Rating
- 1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
- 2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
- 3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
- 4. How well organised/structured is your programme?
- 5. How much support do you receive from your employer?
- 6. How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
- 7. How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
- 8. Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
- 9a. Would you recommend WTW to a friend?
- 9b. Why?
- 10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to WTW?
I am a mid-market Cyber Broker and manage and handle accounts both retail and wholesale. I deal with both renewal business and new business enquiries and i am solely responsible for the majority of my accounts. I maintain all systems and admin, including drafting documentation and keeping relevant systems up to date, and arrange for cyber insurance to be placed for our clients.
I have learned a significant amount of information and skills since joining. I would say i had effectively no knowledge of insurance when i joined and now i would say i am well versed in all things Cyber insurance.
I initially enjoyed the apprenticeship scheme, however the information flow and management of expectations has been appalling. Information is kept vague and no tangible answers are given until the last minute. I would say near the beginning i would have rated this significantly higher, but the longer i have been on the programme the worse my experience has become. The fact that i am more knowledgeable and have more valuable experience in areas of cyber insurance than many of my peers is extremely demoralising as i am paid less and given a lesser title. The length of the programme and the inflexibility of the contractual arrangements is the key driver for this, the lack of information compounds this significantly.
It is well organised in the sense of time allocation and exam timelines and lessons, however the offboarding, as mentioned above, is terrible. I am told different things by different people at the Growth Company and no one at my own company can provide any significant insight into my questions despite continuous pressure from myself and my immediate management.
From my own team in Cyber, the support has been great. Pen Pugh has also been brilliant. Outside of this, the same issues are present around the complete lack of consistency and communication relating to the apprenticeship scheme.
my tutor was fantastic and was exceptionally helpful when working towards my Dip CII. Outside of this, he (growth company) has been a good help to me. The same issues mentioned above permeate the culture of the growth company, and there is seemingly no consistency from them in how they approach the apprenticeship scheme. They have been flexible in certain areas.
The DIP CII qualification was really useful to gain a base understanding of insurance as a whole. I would have preferred there to have been more cyber-specific training offered from outside of my own team, however i appreciate the logistics of this are extremely difficult with the number of different lines of insurance. Outside of the DIP CII qualification, I would say that the rest of the apprenticeship work has been completely redundant in my daily job. I understand that we need to present information, prove certain actions etc, however it is an extreme burden to add on top of studying and daily work that has no value to my daily job. The only aspect that helped my work was the studying provided through the Growth Company that related to the DIP CII studying.
There are plenty of occasions to network and attend social events. These are really great opportunities to grow and build a network and make the job more enjoyable too.
Yes
The company itself has a great culture, and i really enjoy working in my team despite my misgivings with the apprenticeship
Join at a junior role and study in your own time to achieve the relevant insurance qualification, not through the apprenticeship scheme as the workload, communication and remuneration are not commensurate of the role you will be performing. Outside of this, it is an excellent company to work for.
Details
Higher Level Apprenticeship
Insurance & Risk Management
Ipswich
March 2024