Becoming FCII in Lockdown by Nicola Holmes

In this article, I speak about becoming FCII, as Colchester Branch Manager of Hiscox, I am our latest Fellow, to find out what motivated me to complete this qualification please read on.

So why the FCII?

I have been interested in the Fellowship for a while but just never found the time to focus on it. Lockdown hit and I was keen on getting something out of the time being locked in, it was the push I needed and therefore I took the opportunity to focus on personal development with FCII and push on with my fitness, to push myself both mentally and physically.

My Fellowship plan was formulated on two important objectives. Firstly I wanted to further my knowledge and commitment to the insurance industry by continuing my professional development and secondly to support me to be a better leader.

What are the steps to FCII?

Firstly you have to hold your ACII qualification and can supply records of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of the last three years, which allows you to enrol on the fellowship pathway.

The business Ethics Programme comes next, a text book to read and then coursework based on your learnings (similar to advanced modules for ACII).

Then next up is a major piece of work that have a few options for you to choose from: obtaining another professional qualification, or submitting a dissertation, or a report on an insurance topic or submit a published piece of work. I chose to write a dissertation.

Finally you must write a Statement of Personal Development, this is approx. one thousand words on what your objectives where for completing the fellowship, skills you have obtained, reflection on completion and what you plan to do with your new skills moving forward.

Alongside this you must keep your Continuing Professional Developing up to date. Which is exactly the same requirement for ACII to complete your CPD log on the CII website.

What did you write your dissertation on?

The dissertation is 4,000-5,000 words. This gave me the opportunity to go back to my roots at the start of my career where I ran the Hiscox schemes team. With the hard market in full flow I wanted to know what this means to schemes. So I posed the question to answer ‘Is it more important than ever for brokers to invest in schemes?’. Please ask me if you are interested in my conclusion.

What did you enjoy the most?

The Business Ethics programme was excellent. A large section of the book is based on an ethical decision making tool, this has been very beneficial in helping me to make more informed, more strategic, ethical based decisions, supporting me to be a better leader.

And what did you find tough?

I have not studied for a while as I completed my ACII a good few years ago, I found it hard to get back into the flow and I asked a lot of colleagues for help, for example where do I start with referencing and structuring my work. It all come flooding back with a bit of guidance. Thank you everyone for your help, you know who you are! You do also have a support contact at the CII for any questions you have, they were excellent.