Careers in Insurance and Personal Finance seem to be perceived as uninteresting by wider society. This isn’t the case say the Chartered Institute of Insurance. They wanted to show a young future workforce, it’s an incredibly layered and exciting profession.
30 Students from a range of schools with an interest in pursuing a career in finance and insurance attended to The 2nd Chartered Institute of Insurances Finance Expo held here at Sheffield Hallam University. Lead by President Jean Cookson, Sheffield Hallam’s own Damion Taylor (a senior lecturer in Financial Management who, after working as the Head of Finance for The Post Office, re-joined Sheffield Hallam as Course Leader and Recruitment lead for international finance) and supported by leading insurers such as Aviva, Allianz, Cook and Mason, and Swinton Business. Students had the opportunity to engage with and listen to talks by professionals in the insurance industry.
For the first part of the day students had the chance to get involved with Discover Risk, an interactive session that introduces working in Risk (an area of personal finance). Risk is a £100 Billion industry that employs over 300,000 people, with a million more working in related activities. Discover Risk is a team game designed to practice persuasion, enhance decision making and gain important knowledge of using your social skills and knowledge for the best outcomes. The game is played in teams where the players need to correctly asses risks faced by different businesses around the word, often based on real events. For example; a movie studio deciding whether or not to film on the location of a national park in New Zealand (contending with disapproving locals and accounting for untoward weather are examples of likely scenarios that may arise and players had to anticipate). The winning team is the team who have the most points after accurately calculating the possible likelihood of an event happening and the impact that it would have.
Students were then encouraged to join the experts as they enhanced their understanding of how big this industry really is. Geoff Fenwick, Chartered Insurer for Allianz tells them about the wide range of careers that are available in insurance. He teaches the students that while insurance may not be their first choice, there are a number of careers that come under the umbrella that they may not have heard of or seen before. So whether they enjoy being in the midst of the action or prefer working behind the scenes, there is something for them in this vast and ever changing industry.
Bill Padley, Honorary Life Vice President at the Chartered Institute of Insurance enforces the impact that insurance can have on their lives through his experiences. After reassuring the room that train travel in the UK is truly the safest form of public transport, he talks about the impact of some famous train derailments in the UK. He explains that the impact of an incident doesn’t only affect the people in an accident but that the environmental impacts of an accident can be catastrophic and far reaching.
Working in the world of insurance is an enormously challenging career, but also a positive. The global balance of businesses and their needs shifts every day which is what makes it so fast-paced, varied and keeps everyone on their toes. This event was a great opportunity to showcase that while insurance may not always be our first choice in a career, it is constantly growing and developing. Is it waiting for you?
If you are interested in learning more about this event and what opportunities we can offer your students at Sheffield Hallam, please get in touch with the School and College Engagement Team at sclo@shu.ac.uk
written by Kiera Savage
