I asked a few executives at Selective for their views on insurance careers and prospects.
"Most employees don’t want just a job. They want to do something meaningful that benefits society," said Cyndi Bennett, our Chief Human Resources Officer. "Working for an insurance company, protecting individuals and businesses within the communities where we live and work is very fulfilling."
John Bresney, our Chief Information Officer, spoke about opportunities in IT: "Financial services is an extremely competitive market that attracts highly skilled talent with marketable skills that translate into rewarding careers. An IT career in an insurance company offers purpose-driven work and tremendous opportunity to develop modern and innovative solutions, whether it's in software development, data management, Cloud computing, enterprise security, or just about any other specialty."
Having plentiful opportunities isn't enough. We also need to raise the industry's profile among the younger cohort.
Getting the word out to young people about the many types of insurance jobs available requires a multifaceted approach. The important thing is to reach them when they're in college or high school – or even middle school – and are making decisions about future studies or careers.
Several colleges offer insurance or risk management courses. College competitions like the one Selective sponsors give students a glimpse of the professionalism and teamwork it takes to succeed as an agency. The "Invest" program from the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (also known as the Big "I") provides resources like textbooks, lesson plans, presentations, videos, and quizzes at no cost to teach insurance and career fundamentals in high schools and community colleges.
Programs like these need expertise from insurance professionals to be effective.
"When young people join an independent insurance agency or an insurance company, they find long-lasting careers that offer great pay, benefits, flexibility, and community involvement with chances to learn and advance. The toughest part is attracting that talent to our industry," said Bob Rusbuldt, Big "I" president and CEO. "We work hard to inform young people about the variety of career opportunities we offer--small business ownership, cyber security, drone piloting, data analytics, law, communications, and social media, to name a few. And once people join our industry, they rarely leave. Just ask any insurance professional."
Other ways to attract the next generation include relevant messaging and fresh recruitment strategies. For example, websites and newsletters should have content and style that resonate with students. Recruitment efforts should include searches for diverse talent. We should seek non-traditional sources for new talent, such as community colleges or other industries. We need a reimagining of how we find candidates.
What gives me confidence such methods will succeed is that after people learn about opportunities in insurance, they're usually enthusiastic about working in the business.
One student who participated in our college competition said the experience gave her "an idea of how fully encompassing the insurance industry is and how many opportunities there are to grow. I love that the entire industry is rooted in providing financial needs for people who are facing a time of loss."
Another student was "looking forward to learning more about the relationship between the many moving parts of the total operation of an insurance agency."
Selective's college internship program – unrelated to the college competition – has created such a strong pipeline of future employees that, over the past three years, we've offered more than half positions as employees or returning interns. In addition, our annual trainee program draws several recruits from unrelated fields and puts them on a path to success in insurance.
Raising awareness of the breadth and depth of opportunities in insurance will take consistent effort. The best time to start is now!
About the Author
Robert (Bob) Redden is Vice President of Distribution Strategies and Insurance Learning Services for Selective Insurance. Bob joined Selective in 1988 as an intern and has held a variety of positions throughout the company prior to being named Vice President of Distribution Strategies and Insurance Learning Services. Today he leads a team that is dedicated to ensuring Selective is a carrier of choice for Selective’s agency partners. Bob and his team have developed unique agency engagement initiatives, manage national agency relationships, and develop educational programs designed to strengthen Selective alliances. Bob earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ, and holds designations as a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, a Certified Insurance Counselor, and a Project Management Professional.