Aon’s Early Careers programs provide unique opportunities for learning, growing and working in a collaborative environment. From internships to the Aon Apprenticeship program, Aon’s Early Careers programs offer students the chance to explore career opportunities and gain real-life professional experience and on-the-job learning. To highlight some of the benefits of these programs, including professional networking and personal development, this week’s host, Aon’s Diversity Solutions Director Robert Simpson is joined by Aon Reinsurance Specialist Juawana Allen and Aon Associate Investment Consultant Ben Evans for a look at their experiences as a part of Aon’s Early Careers programs and the impact it has had on their careers and lives.
Aon’s Early Careers programs provide unique opportunities for learning, growing and working in a collaborative environment. From internships to the Aon Apprenticeship program, Aon’s Early Careers programs offer students the chance to explore career opportunities and gain real-life professional experience and on-the-job learning.
To highlight some of the benefits of these programs, including professional networking and personal development, this week’s host, Aon’s Diversity Solutions Director Robert Simpson is joined by Aon Reinsurance Specialist Juawana Allen and Aon Associate Investment Consultant Ben Evans for a look at their experiences as a part of Aon’s Early Careers programs and the impact it has had on their careers and lives.
Additional Resources:
Launch: Aon’s Early Career Program
“On Aon” Episode 22: On Aon’s Diverse Talent Initiative with Meghan Parrilla and Josh Williams
Tweetables:
“Having the opportunity to grow in a place where people are rooting for your development truly gave me the courage and motivation that it took to complete the program.” — Juawana Allen
“You’re able not only to build professional networks in the business but personal relationships with those who you will progress through the business
Voiceover:
Welcome to “On Aon,” a podcast featuring conversations between colleagues on, well, Aon. This week, we hear from Juawana Allen and Ben Evans around Early Careers at Aon. Be sure to also stay tuned after today’s episode to hear more information about some of the different Early Careers programs at Aon. And now, this week’s host, Robert Simpson.
Robert Simpson:
Hello, my name is Robert Simpson, and I am a business development director within Aon Diversity Solutions. We are part of ABS, which is Aon Business Services Global Spend Management group. Aon Diversity Solutions is an internal team that drives inclusion within our supply chain, fostering engagements for both small and diverse businesses, both within our category management strategy, but also within our core solutions and how we provide services and differentiate our value to our clients in the marketplace, so really excited about today's “On Aon” podcast. So on today's “On Aon” podcast episode, we'll be talking to two bright and upcoming stars here at Aon.
Robert Simpson:
These two will be sharing their experiences of being part of Aon's Early Careers programs and the impact it has had on their careers and lives. With me today are Juawana Allen and Ben Evans. Juawana has been at Aon since January of 2019, and currently serves as one of Aon's Reinsurance Specialists focusing on Reinsurance Solutions Facultative. Juawana has unique insight in today's topics around Aon's Early Careers programs, specifically the U.S. Apprenticeship program. Ben, on the other hand, has been at Aon since June 2017, and currently serves as an Associate Investment Consultant in Aon's Wealth Solutions business. So before we get started, I'd like to ask you both a quick warmup question. Can you please share with our listeners what excites you most about being a part of Aon? Juawana, why don't you go first?
Juawana Allen:
What excites me the most about being a part of Aon is truly that community aspect of the company. Sometimes I feel like Aon gives me a “second family” feel. Being someone who came in during the Apprenticeship program, I was very reserved and truly didn't know what to expect to be in corporate America at that point. But Aon has Business Resource groups that make me feel more welcome. They also have networking opportunities for me to speak with colleagues at are on similar levels than I am, and then also higher levels, so some of our leaders, some of our account executives. So being in a space where I can truly authentically be myself truly excites me the most.
Juawana Allen:
And just going back to the BRGs, and also Aon Community days and Client days, those aspects of the company that shows you that it's all not work, there's a balance of work and play, getting to know people outside of their cubicles and truly just digging into that humanity aspect of them. And being someone again who is so young and so wide eyed and hungry for opportunity, I wasn't truly sure what to expect. But having a place that kind of feels like a second home, that makes me really excited to go to every day, to be submerged in an open armed place definitely excited me for sure. Thanks for asking.
Robert Simpson:
Excellent, excellent. Ben, what would you like to say about that?
