Apprentice Review

My role at Aon primarily consists of supporting the senior brokers with the business they bring in, as well as supporting other colleagues at renewals. This can involve client facing work, such as emailing invoices, but also includes general filing to ensure all documents are easily accessible. Along with this I also spend time studying for my exams.

I have certainly developed my organisational skills. Compared to school, work is a lot more independent, so it is up to you to organise your time and ensure all deadlines are met. This may be work required by other team members, or ensuring you have done a sufficient amount of studying for the week. I have also learnt about the formality and way of addressing clients in emails, as this is a skill I previously didn't have.

I really enjoy the programme I am on. The work I do really interests me and one of the attractions to the apprenticeship was the realistic nature of the work. I enjoy working with my team who all take a great interest in my apprenticeship and ask me how they can support my development.

My programme is very well organised. My coach from the learning provider schedules in quarterly reviews and regular catch-up calls to monitor my progress, but is also available on email to answer questions. The company do a great job of ensuring we fully understand the timeline of the programme (When our exams are, how they are assessed, our preparation).

Aon are really supportive of my programme. team members take a great interest in how it works and ask what they can do to help me (Provide me with tasks to evidence competency). My manager always checks in with me and my coach, and is very flexible between finding work for me, and allowing me time and space to study for my exams.

They schedule group workshops in exam months to go through some of the material. My coach schedules quarterly reviews and catch-up calls but also always sends us additional content such as webinars and exam materials we could use to help develop our knowledge. They also get to know my manager and job role as best as possible to ensure they fully understand the type of support I need.

I have already felt the positive effects of studying for my Cert qualification on my job role. We are required to sit mock exams for our modules even towards the beginning of the programme, as the training provider realise that the content is applicable to the work we do on the job. This helps me in meetings and tasks to pick up information quicker as I already understand some of the meanings.

It has been difficult during the pandemic, however the Early Careers team still offer us lots of online social events to better network with each other. We also have team days in the office. Additionally, we are introduced to different communities within Aon, such as mental health and LGBTQ groups, where we can find lots of information and ways of supporting other colleagues.

Yes

Aon put a lot of focus on the development of early careers talent such as apprentices and graduates, this means from the day you arrive there will be people all around you taking an interest in your pathway and how they can help, as this is the culture they have established. This is helped by the fact that Aon is already a leading company in the insurance industry which provides all colleagues with lots of professional opportunities.

Approach the application process with a positive attitude, don't be afraid to express yourself and your achievements to date. The interviews are really positive, the interviewer will likely want to just have a conversation with you and just get to know you as a person, as this is more important to them than anything else.