SCHOOL-LEAVERS may be relieved to find that there is still one career area where the Leaving Cert is regarded as valid currency. The majority of those entering the insurance industry apply directly to companies, according to Maurice Priestley, honorary careers officer with the Insurance Institute.
They don't need any insurance qualifications, he says, but they, will be expected to sit the professional exams if they wish to progress in their career.
This is a series of exams, set by a British body, the Chartered Insurance Institute, which is administered by the Irish institute. Some of the courses, such as those in Irish law and Irish insurance practice, are also produced in Ireland.
"While the exams are certified in England, they are geared towards the needs of the Irish market," Priestley explains.
It takes people an average of five or six years to complete, these exams, studying on a part-time or distance-education basis. The associateship is considered a degree-level qualification and is accepted by UCD for entry to its MBA programme.
Although the Leaving Certificate his still accepted by many companies for entry-level jobs, others ask for keyboard skills and, possibly, a one-year commercial or business course. The College of Commerce in Cork offers a two-year Post Leaving Cert course in financial services.
In first year, students sit banking exams and the Chartered Insurance Institute's certificate of proficiency. A number of students have obtained employment in the insurance industry, says Deirdre O'Sullivan, course co-ordinator.
"They start on reasonably low salaries but there are very big incentives to pass the exams," she says. Applicants for this course must have two honours in the Leaving Cert, as it provides a pathway to a diploma and a degree.
Whitehall Senior College, Dublin, also offers a PLC course in banking and insurance. This is a one-year course and the entry requirements are a pass Leaving Cert, including maths. Students do NCVA level 2 exams as well as Pittman certificates in typing and communications, City and Guilds in data bases and spread sheets and the Chartered Insurance Institutes's certificate of proficiency.
Pat Callery, course co-ordinator, says that students have got jobs as clerks with insurance brokers, insurance companies and building societies. The job scene is very good at the moment, she adds.
A personnel spokesperson for a large insurance company says that they recruit at two levels. For clerical and administrative jobs the minimum requirement is two honours in the Leaving, but in practice many people tend to have certificates, diplomas or degrees in business or related areas. At graduate level, trainee actuaries, accountants and information technology staff would need at least a 2.1 in their degrees.
There is only one third-level course specialising in the insurance area in the Republic - a degree programme combining insurance and European studies. Gerry Cronin, careers officer in UL, agrees that the job scene is quite good and says that the course has been characterised by a very high success level in the employment market.
Of the 1995 graduates, about 90 per cent went into employment, with the balance continuing their studies to master's level. Graduates of the course tend to get jobs as underwriting assistants, claims asssistants and claims underwriters.
The degree gives students six exemptions from the 10 examinations needed for the associateship of the Chartered Insurance Institute, so it gives students a professional as well as an academic qualification, Cronin says.
In addition to studying the various insurance specialisms, students take a European language - French, German or Spanish - for the four years. The programme also incorporates work experience in the general, life and brokerage areas of insurance.
