Diary of an Apprentice

Diary of an apprentice: Charlie Walker

Apprenticeships are an excellent route into insurance.  For an profession that at times feels like a closely guarded secret, apprenticeships open up the doors and give young people a chance to jump in and discover the huge variety of roles they can pursue.  But what does daily life as an apprentice look like?

We took a peek into the diary of iprism apprentice, Charlie Walker to find out:

A busy start to the week…

Early start! My alarm goes off at 06:30 to give myself enough time to get ready and get to the train station for 07:30.  During my journey, I like to take a quick look at any emails that might have come through late the night before or early morning, this gives me a good idea of the sort of cases I will be dealing with when I arrive into the office �" I like to be prepared!
There are three of us apprentices at the moment, so we take it in turns to monitor the team inbox.  Today was my turn, I monitor the mailbox and distribute emails to underwriters making sure they are fairly allocated.  I also review any reports on claims we’ve been sent and make sure outstanding information is added to the correct policy for when it gets reviewed �" time is of the essence, it’s important to get this done as quickly as possible!
Once the mailbox is clear, I spend the rest of my day responding to broker queries and requests.  iprism is all about offering choice to its brokers, and they’re welcome to contact us through email or phone call, however they prefer to work.  Requests usually include making changes to policies, either at mid-term or renewal, and it's my job to find out all the information we need for this change to be reviewed.  I love this part of the job, it gives me the chance to talk to brokers from across the country and find out more about their clients.  

When I have everything we need, I send all the information through to one of our underwriting teams, Liability, Property or Commercial, they will review and either accept or decline the change, as well as confirm quote terms.  I’ll then get back to the underwriters quickly to update them -  iprism works to a tight turnaround for quotes, so again, it’s all about speed!

On Wednesdays we study!

I’m currently studying for my Cert CII and Level 3 Insurance Practitioner qualifications with Wiser Academy.  Every Wednesday, I have a lesson with the other apprentices and we are taught the essentials of insurance and underwriting.  This is an excellent chance for me to talk about what I’ve been doing and link it to the training, as well as check in with any questions of areas I’m struggling with.   I’m currently studying towards my IF2 exam, and learning the ins and outs of insurance package policies.

I really appreciate the commitment iprism is showing to my development. Being able to support my “classroom” learning with real-life experience is really helping me to get up to speed quickly.
After our study session, I head to lunch with Sam and Diamant, the other two apprentices at iprism.  We started at the same time and it’s great to have people on my level to share my experiences with, I enjoy this time for us to get to know each other outside work and become greater friends!

Ending the week on a high!

At the end of the week, we go out for welcome drinks for the new starters we’ve taken on recently. iprism is growing quickly, there are so many people I can learn from and who are happy to offer me guidance as I work through my apprenticeship.

Drinks at All Bar One were really fun, I was able to speak with loads of people across the company who I don’t always get the chance to meet day-to-day.  I love this time to get to know my colleagues on a more personal level and create new bonds.  After a busy week,  this is an ideal opportunity to switch off and relax.