Jessica Wright isn’t your traditional apprentice. Jessica is doing her apprenticeship as a postgraduate and is the first Personal Account Handler Apprentice that TH March has had. Jessica has been working with us since August 2018. This is her Apprenticeship story!
I decided to apply for the apprenticeship because I knew I had a real gap in my experience when it came to administration. Almost every job I was applying for after university required previous experience in administration, and I had barely any to show even though I had previously been employed elsewhere for ten years. The only way I could see forward was to do an internship or an apprenticeship, and so after my younger sister went to an apprenticeship day and told me about the role at T H March, I decided to go for it.
I was really excited by the prospect of learning and gaining qualifications again. After finishing my degree, I felt aimless and wanted to do something I’d never done before. My previous experience was in both catering and the arts, so an office job was completely alien to me, and I wanted to do something new.
I am an Account Handler in our Personal Lines department, and I work Monday to Friday with Tuesday being my one late night when I work until 7pm. I arrive for 9am and take phone calls from clients, taking them through quotations and queries all day, with an hour off for lunch, and finish usually at 5pm.
My favourite part of the job is being able to help people out and put their minds at rest. For many of the people I speak to, their engagement rings or watches might be the most valuable or sentimental possessions they own, so they are generally very grateful for the service we provide to them.
I am now in the process of studying for my insurance exams and hope to eventually get my Underwriting qualifications. The apprenticeship opportunity with T H March has entirely opened up the possibility of a career in Insurance, and also given me a huge amount of administrative experience that I feel would be beneficial in any business.
I have found both T H March and Skills Group, the training provider to be really supportive throughout my study, and whenever I am struggling there is always someone about who is more than happy to help. I really believe that what you put into something you will get out, and I have come so far since August 2018 when I started. It seems to stand you in very good stead for the future and has opened up a huge amount of opportunity to me already. I would recommend it to anyone – there’s nothing to lose!