McClarrons were pleased to have welcomed Molly Brown to the team in October as she joined us for 3 weeks’ of work experience. Here, Molly tells us about her time at McClarrons and the various roles and tasks she took on within each team.
A little bit about Molly
I graduated earlier this year, in June, gaining an International Equine and Agricultural Business Management degree from The Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, with the hope of pursuing a career in marketing. While studying, as a result of Covid, I was unable to gain and demonstrate experience in the necessary practical work that is sometimes required by potential future employers, so I took the opportunity before my gap year to gain some work-life experience.
Working at McClarrons
When enquiring about work experience at McClarrons, I had very little knowledge of insurance and, in general, working in an office-based environment, so was naturally hoping to change this. I came to McClarrons emphasising my interests in marketing and that my aim was to gain a good insight into this element of the business, which I felt I achieved upon finishing the 3 weeks of experience. As well as gaining marketing experience, I was also able to gain insight into the insurance industry and what it involves.
Activities undertaken at McClarrons
To help me understand more about McClarrons and what they do, during my time with McClarrons I was given a variety of tasks and activities to perform, both within the office and offsite. Being kept busy is something that particularly stood out for me as I always had something to do and was never bored. Whether the task was to be involved in a meeting, complete a job for a member of the team that I met virtually, or shadow fellow colleagues in the office, I felt very much a part of the team and was always occupied.
With my interests lying in marketing, most of the opportunities presented to me were focused around the marketing team’s ongoing projects. This meant I could get stuck in, in real-time, which I found beneficial as this allowed me to learn a lot in a small space of time. I attended and actively participated in many meetings about a variety of subjects, including sales pipelines, new starter presentations, event organisation, and weekly marketing team catch-ups. Attending these meetings with the marketing team and stakeholders helped me understand how meetings were undertaken and the type of things that can be expected, such as agendas, minute-making, obtaining feedback, and assigning actions. Certain marketing activities also gave me the opportunity to learn and participate outside of the office, such as by helping at McClarrons’ exhibition stand at the East Yorkshire Business Expo event in Hull, which was a great opportunity to see what the business gets involved with and how McClarrons engage with potential clients outside of the office environment.
Some of my other tasks, outside of marketing, included:
- Performing a range of tasks on our database system, Acturis, such as policy listing and geomapping
- Cleansing prospect data and sorting existing client data on Excel
- Assisting with the daily post run
- Designing promotional collateral, adverts and event invitations
- Attending meetings with stakeholders from the different sectors of the business, including clients, department heads and insurers
- Shadowing client visits
- Shadowing our Claims Handlers in the management of claims
- Shadowing our Account Handlers in our Farm Team to see how they interact with clients, each other and insurers
The variety of assignments meant that I got a chance to get involved in many different aspects of the business which allowed me to understand the different responsibilities, reasons and purposes that come behind each job.
Key learnings and takeaways
Before starting at McClarrons, I had very little knowledge of the insurance sector and what it entailed. I now leave McClarrons with not only an understanding of the industry but its purpose and the many different roles within it and their importance – I have even grown a little interested in the industry! During my time here, I have learnt about some of the industry terminology and about different aspects of insurance, as well as gained practical experience by working with our in-house teams, logging claims, and working with different software used within the company, including Acturis, and our design software – Canva.
I have also learnt a lot about the importance of having values within a business, specifically McClarrons’ vision and core values. This helped me understand how and why the different teams work the way they do, to collaborate, unified, and working to achieve the same goals.
In respect to where my interests lie, one of my aims was to grow my knowledge of marketing. Before completing my time with McClarrons, I felt as though I had achieved this aim as I now feel far more confident on the subject and it is something I am hoping to pursue further in the future as a result of this placement. The Marketing Teams at McClarrons had me involved in many different tasks including meetings, teaching me about website and social media analytics, the importance of networking, and the different ways to promote the business – all of which I thoroughly enjoyed learning about.”
Some final thoughts from Molly
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at McClarrons, mainly due to their relaxed work environment and welcoming team. I was given many different opportunities during my 3 weeks and was made to feel like part of the team and not just someone on work experience. They tailored my weeks around what interested me the most, marketing, and taught me about the many other aspects of insurance. By the end of my 3 weeks, I had received a full insight into the business and how it operates. I would highly recommend McClarrons as a place to gain some experience, whether it’s in marketing or insurance, in general, they can provide you with a good insight.”
Looking for work experience yourself?
We understand that it can be difficult to find a good postgraduate job as your degree alone may not be enough, with some employers asking that you have a CV demonstrating work experience.
Whether you are at school, college, or university, we offer a range of experience and learning opportunities for those looking to gain experience in the working world and considering their career path.
If you’d like to gain some work experience at McClarrons, whether it be specifically in the insurance industry or to simply get a feel for the duties and environment of an office setting, please do not hesitate to contact us to find out how to apply. Simply email our HR Officer, Ellen Barnes, at ellen.barnes@mcclarroninsurance.com or fill out the form below.
Alternatively, if you would like to be a part of our developing growth plans and are interested in a career at McClarrons, learn about our current vacancies here.