Ben Evans:
For me, the most exciting part of being a part of Aon is the truly global nature of the business of which I'm lucky enough to be a part of, whether it's working with teams internationally, as we are now, or reading internal news articles on teams across the globe, or for example, I remember being in Vietnam just prior to rejoining as a graduate and traveling. And I remember thinking, "I wonder if Aon have an office here. I wonder whereabouts the Aon office is." I was in Ho Chi Minh City at the time. And a quick Google Maps search found that there was an office, and we nearly drove past it on the bus. Or traveling through an isolated town in the north of Vietnam on a motorbike and seeing Aon sponsors on the front of old Manchester United shirts being worn halfway across the globe, and that's probably the most exciting thing for me.
Robert Simpson:
Excellent. This one thing that I've learned, even in my five years year is how as a global enterprise with over 50,000 employees, with so many solutions that we offer to the market, the company has done just an excellent job of breaking down what I will say borders, and I think that's probably the strength of our culture. I still feel, Ben, even though you're sitting in the UK, we haven't connected. There's so many engagement strategies that Aon has adopted over and above our regular day-to-day chores that breaks down those barriers, has us engaging in more ways that you can imagine. And it just makes us more of sort of a unified front. So that's one of the things that I picked up from both of your comments, that family, that connectivity, that's so important for us to sort of advance and sort of be in sync because we're a company that believes that as a united front, we're stronger and better for the market, and also for our clients. So it's good to hear even at your stage, that you're sort of experiencing that and recognizing that.
Robert Simpson:
So let's get into, let's jump into the experience. What is your favorite part of each of your programs? Juawana, why don't you go first?
Juawana Allen:
I think the opportunity to grow in a place where people are rooting for your development truly gave me the courage and motivation that it took to complete the program. Having a cohort that went through the exact same things as I did, so we're going to classes together, we are going through similar trainings together. We are having an uphill battle with communication with our managers and colleagues about projects that need to be done and trying to balance that work/life situation with something that may be a little more comfortable going through the program. And I just have to constantly hit on this community aspect within the firm. But people within our programs, our program leaders, the people who are out mentors, our connectors, they were truly the backbones of why the Apprenticeship program was successful because for people like me, I needed to know that my falls were something that everybody went through, and the trials and tribulations are actually something that was common to us.
Juawana Allen:
And again, the BRGs was something that played a huge role for me, having colleagues that heard the word apprentice and was like, "That's kind of cool. What do you do? And do you want to hear about what I do?" And a lot of our program leaders told us the word apprentice is a golden ticket around Aon. And having that in my back pocket was definitely my favorite part because again, I got access to so many people and knowledge across the business lines that I probably wouldn't have gotten before. So that is probably my favorite part of the program.
Robert Simpson:
So Ben, Juawana talked about the golden ticket at Aon. What has that ticket given you access to? What are some of the best experiences that you'd like to share with us?
Ben Evans:
Well, my favorite part, I was firstly on an industrial placement. Robert, you mentioned the internship opportunities earlier in the program. And in the UK, there was a year-long industrial placement program, which I was lucky enough to be a part of in my third year of university, so I joined the firm in 2017 and had a year working in the same team that I'm working in now before returning to university. And in both the internship or industrial placement opportunity, and the graduate opportunity that I got a year or so afterwards, my favorite part was the first few weeks of both programs, meeting your cohort.
Ben Evans:
And it goes off the back of what Juawana covered in terms of meeting your colleagues and your cohort, spending time with your peers both in a working environment and a more casual environment. Before the world of the pandemic, to be able to be in person with kind of 60, 70, 80 fellow graduates or a slightly less number of interns at the time, and to spend time doing workshops, development tasks, before relaxing in the evening and having a bit of downtime was really important. And you're able to not only build professional networks in the business, but also personal relationships with those who you will progress through the business with. I've seen colleagues now that I work with who still remember kind of 20 years on, the people that joined their graduate program at the same time as them. And they're the people that you'll first kind of go-to in teams across the business.
Ben Evans:
If I have a question about manager research, or if I have a question about delegated solutions, there is a colleague in my cohort that works in those teams, and they are your primary kind of port of call for questions like that. And that was my favorite part, those first few weeks, that network building, as well as kind of personal relationship building.
Robert Simpson:
Also, Ben, I'm so glad you mentioned the personal relationships you're building as a result of these early career engagements at Aon. Every time I open up LinkedIn and I see this beautiful red tile that says, "I've accepted," my mind immediately thinks of all the relationships that individual's already garnered, already established. And when they walk back into Aon as a full-time employee, they have those networks and that foundation already established, which I think is usually one of the biggest inhibitors for a new employee to find satisfaction, having that relationship, having someone that can help them sort of navigate and really successfully immerse themselves into a culture. You're already familiar with it. You have some names. You have some relationships. You know where the tools are available to you. Or you know that the people have their door open to say, "How can I help?" Because all about our Aon United culture. So I'm really glad that you brought that up because that's great for folks to understand.
