attention to detail, adhering to regulations and compliance procedures to name a few.

Company has a great culture however my office in Redhill is by nature a little less fun than the city. I don't mind so much as I will be going for a promotion in London shortly, and my office has been a great grounding. The only let down has been the management of the apprenticeship which I will cover below.

I feel that I am well respected by my manager. I would also say the Internal recognition systems that do exist work well and are strong. External recognition via networking is great and through putting my hand up I have been involved in a number of projects, career fairs and exhibitions.

I would say the programme is fairly well structured in terms of gaining a qualification and the work experience. However they do not encourage/assemble the apprentices together after the start of the apprenticeship much. Communication to/from the head of the early careers team can also be a bit unyielding. The end of the apprenticeship is very hazy with lots of talk about 'gateways' and 'end point assessments' that are not particularly clear and my fellow apprentices have also confirmed they feel the apprenticeship could be run a little better.

A fair amount however the requirements of the Standard we work towards are very vague and the training provider has not been great at explictly stating what we need to reach distinction standard. They're knowledge of insurance and the learning for the exams was well done though.

Aon are great at making you feel valued, they will also pay for your study and have a great code of business. I feel it is a very good company and will try its best to work around your problems. I am mentored by the former CEO which is a credit to how well those at senior positions connect with us juniors.

I feel that the salary is very competitive as far as apprenticeships go. We even got a 1k pay rise mid year to become even more competitive. It covers living costs, and travel costs are non existent for me unless i travel to london where this is reimbursed. Location of the office is ideal as I can walk from home.

Yes quite a few though often you must put your hand up to do them. The company holds a lot of Diversity and Inclusion events for example. For technical training, there are a lot of young professional networks that I have involved myself in for example NGIN which regularly hosts seminars and networking events. I have also managed to start up my own apprenticeship network as Vice Chair called ASSET - The Insurance Apprentice Network.

Yes

Great work culture, hard work is rewarded, 'if you want it, go and get it' culture is great for young ambitious apprentices. Working in a large company presents a lot of opportunity to network with all types of different people in different roles in different locations. I think it's great. Aon really cares about its employees and is constantly trying to improve.

Prepare well and know why you want to work for Aon as opposed to another company. Do not lie on your CV! Be honest, and ask questions that actually matter to you. Do put your hand up to take opportunities on, do make the best of working in a large company and do work hard for your exams which are key to your success.