Compassion and understanding are vital. Do I think our profession helps its staff balance the challenges life throws at us? I am not sure
I am involved in the CII’s New Generation Programme this year and I have really enjoyed working with a great bunch of talent from across the broking profession. In a future edition of The Journal, I will share some of my experiences and our work.
As part of our project, we took over the Instagram page for London Insurance Life and one of the questions asked of us was how we find time to do our professional qualifications.
I am a huge fan of the qualifications but it has taken me a while to complete them. I want to share that journey with you.
I started my career with Zurich Insurance on its graduate programme in which the business expects you to pass your exams. However, I realised I wanted to be a broker so I only stayed with Zurich for 15 months before moving to a small provincial broking firm. Here, the company did not put any emphasis on exams and I felt relieved – I had spent a lot of time studying and it was nice to have the time off. That outlook would later come back to bite me!
I believe that qualifications will become paramount for client-facing staff and those at senior levels
It was not until many years later that I started to redo my exams. I wanted to demonstrate my commitment to the profession and my competency. I also believe that qualifications will become paramount for client-facing staff and those at senior levels.
Beginning again
So, I began them again… then, I had kids and my time disappeared, my sleep went and I struggled. I got to Diploma level and I sat back. It was not until about two years ago that I decided I needed to get it done. I was going to get ACII.
I started to find the time. Whether it was when the kids were out, early mornings, evenings, I wrote those assignments. I believe if you want something enough, you will make time for it. Nevertheless, it was hard. We were going through the process of building a business as well as balancing a family during the pandemic. It was tough but I did not do it alone – my partner, family, colleagues and friends all helped with the commitments; and I am so grateful for that.
It is never too late to find the time, whether you have family commitments or not and if you reach out I am sure you will have a community around you willing to help you get there.
Emily Kenna is director of Sense Risk Solutions Ltd
