Seven months as an apprentice at Ninety
I joined Ninety in February 2020, just before the pandemic hit the UK. Here’s the story of my journey so far.
Pre-Ninety
Before I joined Ninety, I had just finished my gap year and I had two options: go to university or start an apprenticeship. My thought process involved a lot of ‘umming’ and ‘ahhing’ as this was a pivotal moment in my life, and I had secured a place at the university of my choice. While deciding which route I would take, I was working part- time gaining work experience in different industries. The work experience that I enjoyed the most was working with the NHS as a creative consultant at an advertising agency. I liked this role because it allowed me to set up campaigns and run general marketing tasks, hence my plan to become a digital marketer.
I then began actively searching for apprenticeships in digital marketing and came across a company called LDN Apprenticeships. I submitted an application and got an interview. After about a week of waiting, the opportunity for an interview with Ninety arose. I did some research on Ninety, and soon made up my mind to go along to meet them.
Why I joined Ninety
What attracted me most to Ninety was the fact that they looked highly professional and they really put an emphasis on doing social good. The fact that they give 90% from the profits of their work to the effort of solving global poverty really stood out for me. I also liked their core values, which were confirmed when I went to the office for my one-day ‘work trial’. This was a company that I could see myself growing in purely because of the energy, motivation and talent that would be around me. Also, there was so much for me to experience and learn from in the insurance industry, which was completely new to me.
My experience at Ninety
It took me a little while to learn the inner workings of the company; what their position was in the market, and how exactly they helped insurance companies to innovate. Unfortunately, after about a month of working at the office, the UK went into lockdown and suddenly everyone was working virtually. This was quite strange for me, as I now had to build relationships with my colleagues through the internet and continue to learn from home. The biggest drawback for me about working from home would have to be not actually being in the office, and hearing all the different conversations, or being able to soak up all the information from my colleagues. However, the Ninety team has implemented various initiatives to make us all feel as if we’re together at home, such as regular team meet-ups and a Slack add-on named ‘donut’, which randomly organises social meet-ups for pairs of team members.
Over the time that I have been part of the Ninety team, I’ve been involved with the management of Ninety’s social media, the monthly newsletter, content creation, reporting and data analysis. I’ve learnt so much about the insurance industry, and the business world in general, and I look forward to the rest of my future at Ninety.
