Insurance Sales Graduate Scheme South East 2025

A career in insurance is full of surprises – it offers far more than you might think! It’s a fast-paced industry where you’ll sharpen your commercial skills while playing a key role in the day-to-day operations of a business. At NFU Mutual, our Sales team is at the core of what we do, helping us grow and build strong relationships with customers.

We offer two types of graduate scheme within sales: one based at our head office in Stratford-upon-Avon, and another as part of our regional teams across the UK. So, what’s the difference? The regional team focuses on working directly with customers and delivering on the ground, while the head office team takes a broader approach, supporting overall strategies and direction.

Both schemes will give you the chance to collaborate with our Agency Network – our local branches, which are vital to our success. They’re how we connect with customers throughout the UK and grow through personalised, local engagement.

What you can expect

Regional Sales Scheme

During your first three months, you’ll dive into internal training to learn all about our products and how to meet customer needs. In year one, you’ll be actively selling personal insurance to our customers and working on regional projects, like marketing campaigns. By the second year, you’ll begin working towards your commercial insurance licence, handling more complex business and tackling strategic projects.

South East Scheme

In the South East the scheme focuses more on corporate leadership and strategy. You’ll be involved in growth and marketing initiatives, and you’ll get the chance to complete your product licensing too if it suits. You’ll work closely with our larger commercial and high-net-worth agencies and will even have the opportunity for a placement at our agency in Cobham.

Head Office Scheme

Year one involves working with Regional Sales across all insurance products to build your understanding. In year two, you’ll help shape the future of our Agency Network, driving strategic growth and innovation through key initiatives. You’ll review and report on national performance of the network and will gain exposure to wider teams, such as National Intermediary Services.

For all regional schemes, expect to travel to agencies on average 3-4 days a week, with the rest of your time spent working from home. If you’re on the South East scheme, one of those days will be spent in London.

Your future

These schemes can open doors to a wide range of roles across the business, and we’ll work with you to explore your options and help you to identify the path that’s right for you. Throughout the scheme, you’ll strengthen your core insurance skills, earn CII qualifications, and develop essential competencies to set you up for a successful career. You'll be fully supported along the way, with a dedicated buddy and mentor, plus a strong network of current and former graduates. As you near the end of the scheme, a careers coach will be there to guide you in planning your next steps.

It’s not all about work either. We encourage our graduates to get involved in extracurricular activities, from volunteering and organising charity or social events to representing NFU Mutual at industry events, all in line with our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework.

Application process

If your application is shortlisted, you’ll be invited to complete an online assessment designed to measure your potential for success, such as your ability to learn and solve problems. The following stage is a short video interview, and the final stage will be an in-person assessment centre, where you’ll participate in a variety of activities, including a group exercise, a role-specific exercise, and a skills-based interview.

This vacancy may close early depending on application volumes, so we recommend getting your application in as soon as possible!

At NFU Mutual, we support an inclusive workplace and value all the differences that make us unique. We celebrate the creativity and innovation that comes from diverse perspectives and experiences and share a common vision of doing the right thing for our customers and employees.

We recognise that some candidates may experience barriers during the recruitment process. So, we encourage candidates to discuss any adjustments or accommodations they need to be the best they can be throughout our recruitment process.

We're proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, a Race at Work and Women in Finance Charter signatory and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, regardless of age, ethnicity, disability, neurodiversity, gender, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background.

What we're looking for

Qualifications and skills

To join this scheme, you’ll have obtained, or be working towards, a minimum degree classification of 2:2. You don’t need a degree in a particular area - we’re interested in your passion for learning, curiosity and your potential.

For our Sales schemes, we’ll also be looking out for:

• Self-management and initiative, with the confidence to drive things forward and challenge thinking
• Teamwork and collaboration skills
• Effective time management and organisational skills
• Adaptability and resilience
• Problem solving and critical thinking skills
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills

If you’re able to bring these, we can teach you the rest regardless of what degree you studied.

To be eligible for the regional schemes, you must have a full UK driving licence.

Work experience

If you’ve gained industry experience or completed a placement year during your degree, that’s fantastic! But don’t worry if you haven’t – it’s not a requirement for the scheme. What we do ask for is some previous work experience where you’ve had the opportunity to interact with people.

Benefits and rewards

When you join our team, you can expect a supportive culture and an attractive range of rewards and benefits including:

• Salary - £30,000
• Annual bonus (up to 10% of salary)
• Company car or car allowance (£5,000)
• Contributory pension scheme, up to 20%, including your 8% contribution
• 25 days annual leave + bank holidays + buy/sell/save holiday trading scheme
• A Family Friendly policy that helps you balance your work and family responsibilities
• Access to savings at High Street brands, travel and supermarkets
• £20 contribution to a monthly gym membership – subject to T&Cs
• Health and wellbeing plan - cashback for dentist, opticians, physio and more
• Access to voluntary benefits, including health assessments, private medical insurance and dental insurance
• Employee Volunteering - volunteer in the community for one day each year
• Unlimited access to Refer a Friend £500 bonus scheme
• Life Assurance cover of 4 x salary
• Employee discounts of 15% on a range of NFU Mutual insurance policies.

Working at NFU Mutual

We’re one of the UK’s leading general insurance and financial services companies. For over 110 years we’ve put our customers at the heart of everything we do. Our people are just as important to us. We pride ourselves on being “a great place to work” and we're  one of only 60 companies across the globe to receive a Gallup Exceptional Workplace 2024 award, and one of only 2 companies to receive the award for the ninth consecutive year. We were also named in the LinkedIn Top 25 Companies List 2021, the Glassdoor Best Places to Work UK List 2023 and 2024, and were recognised as a certified UK Top Employer by the Top Employers Institute in 2023 and 2024.

We offer a supportive culture where we empower and inspire our people to perform, offer them opportunities to grow, and recognise and reward their contribution. Our people are proud to work for a company that respects them and their communities, and they trust us to be financially sustainable, so we are successful now and in the future.