Olivia Glover, Senior Associate in Howden’s Legal, Technical & Claims team (10-year career break)
I trained and qualified as an insurance litigation solicitor at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro, Olswang LLP in London. I was mainly working in the Professional Indemnity and Financial Institution lines of business and gained a variety of experience working on Directors’ and Officers’ liability, Solicitors’ Professional Indemnity and Clinical Negligence cases.
After three years post-qualification, I chose to take a career break to focus on raising a family and relocating from London. During this time, I carried out a claims handling secondment for an underwriting firm, via CMS, which provided an interesting insight into claims from an insurer’s perspective before they become litigious. Later, as I considered returning to private practice, I took on an associate role in a commercial litigation team of a regional law firm.
During my career break, I also volunteered for local charities and became a member of the PTA for my children’s school, gaining valuable experience and building on various skills, albeit in a different environment to the workplace! After my legal experience ended, I was interested in returning to the workplace, as I missed the structure and mental stimulation it provided. I would regularly keep an eye out for opportunities, and networking events, but had not been able to find the right channel back into work, until I saw the Career Returners information for a role at Howden as part of a cross-company initiative within the insurance sector. I applied immediately and was fortunate to join the Howden Legal, Technical and Claims team in their M&A Group, working on warranties and indemnities (W&I) insurance. Although this area of insurance clearly differs from my previous experience, it has proven to be an excellent opportunity to return to the industry. The product itself is still in its infancy and the role blends legal expertise with claims handling, making it a natural progression from my previous roles at both CMS and in-house at the underwriting firm.
During the first six months of the Career Returners programme, we participated in four coaching workshops, which were strategically timed to be the most beneficial in supporting our return to the workplace. Additionally, we were assigned a buddy within our team who had more experience, and a mentor from the wider company. Howden has a thorough training programme and Knowledge Bible for new joiners and my team has been fully supportive in helping to settle me into my new role. I have also been fortunate to return to work on a part-time basis, which has helped strike a good balance between managing the work/life balance.
During the initial months of being back at work, there was a steep learning curve, not only in getting to grips with a new area of insurance, but also in learning new skills, and catching up with technology. Now that I am more settled in the role, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity and feel a strong sense of pride in having gone back to the workplace. Returning to professional services while managing family responsibilities undoubtedly creates challenges, but they are not insurmountable and with that comes a deep sense of achievement.
For anyone considering a return to work, whether feeling as though you have lost your professional identity or are eager to re-enter the workforce but are unsure of how to go about it, I encourage you to take the leap of faith! If you can participate as part of a returner programme and find a forward-thinking company to work for, it can provide you with additional support to ease your transition back into work and help you adopt the right mindset for your return.