Robert Simpson:
That is one of the added benefits of the Early Careers program. So let's continue. This is just incredible and I really appreciate you guys so transparent about some of the things that you're experiencing. So let's jump into how the program has really helped you in the daily positions at Aon. And again, I kind of teased out the fact that, yeah, you are working in ... You have the benefit of some relationships you've garnered over those years of those months. But does it really impact you outside of Aon as well? So Juawana, let me come back to you.
Juawana Allen:
When I first joined Aon, I was extremely reserved and shy. I kept to myself a lot, and I did the bare minimum just to get by. And a lot of that kind of carried over to my second year of the program. The Apprenticeship program is two years long. So for maybe 13, 14 months, I was attending meetings and kind of having input, or attending class and not really being my authentic self, and more so just keeping myself into a shell. And during the program, I gained a better sense of myself, and I became more confident. I began to speak up more, and I was no longer hesitant to make connections with colleagues. I just kind of went for it.
Juawana Allen:
I think the biggest thing as well is I became less afraid of the idea of failing and more open to that idea of learning and processing new tasks. I think joining the firm as someone who wasn't exactly sure what the program was going to be like and what the outpour was going take on to my future, I wanted to be a part of so many things, but I didn't know how. I didn't know how to go into a room and just speak to everyone and greet people in the most enthusiastic way possible. But again, having that cohort that you can kind of implement things from, take things from, you also share things about yourself, truly gave me the sense of confidence that I needed. And now I'm able to do things such as this podcast. I'm able to help other apprentices. I'm able to run monthly book clubs and talk to various colleagues from different solutions lines.
Juawana Allen:
So the Apprenticeship program gave me a sense of self. It made me more confident, not only in my career, but also in my personal life. A lot of my friends are like, "Wow, this wasn't you before." And I'm like, "Well, I don't know what happened, but I became more confident in my voice. And I'm not afraid to let people hear it."
Robert Simpson:
I love that. Confidence in your voice, that is when you realize what you have to offer. That's when you've arrived. That's really powerful. Ben, let me hear from you. What's your experience? What's your perspective?
Ben Evans:
First one for me would be having that experience prior to graduating university provided that kind of first taste of a professional environment. And that's invaluable when you're in the position that I am in terms of, or I was, I should say, in terms of having no prior experience in a professional environment, no 9:00 to 5:00 experience at all. And to get that prior to even graduating university was massive for me.
Ben Evans:
Outside of Aon, that placement year then thankfully resulted in a job offer that I received in the first week or so of my final year at university, which meant that I didn't have to spend countless hours hunting for a job whilst alongside my commitments with university work and my commitments with my football and my sporting responsibilities. And then finally, another benefit is the returning to work as a graduate meant that I could really hit the ground running in the team that I'd already spent a year part of. I already had that year's experience behind me and rejoined some of the same client teams that I'd already worked on and already had familiarity with. So those three things really would be the biggest impacts that the programs had on my time inside as part of Aon and outside of Aon.
Robert Simpson:
Well, and there's two things I'm picking up from both of you. One is so much of the experience and so much of the success that you're going to obviously achieve in a career has a lot to do with you feeling comfortable, also having established relationships that you can trust, that you can build partnerships with. So much of that is so invaluable. Neither one of you pointed to, I had to learn how to do actuarial work, I had to become more analytical. I think most of you are already coming in more than capable, extremely smart, ready to contribute. But you're trying to find yourself. You're trying to figure out “How do I contribute? Where do I fit in”? Or “How do I sort of follow the lead that's being established by people that have 10 years, 20 years”? You're sitting in rooms with folks that are practice leaders, folks that are SMEs in talking jargons and acronyms that you're continually writing down a new acronym every day. I know that's what it was like even for me at Aon.
Robert Simpson:
And I was in the business world for 25 years before I joined Aon, so I wasn't wet behind the ears. I wasn't just coming out of college. So I can only imagine that progression that you guys were experiencing and where you are today has got to be very fulfilling. So let's keep going, let's build on that. I know we talked about everything from community, network. We talked about also some of the ways you even noticed you've transitioned and matured, or become more aware, or realized your value. When I think about a program say, "Just do it." Are there some things that maybe I should call it a myth, a bias, maybe your own, should I say set of perspectives, how the experience could unfold? And maybe some things that may have surprised you that were unlike what you thought it would be. Is there something, Ben, you would suggest either met or exceeded your expectations?
