Earlier this week, some quarter of a million students received their A-level results, a time that anybody who sat those exams or some equivalent will remember as being rife fear and hope. In response, the mainstream media exploded with sympathetic, if somewhat cynically timed, articles discussing the A-level grades earned by celebrities, esteemed entrepreneurs and industry stalwarts.
From Emma Watson, to Jeremy Clarkson, to Tina Tempah - the good, the bad and the indifferent of celebrity exam results are annually rolled out as proof of what every guidance councillor and jazz musician has been paraphrasing for years – it’s not what you got, it’s the way that you use it. That’s why I was so refreshed to see the narrative unfolding among insurance professionals on LinkedIn as connections shared their experiences, their advice and their support for students regardless of whether they are facing a day of triumph or tribulation.
What really set this public conversation apart from the dry reeling off of statistics (for instance, did you know that 44.8% of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade this summer?) or the anecdotal retelling of the successes of people incredibly far removed from the average individual, is that it was underpinned by practical solutions.
Take, for example, Direct Line Group’s reminder to, “Remember that university isn’t always the answer. An apprenticeship can help you grow your skills and career alongside working towards a qualification.” Or the post shared by Vivine Cameron of the CII, who highlighted the opportunity available to students who may not have received the results they expected, to avail of a free course from Into Insurance, which is designed to help young people into insurance roles.
Similarly-focused apprenticeships, internships, mentoring sessions, sponsorships opportunities and graduate programmes have been springing up across the sector and are finding a receptive and engaged audience.
And as so perfectly captured by Steve Woodhouse, of Marsh UK & Ireland, “the best time to fix a roof is while the sun is shining, not while it’s raining.” With A-level results being released so recently, the sun is well and truly shining for companies across the insurance space who want to inject brand new talent into their businesses.
Digging into those dry statistics I disdained only a few short paragraphs ago, it emerges that almost 150,000 students are now scrambling for a university place while the most popular third-level institutions are expected to have fewer remaining vacancies than usual. Meanwhile, the educational charity The Sutton Trust has warned the COVID-19 crisis has “compounded existing inequalities and today’s [August 10, 2021] results are a reflection of that”.
For those insurance companies looking to back the next wave of talent, the answer seems obvious and somewhat inevitable – now is the time to search out, attract and (with the right practices in place) retain a generation of talented, dedicated young people. The timing is perfect because there is now a cohort out there who are willing to explore opportunities aside from the traditional trajectory of going to university and then taking on a graduate role.
From where I stand, it appears that the financial and social uncertainty precipitated by the COVID crisis is likely to generate ambition among the younger generation to find a role that will offer flexibility, variety and stability. Few professions can deliver that particular blend quite so well as insurance and, if it plays its cards right, I believe the sector can reap the benefits of doing internally what it does so well externally – offering individuals not just any port in a storm, but a durable safe harbour.
