Steven Johnson
Technical Project Manager (Apprentice)
Comradery, competitions and constantly moving forward – our Technical Project Manager Apprentice, Steven, tells us about his LV= General Insurance (LV= GI) journey so far and why he loves coming to work every day.
“Every day is completely different and filled with its own challenges”
I joined the LV= GI around five years ago as a Customer Service Representative. Since then, I have worked in both the Claims and Personal Injury departments, before moving on to the Digital Apprenticeship Programme last year. Taking on the apprenticeship was a new challenge for me. I was thinking about going back to university or college and starting afresh but the apprenticeship gave me the opportunity to stay in full-time work and study at the same time.
I’ve found there’s a lot to take in as an Apprentice in the LV= GI. Every day is completely different and filled with its own challenges but I thrive on that. It’s been a steep learning curve and I’m now training to be a Project Manager in the digital space. So, it’s my job to ensure our software developers, testers and business analysts work together to deliver a flawless digital journey for our customers.
“What I do every day makes a difference”
LV= GI is a progressive company that's always thinking about what’s next – it definitely feels like we’re constantly moving forward. For me, I love the challenge and enjoy coming to work every day because I feel like I'm contributing. I like to know that what I'm working on matters – that it’s impacting our customers or my colleagues.
The highlight of my career so far
I’ve been leading a project team of 15 apprentices for a fundraising competition called Million Makers – a challenge where teams from companies across the country compete to raise as much money as they can over a six month period. It’s a Dragon Den-style competition where teams have to come up with a business plan about how they’re going to raise funds, and then pitch that plan to a panel. If you’re successful, you’re given £1,500 seed money to then go on and raise as much as you possibly can.
We got some really good feedback from the panel. They said it was one of the best pitches and business plans they'd seen in the competition which really boosted our confidence. We’re all buzzing off it and it’s definitely the highlight of my career so far. We were delighted to be awarded the seed money and plan to (hopefully!) raise just over £30,000 throughout the year.
“There's a really strong comradery here and you can truly be yourself”
There's a really good atmosphere in the LV= General Insurance business. Everyone is accepted and encouraged to be the best they can be. I can't stress enough how supported I've been since I joined the apprenticeship – there are people all over the company, whether they're in my team or not, that have helped me out in numerous ways. There's a really strong comradery here and you can truly be yourself.
“If you want to develop yourself, you’ll have all the support in the world”
It's a fun, rewarding environment where hard work is recognised. If you want to develop yourself, you’ll have all the support in the world. But if you're happy where you are, then the business is happy for you to do that as well – it’s up to the individual. Opportunities are around, you just need to grab them. It's all about getting your name out there and getting involved. I've been given this amazing opportunity to develop my career and I'm hoping I can repay the business by becoming a good project manager.
