Junior Roles
Whilst it can be tempting to pick and choose which role/company you want to work as/for, the main goal is to get your foot in the door. Sacrificing strict preferences will not only help you in the short term, but in the long term as well.
What would this look like?
Whether it is broking, underwriting, claims or operations – at the very entry level – there is a significant overlap in general tasks and skills developed.
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Yes, broking may involve more client facing situations, claims may involve more IT skills, underwriting more mathematics based, and operations more business-functionality orientated; but in terms of getting down fundamentals, these are all areas that can be vastly beneficial.
At this level, an employer is looking for evidence of confidence with IT and a professional application of this confidence. Using Microsoft Office applications like Excel and PowerPoint is an example of exactly what they’re looking for. At the start you will be spending the majority of your time doing admin, so it is important that you have some experience to facilitate a smooth learning process.
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A good route towards gaining this experience could be a local sales company, administrator, accountant. Even if you manage to only secure a week-long work experience, having some experience with quantifiable results will put you streets ahead of other candidates.
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As far as entry-level roles are concerned, these are the main ones you want to look out for:
Underwriting:
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Underwriting Assistant
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Underwriting Operations Assistant
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Underwriting Delegated Authorities Assistant
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Underwriting Governance Analyst (Emphasis on compliance)
Broking:
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Junior Broker
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Trainee Broker
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Account Handler
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Trainee Account Handler
Claims:
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Claims Handler
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Claims Operations Assistant
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Claims Assistant
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Be aware that titles are only a rough guide to what the role actually entails, be sure to research the extent of experience required for these specific roles as they do tend to vary.