Zurich expands graduate scheme with ‘green’ placements

Zurich UK has expanded its graduate program to provide more opportunities available to recent graduates, an announcement from the insurer explained.

According to a statement released today (4 September 2023), the expansion will include the introduction of “Green Graduate” positions within the renewable energy sector – representing a total of 33 graduate places this year.

The insurer explained that “successful applicants on the sustainable energy underwriting graduate programme will play an integral role in supporting global energy customers on their sustainable energy transition plans”.

Zurich said the graduates would develop their expertise across several areas, from understanding, assessing and reducing risk to claims, pricing and insurance frameworks – all with a focus on sustainable energy.

Michelle Ransome, Zurich’s talent acquisition manager, said: “This year we are increasing our graduate intake with an additional two placements available, allowing us to nurture the next generation of talent within our business.

“We really walk the walk at Zurich when it comes to graduates – a number of our UK executive committee members started on the scheme, including our UK chief executive officer Tim Bailey.”

Internships

Meanwhile, the insurer is looking to increase the volume of its available internship opportunities in 2024 by taking on an additional 26 individuals.

Zurick UK explained that approximately 82% of last year’s interns were extended job offers to join the insurer’s graduate program after successfully completing the 10-week internship.

This contributed heavily to Zurich’s objective of attracting and retaining young talent at the early stages of their careers, said the insurer.

Both internships and graduate schemes are available across seven areas – business management, data and analytics, change and tech, engineering, sustainable energy, actuarial and finance.

Both graduate and internship roles are also to be offered available across each of Zurich’s UK locations including London, Fareham, Glasgow, Birmingham, Swindon and Cardiff.

Recruitment

To ensure a “level playing field” the insurer has “scrapped” group interviews for neurodiverse applicants.

Zurich UK said this approach would “provide every applicant who is assessed, successful or not, bespoke feedback to support their recruitment journey”.

Candidates applying as graduates will not need to divulge the university they attended during the application process and the use of CVs will not be part of the selection process.

Aviva UK General Insurance managing director of personal lines, Owen Morris, recently explained to Insurance Times that providing more information about interviews ahead of time, such as the questions that would be included, the interviewers and the environment, would benefit not only neurodiverse people but everyone.

Zurich added that its approach would allow hiring managers to concentrate solely on identifying the top talent within the pool of graduate applicants.

The insurer also noted that competency-based interviews had been replaced with strength-based assessments to ensure candidates from diverse backgrounds were not at a disadvantage.

Ransome added: “We’ve made many adjustments to the recruitment process in recent years, which is paying dividends for us when it comes to attracting a much more diverse range of applicants.

“In fact, last year 40% of our graduate hires, including intern conversion, were from ethnic minorities. We’re also seeing a significant shift in applications from those from lower social economic backgrounds.”

Applications to the Zurich schemes will open from the 11 September for both graduate and internships. The application deadline has been extended to 5 November to allow more time for candidates to apply.