Recruiting Next Generation of Insurance Professionals

All successful organizations have visionary leaders. Dr. Edwin S. Overman, CPCU, was a leader in the insurance business and an advocate for insurance education. He served as president of The Institutes from 1966 to 1987, and was a true visionary who left a tremendous legacy for our industry.

One CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) said it best, “Ed’s leadership inspired a whole generation of professionals, and his many long-lasting contributions will surely endure the ravages of time.”

While the insurance industry has changed since the days of Dr. Overman, there are still core values that remain the same. Our industry helps people when they need it most, such as helping families and businesses rebuild after a disaster.

As a growing number of risk management and insurance (RMI) professionals approach retirement, how can we recruit new talent to replace them? To attract high school and college students to pursue an insurance career, we first need to speak their language. We need to understand their values and behaviors.

In February 2012, The Institutes and The Griffith Insurance Education Foundation conducted a Millennial Generation Survey to explore attitudes about jobs and what appeals to members of the millennial generation. The survey also focused on attitudes about the insurance industry and insurance jobs specifically.

The survey revealed the following career interests of millennials:

• Career advancement and professional development
• Opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives
• Helping others and improving society

The insurance industry offers many of the attributes that millennials seek, so why aren’t their resumes flooding the desks of hiring managers? Our Millennial Generation Survey revealed that only 5 percent of millennials were familiar with careers in insurance.

To effectively educate millennials about the insurance industry, we need to have a unified industry voice. At the close of The Griffith Foundation’s insurance education and career summit, held in September 2011, The Institutes and The Griffith Foundation were asked by more than 100 industry professionals to lead an initiative to engage the next generation.

The Institutes were selected to lead the “Engaging the Next Generation” initiative because the initiative exemplifies The Institutes’ and our affiliates’ collective mission to empower our industry to attract, educate and retain the talent critical to succeed.

The goal of the Engaging the Next Generation initiative is to generate awareness, among high school and college students, of the many professionally and personally rewarding career opportunities in the insurance industry.

In support of this initiative, the CPCU Society, an affiliate of The Institutes, developed a campus outreach program to unite CPCU Society chapters with colleges and universities through the CPCU-Loman Education Foundation. In collaboration with Gamma Iota Sigma, the fraternity for RMI majors, representatives of the CPCU Society will speak with college students about the insurance industry. The CPCU Society will also partner with the American Risk and Insurance Association to pursue additional college opportunities.

Recently, I visited a Gamma Iota Sigma chapter at a local university. Several students informed me that they had already received job offers to work in the insurance industry. In a time when many graduates are struggling to find employment, these students not only had multiple job offers, but they had offers in their field of study!

If more high school and college students knew of the high job-placement rates for RMI majors, they might be more inclined to pursue an insurance career.

Each of us has a personal responsibility to spread the word about the amazing industry in which we work. Many of us were led to this industry by a family member or a friend who already worked in the business. Perhaps you have a child in high school or college who is trying to determine his or her career path. Have you ever shared with your child the benefits of an insurance career?

Visionary leaders like Dr. Overman left a legacy for future insurance professionals. Let’s follow in his footsteps to remind the public of the positive aspects of our industry and to attract the talent we need to succeed today and into the future.