The Institute and Qualifications

About the Institute - CII

The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) is the premier professional body for those working as, or looking to work as, insurance, risk and financial services professionals.

With 98,000 members in 150 countries it has been at the forefront of setting professional standards for the profession for over a century.


The risk profession

Our profession is linked with every aspect of business and life, from piracy to footballers, from fine art to banana plantations. What is more, recent natural disasters have underlined the importance of the service our sector offers in helping people and businesses recover.

Sector professionals carry out a huge range of roles. These include technical ones like underwriting, broking, loss adjusting and risk management, all of which offer good opportunities for travel and progression. There are also key business support functions such as marketing, finance, business development and HR.

Each year, the sector recruits graduates from across a broad range of subject areas. In addition to business-related graduates, other popular areas include law, languages, geography, engineering and art. Recruiters are more interested in who you are as a person than the title of your degree.

Skills such as communication, negotiation, flexibility, problem-solving and analysis will stand you in good stead.


Exams

The CII offers globally-recognised professional qualifications at Certificate, Diploma and Advanced Diploma level. Many sector graduate schemes contain the Advanced Diploma in Insurance, giving the designatory letters ACII.

The ACII is seen by many as the benchmark and opens the door to opportunities in many markets. Most graduates will complete their ACII in three years.

If you are a graduate in Accounting, Business, Economics, Finance, Law or Management, you will get credits that count towards CII qualifications and reduce the time taken to complete them.


Membership

The CII has several different membership levels, according to experience and qualifications. There is a low-cost ‘Discover’ level designed exclusively for students at UK universities, offering many opportunities to network and build your profile.

The key benefits of this membership are:

• Local networking events
• Podcasts of lectures at the Lloyd’s of London building
• Knowledge Services website, hosting comprehensive market data from across the world
• Discover Risk Linkedin group, featuring students, recruiters and employers
• Soft copies of the CII’s member magazines, containing useful sector updates
• The ability to show your membership on your CV, which will set you apart from other applicants
• News on graduate schemes, placements and other job opportunities

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