Spring into Action: GAIN’s University Outreach Builds Pathways for Neurodivergent Talent in Insurance and Investment

by Vic Mazonas, General Manager of GAIN

This Spring, GAIN visited career fairs in Canterbury, Warwick and Reading to share the benefits of a career in the insurance and investment industries, and to promote the work our members are doing to create neuroinclusive workplaces. 

Our Spring outreach campaign started strong with a visit to the University of Kent in Canterbury in March by Vic.  The university of Kent expressed interest in working more closely with GAIN and our members, and their student mentoring scheme may be a great fit for giving GAIN members the opportunity to foster confidence and understanding in the next generation of neurodivergent talent.  Students at the University of Kent expressed particular interest in our upcoming careers webinar and opportunities to meet with and learn from neurodivergent talent already working in the industry.  They are also keen to volunteer and provide lived experience expertise on GAIN projects, hackathons and working groups.  It was particularly good to see the excitement and engagement expressed by students when we talked about the real changes our members have made – a reminder of the human impact of the work we do. 

The University of Warwick was our next stop in April, with Liselle representing GAIN for another intense day of student networking and interaction, following on from the success of our outreach with them in Autumn 2024.  As a world-leading campus university with high-ranking accounting and finance, business and management studies, computer science, economics and mathematics courses, there’s no doubt some of the top talent in the next few years will graduate from Warwick.  GAIN had a fantastic time at the Warwick University Careers Fair, where there was strong interest in careers across insurance and investment, from analyst and marketing roles to engineering. It was great to see neurodivergent students keen to explore their next steps, learn more about a sector that values different thinkers, and discuss how to showcase the unique strengths they bring to the workplace. 

Last, but by no means least, we visited the University of Reading in May to meet with students and build relationships with the university.  With a student internship scheme offering organisations up to £1,601.60 in salary contribution grants depending on company size and a mentoring scheme for 2nd and 3rd year students, there are a range of opportunities for GAIN and our member companies to engage with the university going forward and we’ll be exploring all of these soon.  Students at Reading were especially interested to hear about the real, tangible changes our members are making and excited to learn about the ways they could contribute, through joining Hackathons and working groups as lived-experience volunteers. There was high interest among all students to pursue internships and other entry-level roles in the industry, and to learn more about the kinds of careers available. 

The biggest concerns expressed by the students we met were very much reflections of the stories our individual members tell us.  How and when to disclose neurodivergence to a recruiter or manager, what to do if the conversation goes poorly, how to balance support needs against wanting to be seen as a capable professional, and how to navigate those early weeks and months in a new role. 

We would like to continue to invite our corporate members to share their vacancies, including graduate roles, internships and apprenticeships, with us for promotion in our career club news, and we’ll be looking to do more this Autumn with the University of Bath, Warwick and more.  And if you’re a neurodivergent individual looking for your next job opportunity and haven’t joined our career club yet, you can do so with this form!  We currently have over 40 vacancies on our jobs board with more hopefully to come, and companies can only advertise with us if they have committed to change through GAIN membership and are willing and able to offer adjustments to candidates on request.