This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.
When you think of jobs in the insurance industry, what comes to mind? For most people, the first image is probably that of a licensed insurance agent (or broker, producer, or just “salesman”
;). We often think of insurance agents because most of us have interacted with them in our daily lives. If you’ve ever bought auto insurance, homeowners or renters insurance, or life insurance, you probably did it through a licensed producer.It turns out then, as we go on and on about the insurance industry’s talent crisis, that we have to talk about a shortage of licensed agents. The answer is yes. And neither, as it turns out. Like any large industry, insurance takes a lot more to keep going than just the salespeople who turn to the consumers.
The insurance industry itself is quite diverse when it comes to the types of businesses it covers. From one-man independent agencies to the largest international insurance companies employing hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, insurance is one of the largest industries in the world. In the US alone, the insurance industry makes up about 3 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), surpassing the banking industry for the first time in 2017.
In a recent study conducted by The Jacobson Group and Aon, survey respondents reported that (for the first time in the study’s 12-year history) all roles and functions in their business were considered difficult or moderately difficult to fill. This means that the insurance industry is hungry for talent. This is not new news, but what is different now is that the hunger for talent extends beyond traditional roles such as licensed producers, actuaries and claims adjusters. The result is a need for new blood, even in less insurance-specific functions in the industry. This provides great opportunities for people who have never before considered a career in insurance.
The following are five of the most uninsured roles you can find in the insurance industry.
Marketing & communication within the insurance industry
Like many industries, insurance relies on sales to drive revenue and growth. While the primary sales channel for insurance products is the licensed manufacturer, many insurance companies market their products directly to consumers. In recent years, insurance companies such as Progressive, GEICO, Allstate, State Farm and Liberty Mutual have become household names thanks to their clever TV commercials and other forms of advertising.
All this advertising means that someone at each of these insurance companies (more likely, a large team of people) is working on marketing and communication strategies. Although insurance companies outsource the creative aspects to advertising agencies, there are still professionals in-house tasked with overseeing the campaigns and ensuring that the messages are on brand.
Another way to be creative in the insurance industry is with consumer-oriented educational materials. Most insurance companies provide their members with a large number of resources, often both online and in print. And someone has to create everything. From health insurance brochures informing plan members of their benefits to websites, blogs and social media, the opportunities to work with insurance communications are nearly endless.
Information security in the insurance industry
The insurance industry is known to be a prime target for cybercrime, thanks to the vast amount of personal information that every insurance agency and carrier has on file. As the industry modernizes, building a team of in-house information security specialists will become increasingly common—and important.
So if you’re a white hat hacker, or want to pursue a career in cybersecurity, don’t rule out the insurance industry (including insurers, insurance companies, and other types of businesses) as a potential employer. The need for these skills within the insurance world is growing every day.
Personnel and recruitment within the insurance industry
If you are experiencing a talent crisis on the scale of the insurance industry, imagine how important human resources and recruitment is! Some of the top challenges in attracting and retaining talent are company culture, diversity, employee experience and an attractive work-life balance. In other words, it all starts with the HR team and the recruiters tasked with bringing new people into the industry.
Before you can even get there, you need talented HR professionals and recruiters to begin with! This is an important career path that is not specific to insurance at all, but which the industry depends on to survive both the mass retirement of baby boomers and the “Great Resignation” currently underway.
So if a career in HR or recruitment is something you want to explore, don’t forget the great need for people like you in the insurance industry.
Lawyer in the insurance industry
Becoming a lawyer is no small feat. And once you achieve that, you may find that the job is actually a far cry from the dramatic courtroom scenes seen on TV and in movies. For many lawyers, practicing only means long hours and low pay (at least when you start out). While the pay may improve, the long hours likely won’t. This is why many lawyers go into corporate areas, such as insurance law.
We’re not saying being an insurance attorney is easy, but it’s a way to specialize in one area and have a very stable career—likely with a nice office, benefits, and predictable hours—rather than the non-stop, busy life. a trial lawyer.
One reason why insurance lawyers are so important is because of the number of laws that insurance companies, insurance agents and individual insurance producers must comply with. As you know, compliance is a major issue throughout the industry. Often the compliance function falls to (or under) the legal department. This means that insurance lawyers are in high demand and there are no signs of that changing in the future.
Software development in the insurance industry
For those with an antiquated view of the insurance industry, the idea of software developer as an insurance career path may sound outlandish. But it’s true! In recent years, insurtech has boomed—and the influx of investment dollars into insurance software shows no signs of slowing.
Even outside of the typical Silicon Valley tech companies, major insurance agencies and many of the nation’s top insurers are rapidly developing their own software. Everything from mobile apps to customer portals to quoting systems: the insurance industry, as well as insurance consumers, crave modern technology to help them in their insurance experience.
These five career paths are just the tip of the iceberg! The insurance industry is certainly an excellent field to pursue a career in, even if you don’t have a soft spot for the insurance products themselves (yet). For more information on what makes the industry so great and why you should take the time to build your career in it, check out our other articles.
Lastly, we are hiring, so check it out. Or, if you’re an operator, agency or MGA, see how AgentSync can reduce onboarding times for producers and new hires alike.
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