Apprenticeships: an alternative route

The difficulty for many employers is that graduates are coming out of university lacking key workplace skills necessary to hit the ground running. For graduates, it’s more than disheartening to come out of college after four years and face the ‘at least 2 years’ experience’ criteria on every job spec – even for some entry level roles. Aside from highly competitive graduate programmes or unpaid internships, many graduates are faced with few options other than to take a job unrelated to their qualification. This is where apprenticeships come in.

What’s an apprenticeship?

Apprenticeships are work-based training programmes that combine academic teaching with valuable onthe-job experiential learning; combining technical and soft skills to create the perfect employee for organisations. In July 2015 the government announced the expansion of the current national apprenticeship scheme to extend beyond trades and into professional industries, such as insurance. The Insurance Practitioner Apprenticeship is a three-year programme, where apprentices are recruited into an insurance organisation while working towards a level 8 degree – the BA in Insurance Practice, awarded by IT Sligo. This is the first apprenticeship in Ireland to offer a level 8 honours degree. The programme is delivered through a combination of online study and onthe-job learning through an insurance employer. The degree portion of the programme is fully funded through the Apprenticeship Council and apprentices are also paid a salary by their employer. As an apprentice you’ll develop technical insurance knowledge along with transferable workplace skills and competencies. Once you graduate, you’ll be business-ready and extremely employable in a range of sectors. Your employer will support you in your on-the-job learning, with regular one to one personal development sessions with an industry supervisor and mentor.

Roles

A huge variety of roles are available in the insurance industry including claims, risk management, underwriting, broking and loss adjusting. As an apprentice, you’ll work in one of the three core industry areas – underwriting, claims or direct client advice. The nature of the programme means that you will learn about all areas of the business and you’ll complete projects and case studies to reinforce learning in the workplace. You will also earn the insurance industry’s benchmark professional qualification the Professional Diploma in Insurance, which means that by the end of your three years, you’ll be compliant to work in any area of general insurance – personal, commercial or private medical.

Who should apply?

• School leavers who want to earn a level 8 degree without going down the university route.
• Third level students who are questioning the relevancy of their current college course can undertake an apprenticeship without having to incur any extra cost of starting a brand new course.
• Graduates who want to further their education in the insurance and financial services sector, while gaining valuable workplace experience through a structured programme. You'll be compliant to work in any area of the general or life insurance market.

When will I start?

The academic programme begins in September each year. Employers can hire throughout the year (although many look to recruit around May–June), so we always advise those interested to sign up to earnandlearn.ie to get job alerts as they come on stream and general careers advice.

How do I apply?

Companies will recruit apprentices through their own processes, however The Insurance Institute will post details of who’s recruiting on their website earnandlearn.ie, where you'll also find more information on the programme. More information is available via apprenticeship.ie .

You can also contact the Insurance Institute to talk about the options available on 01 645 1500 or find out more at w ww.iii.ie