Insurance Guide for Online

FINANCIAL LINES DEVELOPMENT
UNDERWRITER
ZURICH
GRADUATE PROFILES
NICHOLAS PRITCHARD
UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
FINANCE, ACCOUNTING &
MANAGEMENT
CROYDON/LONDON
“I saw a real maturity
in myself throughout
the process
and a certain
growth in resilience
”
FRIDAY
Project-focussed day: A combination of
cyber-specific projects and projects involving
the wider Zurich community. From a cyberperspective,
this included the delivery of an
impact analysis for a switch in underwriting
rating tools. More generally, during this
stage of my role as a Zurich graduate, I was
also involved in a project that centred on
increasing awareness of different areas of the
business, in order to remove communication
barriers and to improve idea-sharing to foster
innovative mind-sets.
of different friends and family – you’ll find
that they’ve all had different interviewing
experiences and so ask you a wide array of
questions from a number of perspectives, which
should help your preparation for interviews (be
they video or telephone) or assessment days.
For the latest graduate jobs:
www.insurancecareers.co.uk/jobs
If there’s one thing you can’t truly comprehend
until you’re in the industry, it’s the sheer
amount of different avenues you can take to
find contentment and success in insurance. My
time at Zurich has been a diverse one – I’ve
now worked in 4 different offices in 6 different
roles, alongside countless people, both inside
and out of Zurich. Following experiences in
Professional Indemnity Underwriting, Marine
Claims Handling, Personal Lines Distribution and
Cyber Liability Underwriting, as well as projects
involving the gig economy and company-wide
initiatives, I’ve now moved off Zurich’s Business
Graduate Programme into a permanent role in
their regional Financial Lines Underwriting team.
A week in the life of an insurance graduate
at Zurich
Rotation 4 – Cyber Liability Underwriting Assistant
MONDAY - Technical training: The cyber
insurance landscape is developing at
frightening speeds. It’s therefore essential
to build up a thorough and rigorous
understanding of how insurance policies
respond in different scenarios, to ensure that
brokers and clients can be confident in the
cover that is afforded to them. Training consists
of policy wording comparisons, market research
and claims scenario analysis.
TUESDAY - Broker meetings and
underwriting in action: Application of training
in live situations. Underwriting is a blend of
technical know-how and trading abilities.
Ensuring that you embody Zurich’s brand
and values, whilst evaluating and targeting
commercial opportunities are imperative to
effective underwriting.
Wednesday - Graduate development day:
Behavioural skills training with my graduate
cohort. Numerous events were organised
as part of our development programme,
targeting growth and development in key
leadership attributes. We engaged with experts
(both internal and external) on topics such as
personal brand, communication and financial/
commercial acumen to assist in developing
well-rounded skill sets. These sessions served
as a fantastic opportunity to reflect on personal
growth and to knowledge-share with other
graduates who may be exposed to different
areas of the business.
THURSDAY - Representing Zurich at a
Cyber Insurance Conference: Involved
hearing from experts on accumulation
modelling, the transformation of insurance
policies into a new age of service-led
propositions, as well as emerging exposures.
Taking a step back to think conceptually
about distribution models, insurance
solutions and evolving customer demands
enabled me to more-valuably input to
internal conversations around sustainable
strategy formulation.
You can’t truly comprehend...
the sheer amount of
avenues you can take to find
contentment
and success in insurance
What was the application process like – any
advice?
I found the Zurich application process to be
very similar to other financial service schemes.
As expected, it was multi-staged, and whilst,
at the time I was dreading the thought of
expending so much effort in something where
the chances of success were so slim, it should
be treated as a journey. Whilst that sounds
incredibly cheesy, until you’ve gone through
the process of evaluating your strengths and
weaknesses and demonstrating your ability to
act upon these, the likelihood is that you aren’t
yet ready to work in a demanding environment
that places great responsibility on you from
the get-go. I saw a real maturity in myself
throughout the process and a certain growth
in resilience.
In terms of advice, practice makes perfect. It
may make you feel uncomfortable, but test
your interviewing capabilities with a number
What skills are useful in this profession?
Obviously, you could end up in any number
of different roles – to name a few: actuarial
analyst, market underwriter, marketing
ambassador, portfolio manager, claims
handler, project manager, operational
consultant, data consultant – and each role
will carry different requirements in skill-sets.
However, some traits are universally
important. Adaptability is vital when
working in such an integrated environment
that continues to grow in diversity – at some
point, you will undoubtedly be exposed
to differing managerial styles, customer
groups, brokers, internal teams working
at changing intensities. Holistic thinking
is essential as it will enable you to make
crucial links between your role and how
this interacts with wider strategy of your
business unit and company.
Additionally, it can aid your responses in
a number of tricky situations – dealing
with a disgruntled customer, entering into
negotiations and presentation delivery.
Finally, the ability to appropriately identify
and seize opportunities – this will not only
make you indispensable to your team, but
from a purely selfish perspective, can lead
to the opening of many doors. •
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Insurance Profession | www.insurancecareers.co.uk
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