Students at Nelson and Colne College had a risky introduction into the world of business when insurance experts popped into a lesson as part of a careers week.
Level 3 Vocational Business students had a visit from the Chartered Insurance Institute who led a game called Discover Risk, which challenged them to assess the likelihood of various situations in order to understand the day-to-day role of insurance professionals.
Scenarios debated by the students included a global popstar receiving death threats and a worldwide shortage of chocolate.
As part of a college-wide Employment Week, the Chartered Insurance Institute brought along local representatives from the insurance industry including Laurence O’Connor, who is managing director of Burnley family business Financial Affairs and education secretary for the Blackburn and Burnley division of the CII.
Laurence said: “The situations in the game appear far-fetched but assessing risk is what we do every day so this was a fun way to introduce our profession to a group of young people who will soon be faced with the tough decision of which career path to choose.
“There are fantastic opportunities in our industry and we had a great time demonstrating this with the students at Nelson and Colne College – we saw some real promise there among the budding brokers.”
Abdul Shahar, Business Studies lecturer at Nelson and Colne College who helped to organise the event, said: “Employment Week focuses on key employability skills like communication, teamwork and problem solving to raise our students’ confidence and self-awareness.
“We’re always trying to open their minds and inspire them – many of our students will be the first in their family to go to university and most of them haven’t been in the presence of a professional before. This was a great opportunity to ask questions and find out more about what sort of options are out there in the world of work.”