Ben Evans:
Robert, I would say the main thing that surprised me coming in is getting that first taste of professional experience is precisely how welcoming and how nice the team were. You hear stories of other firms, or you may have friends that work in other firms, that have not had the same kind of experience that I've had with members of your team, particularly those at the senior level, because you do appreciate that there's, as you work your way up the ladder, the level of stress and the level of pressure increases pretty exponentially, as the case of: Where does the buck stop of something goes wrong? Or who has the ultimate responsibility for a piece of work going out?
Ben Evans:
And that can lead to seniors not having the kind of relationship that I've had with them in my experience in terms of the friendly nature, always welcoming, always happy to have a conversation, and always happy to spend time, especially in my early days with the business, explaining concepts, concepts that now looking back were so basic. And having senior consultants or partners explaining these simple concepts to me, but there was no prejudice there, there was no I'm too good, or I'm too senior to talk to you about this. There was none of that at all. And not that it surprised me in the sense of I thought it would be like that, but more that it was so far the other direction. That was probably the biggest thing for me.
Robert Simpson:
Excellent. Juawana, anything that met or exceeded your expectations?
Juawana Allen:
If I can, when closing the question, you also mentioned if there were any myths or surprises for the program. And I think I'd like to touch on that just a little bit. The Apprenticeship program gives you all the tools that you need. You have teachers that were selected to teach you curriculum. You have managers that went through the training in order to truly help you be successful. You have this handpicked team of program leaders that will give you professional development. You have an Aon connector. You have a nonprofit coordinator that helps you come and gear your career to the right path. And all of that is truly amazing, it really is.
Juawana Allen:
But I will say, if you don't utilize those in the way that you should, if you aren't transparent with your team members, if you aren't honest about the things that you're struggling with, personal and career wise, then you're kind of setting yourself up to fail in a way. And I don't want anyone thinking to join this program that you're going to be on a red carpet, it's going to be a walk in the park, because that's not the case. It's truly a challenge, like I mentioned before. And one day, you're going to wake up in the mirror and you're not going to recognize yourself anymore because you've truly developed in a way that you've never thought about.
Juawana Allen:
You've gained so many tools. You look at life a little bit differently. And I think the myth is you walk into Aon and everything is just going to be a walk in the park, and it's going to be sweet and it's going to smell like roses. But sometimes dog parks stink, and we've just got to keep moving. So I definitely say utilize the resources that's there. And it's truly what you make it. And if you don't use the resources, if you don't tap into the people that's wanting to see you succeed, then ultimately, the program won't be what you think it is, so that's the surprise I'd like to put out there.
Robert Simpson:
Excellent from both of you. So just first of all, I just want to thank you so much, Juawana and Ben. We can talk forever on this topic. There's so many insights that we both can share, even from my side and your side. But before we sign off, I know you have a personal side of you. There's something that makes you who you are that extends beyond the Early Careers program. You have a life balance, you have things that you're interested in, things that allow you to maintain your sanity, or at least meet your obligations at home. If you have to share anything personal about yourself, what are some of the favorite things for you to do when you take the Aon badge off? Juawana, you want to continue there?
Juawana Allen:
So my favorite thing to do is catch up on some reality TV. I am a stickler for a good Housewives with some popcorn on my couch. I don't know, it just sounds like a good laugh at the end of a long day.
Robert Simpson:
Thank you. Ben?
Ben Evans:
For me, it's got to be the obsession, as it's been described by many people, with football. And if I'm not revising for my exam over the weekends, I'm either playing football on a Saturday or going up to Sheffield to watch Sheffield United play on a Saturday afternoon. So anything football related, I'm absolutely mad for, so that would be the thing that I spend most of my time outside of work in various forms taking part in.
Voiceover:
And now, we’d like to share some more information around the different Early Careers programs at Aon, which include Internships, Apprenticeships and Launch. Aon's Summer Internship Program provides a unique opportunity for rising college seniors to learn, contribute and gain real world work experience in a collaborative environment. The Aon Apprenticeship program provides students without a traditional four-year college degree with an entry point to launch a professional career at Aon. The program combines academic instruction with employment at Aon while receiving on-the-job learning. Launch is Aon’s Graduate onboarding and development program and is designed to support the transition a new hire experiences when going from a full-time university student to a full-time employee upon graduation. The program is designed to accelerate their integration into Aon’s business so they can better apply their skills and help clients. This has been a conversation “On Aon” and Early Careers at Aon. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, tune in in two weeks for a discussion on Aon’s pro-bono work. To learn more about Aon, its colleagues, solutions and news, check out our show notes, and visit our website at Aon dot com.