Picturing a career in insurance might trigger images of ol' Gil — rumpled suit, trying his best to hold it together before dropping on his knees, begging Homer and Marge to buy whatever it is he’s selling. But in fact, a career in the insurance industry may be one of the most personally empowering and financially lucrative career choices you could make. It’s also an industry that is looking for its next generation of leaders. First, though, you’ll have to forget whatever you think you know about the insurance industry.
Tammye Daniels, career connections officer for educational organization the Insurance Institute, says that there are many misconceptions about the insurance industry. She points to the fact that “60 percent of the industry is female”, despite the prevailing opinion that the industry is made up of “door to door salesmen who are graying men with pin-striped suits”. The Insurance Institute conducted a nation-wide study in 2007, and found that, in addition to certain common misconceptions, public knowledge of industry basics was extremely limited.
It’s those misconceptions and misunderstandings that the Insurance Institute has been working to remedy by, among other things, enlisting industry ambassadors to educate students on the types of careers available in the industry. “Typically the response is that they never knew there were these career opportunities, or didn’t really understand what an adjuster or underwriter does,” says Daniels. “And once we explain it to them, it’s just great to see how the wheels are turning in their heads and they can actually envision themselves in some of the roles we talk about.”
The Insurance Institute has also been fielding calls from various companies concerned with the shortage of new recruits. “I’ve been hearing about how there aren’t enough people coming into the industry and people are just pilfering from different companies rather than going out and looking for new blood,” Daniels says. “It’s always been easier to do that. But we can’t do that anymore. There aren’t enough people in the industry to pick from. So we need to get people actually choosing insurance as a career."
While it is possible for someone to enter into the field with no experience and climb their way up, experience can’t hurt, especially for the intermediate and senior roles. Sam Albanese, a successful industry veteran of 35 years, and Insurance Industry Director for Seneca's Centre for Financial Services in Toronto, recognized the growing labor shortage in the industry and decided to create a program that would help bring in new recruits. “I went to the industry first and said, look, we got this idea about creating programs that will let new people come into our industry… And the response has been overwhelming.”
The program had its first run in the spring of 2009, with eleven students enrolled. The 14-week program offers courses in sales, marketing, and customer service skills. In addition, students complete their Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario exam (RIBO) and Other-Than-Life (OTL) licensing requirements by week seven, which allows them to then enter into a paid co-op program. “Basically,” Albanese says, “the idea is to give the co-op provider and the student an opportunity to look at each other in the business world and see if there is a fit, before either party makes a long-term commitment.”
Minda Depante, one of the 11 students to go through the pilot program, completed her co-op placement with AllState in August 2009. Depante emigrated here from the Philippines and was taking accounting courses when she was referred to the Seneca program. While she admits that there were aspects of her co-op that were difficult (cold-calling, for one), she remains keen on pursuing a career in the insurance industry. “People are buying insurance and they don’t even know what they are buying,” she explains. “It’s about service to people. The peace of mind that you give to the people who buy insurance – it’s something that has no price to it.”
“Let’s be realistic,” Albanese says bluntly, “the products are homogeneous. It doesn’t really matter where you buy them from; they’re all basically the same. The difference really lies in you, the individual, the advisor, the rep, in dealing with that public. It’s helping people, assisting people when claims come through. The client doesn’t want excuses, they want help. You have to be empathetic towards their needs. It is, very much, a life-long relationship you are developing with those clients, so to me the most rewarding part of it is really the enormous amount of wonderful, wonderful people I’ve met over the years — some have become personal friends. It’s a very dynamic work, there’s never a dull day. Everyday changes because people’s needs change. They change houses, they change cars, this happens, that happens. It’s not boring by any stretch of the imagination.”
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