Could this lack of recruitment be a byproduct of the way the insurance industry is structured? It’s easier for law firms and investment banks to recruit top graduates because their names are known and everything is fairly well centralized. There’s so much diversity in insurance with so much decentralization, it appears, from the outside, difficult to have that much recruiting power. I may be wrong though.
I agree with you in a way. When you mention firms such as Goldman Sachs, J.P Morgan, Charles Schwab, KPMG, etc you immediately think of prestige, high salaries, interesting work, smart people. Most have certainly heard of Allstate, Travelers, Hartford, etc but the same connotations don’t apply.
Moreover, selling securities or being a “consultant” is somehow viewed as sexy while selling insurance is viewed as something boring, something easy, something people do when other things don’t work out. This is dead wrong as I know consultants bored to tears and insurance professionals challenged every day, but the PR for insurance is bad. Until the industry can change it’s image, top, young talent will continue to look elsewhere and the industry as a whole will suffer because of it.
California (www.ca-icp.com) has 17 community colleges offering insurance courses (INS 21,22,23,Ethic and Intro).This goes with a Business AA or can just be a certificate. The BIG PROBLEM is insurance employers are doing very little to encourage these programs, offer internships or engage this giant new pool (over 900 students) of fresh talent…where are the jobs?
That’s right. There is no better field out there. I make over half a million dollars a year dealing with uneducated condo board members. It is a small sacrifice, but someone has to do it. I just wish I could throw some of these idiots off of the boards.
Many national brokers and insurance companies have recruited kids right out of college just for them to decide insurance is not for them. This industry is not for sissies. You must possess highly developed communication and negotiation skills, not to mention an in depth knowledge of what and how to insure a whole host of products for at least a dozen different industries. I’m speaking from the agents point of view, of course. I realize it is very different on the company side.
Interesting and fun and exciting? I don’t think I would EVER use these three words to describe this business.
My son is a freshman in a Co-op University program. Some of the town’s carriers support the program and they could easily be one of his potential employers, so they serve a purpose.
However, I don’t think I in my right (or left) mind could recommend this field to him. We’ve seen SO many changes in this field that career ladders resemble those horizontal ones in the kiddie park, where the youngsters have to swing from rung to rung as they move from one end to the other. Certainly the possibility of a ‘weak player’ can result in a similar fall while moving.
Perhaps my particular experience has jaded me, but as a 3rd genner in the biz, all I’ve seen is consolidation, RIF’s, Spitzers, insolvencies, market swings, acquisitions, butt-wiper principals, and the list could go on.
Maybe it is fun in the newest niche on the street, but for the mainstay account reps, this is NOT fun. Interpersonal relationships within the firm are more rewarding than the work itself. There is little creativity involved. Although it almost pays the bills, as long as one doesn’t live too large.
There isn’t a career out there where one is guaranteed a leg up the ladder. Sucess in this business does not come easily.
I agree with Not for sissies. It’s a very demanding, intense job but also very rewarding.
Young people need to be encouraged to look into an insurance career in high school. College is too late.
My daughter and daughter-in-law are both in college and undecided about their career paths. Call me crazy but I encourage them to look into the insurance field. My experience has been mostly on the company side and retail for about two years now. Probably the best decision I ever made. I started in the business at a young age and now find myself to be very marketable. In the right place, they can have successful careers at a young age also.
I started my agency 28 years ago. It’s all my two sons have known as they are 28 and 26. The oldest followed into the agency after college and is doing quite well. They both tried other things and decided that the insurance business (retail) offers a lot better opportunities that construction, or even some of the bio fields they studied. And, I constantly remind them that it beats digging ditches in the winter!
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Could this lack of recruitment be a byproduct of the way the insurance industry is structured? It’s easier for law firms and investment banks to recruit top graduates because their names are known and everything is fairly well centralized. There’s so much diversity in insurance with so much decentralization, it appears, from the outside, difficult to have that much recruiting power. I may be wrong though.
I agree with you in a way. When you mention firms such as Goldman Sachs, J.P Morgan, Charles Schwab, KPMG, etc you immediately think of prestige, high salaries, interesting work, smart people. Most have certainly heard of Allstate, Travelers, Hartford, etc but the same connotations don’t apply.
Moreover, selling securities or being a “consultant” is somehow viewed as sexy while selling insurance is viewed as something boring, something easy, something people do when other things don’t work out. This is dead wrong as I know consultants bored to tears and insurance professionals challenged every day, but the PR for insurance is bad. Until the industry can change it’s image, top, young talent will continue to look elsewhere and the industry as a whole will suffer because of it.
California (www.ca-icp.com) has 17 community colleges offering insurance courses (INS 21,22,23,Ethic and Intro).This goes with a Business AA or can just be a certificate. The BIG PROBLEM is insurance employers are doing very little to encourage these programs, offer internships or engage this giant new pool (over 900 students) of fresh talent…where are the jobs?
I made 6 figures my first year in insurance with no family or leg up. If you have the right stuff, there is no better business out there.
Where else can you wake up 1/1 and have the comfort knowing that you have big money coming in just on renewing your existing relationships.
Maybe if you have a trust fund
That’s right. There is no better field out there. I make over half a million dollars a year dealing with uneducated condo board members. It is a small sacrifice, but someone has to do it. I just wish I could throw some of these idiots off of the boards.
Many national brokers and insurance companies have recruited kids right out of college just for them to decide insurance is not for them. This industry is not for sissies. You must possess highly developed communication and negotiation skills, not to mention an in depth knowledge of what and how to insure a whole host of products for at least a dozen different industries. I’m speaking from the agents point of view, of course. I realize it is very different on the company side.
Interesting and fun and exciting? I don’t think I would EVER use these three words to describe this business.
My son is a freshman in a Co-op University program. Some of the town’s carriers support the program and they could easily be one of his potential employers, so they serve a purpose.
However, I don’t think I in my right (or left) mind could recommend this field to him. We’ve seen SO many changes in this field that career ladders resemble those horizontal ones in the kiddie park, where the youngsters have to swing from rung to rung as they move from one end to the other. Certainly the possibility of a ‘weak player’ can result in a similar fall while moving.
Perhaps my particular experience has jaded me, but as a 3rd genner in the biz, all I’ve seen is consolidation, RIF’s, Spitzers, insolvencies, market swings, acquisitions, butt-wiper principals, and the list could go on.
Maybe it is fun in the newest niche on the street, but for the mainstay account reps, this is NOT fun. Interpersonal relationships within the firm are more rewarding than the work itself. There is little creativity involved. Although it almost pays the bills, as long as one doesn’t live too large.
Wow. Am I bitter, or is there some truth in this?
There isn’t a career out there where one is guaranteed a leg up the ladder. Sucess in this business does not come easily.
I agree with Not for sissies. It’s a very demanding, intense job but also very rewarding.
Young people need to be encouraged to look into an insurance career in high school. College is too late.
My daughter and daughter-in-law are both in college and undecided about their career paths. Call me crazy but I encourage them to look into the insurance field. My experience has been mostly on the company side and retail for about two years now. Probably the best decision I ever made. I started in the business at a young age and now find myself to be very marketable. In the right place, they can have successful careers at a young age also.
I started my agency 28 years ago. It’s all my two sons have known as they are 28 and 26. The oldest followed into the agency after college and is doing quite well. They both tried other things and decided that the insurance business (retail) offers a lot better opportunities that construction, or even some of the bio fields they studied. And, I constantly remind them that it beats digging ditches in the winter!
Swymmer