Life Insurance Apprentice

Who We Are

At Cornmarket, we look after the financial wellbeing of public servants and their families. We’ve been focused on public sector employees for over 50 years, learning how to bring our clients the best financial services – from car, home, health and life insurance, to income protection, retirement planning and beyond.

Role Purpose

We are looking for an Insurance Apprentice to join our Life Division. This is an initial three-year fixed term earn & learn contract, which upon successful completion, you will be offered a permanent opportunity within the business.  While on the programme, in addition to gaining on-the-job experience, you will complete the finance industry APA and QFA professional qualifications as well as a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Insurance Practice (Apprenticeship) which is Level 8 degree awarded by IT Sligo.

You will receive a tailored induction plan and will be assigned a business supervisor/ mentor to provide support throughout the scheme. We will work with you to enable you to reach your development goals and aspirations for your career at Cornmarket.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is looking to carve out a career in financial services.

Accountabilities of the Role

• Making outbound calls and taking calls from members of the public sector unions to arrange appointments with the company’s Consultants

• Meeting monthly targets which are built around call volume and appointment scheduling (alongside these targets comes an excellent monthly bonus structure)

• Dealing with clients in a professional and timely manner with a customer first approach

• Cross-selling other Cornmarket products and services

• Performing tasks in a compliant manner to set procedures and prescribed scripts

• Completing various administration duties, such as data entry, logging and scanning

• Participating in weekly team meetings

• Continuously looking for and suggesting ways to improve existing processes

• Process’s new business applications using our Proposal tracking System

• Ensure new business applications are compliant with defined checking questions

• Provide support to the team that Issue life new business in accordance with the terms given by the underwriter

• Process incoming correspondence and documentation effectively and efficiently

• Work to meet and exceed targets for both call volume and processing of new business.

• Provide support to the team that is responsible for dealing with client queries/requests in a professional and timely manner

• Follow set procedures & guidelines, identifying when it is necessary to escalate cases for alternative handling or manager’s advice

• Communicate with Life offices, customers & financial consultants regarding the progress of applications

• Comply with risk control and regulatory requirements that are relevant to this role

• Maintain commercial awareness relevant to this role

Entry Requirements  

1. Leaving Certificate Requirements:

Prior to 2017:

• A minimum of 4 grade Ds at Ordinary Level and 2 Grade C3 at Higher Level

• Leaving Certificate subjects must include Mathematics and English or Irish

• An E grade in Higher Level Mathematics, and a B2 in Foundation Mathematics is a minimum entry requirement

• A minimum of 140 points is required for entry to all Level 8 courses.

2017 onwards:

• A minimum of 4 grades 4o6/H7 and 2 grade H5 or higher Leaving Certificate subjects

• Leaving Certificate subjects must include Mathematics and English or Irish

• With English or Irish with O6/H7 and Mathematics with F2/o6/H7

• A minimum of 140 points is required for entry to all Level 8 courses

1. For students who are over 23 on January 1st of the year of entry, interviews and other selection tools will be used to assess suitability, replacing the minimum requirements above.

2. Learners who have a full FETAC level 5 qualification will also be eligible to join the programme.

What We Can Offer You?

• Flexible working from home options as part of our Cornmarket Flex ways of working

• Significant investments in your professional development (e.g. insurance qualifications, professional qualifications relevant to your role)

• Annual leave (increases based on service)

• Flexi leave (option to take additional annual leave)

• Attractive & flexible pension contribution rates

• Health insurance or wellness subsidy

• Fully paid family leave types (maternity/paternity/surrogacy)

• Performance based bonus/commission

• Income protection

• Life cover

• Discounts on financial products

• Comprehensive health & wellbeing programme

• Employee Assistance Programme

• Active Sports & Social Club

Behavioural Competencies Required

• Committed to working and studying for a level 8 degree simultaneously

• Focused and diligent

• Hardworking with a drive for success

• Exceptional communication and organisational skills

• Strong initiative with ability to manage your own workload

Equal Opportunities & Data Privacy Notice

Cornmarket is committed to building an inclusive workplace environment, We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer, striving to create a welcoming environment. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, disability, ethnic background, family status, gender identify or expression, martial status, membership of the Traveller Community, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation.

We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in the employment application process. To request an accommodation, please contact our Talent Acquisition Team.

To review our data use practices, visit our Recruitment Data Privacy Notice.

Controlled Function

This role is a ‘controlled function’ as defined by the Central Bank Reform Act 2010 Regulations 2011. Any appointment will be conditional on the company being satisfied that the appointee meets the requirements as set out in the Fitness and Probity standards issued by the Central Bank. This requires the company to complete prescribed due diligence to assess the appointee’s fitness and probity.