“Careers Careers the Finest Game in Years”

“Careers, Careers, the Finest Game in Years”

There used to be a very popular board game called “Careers”. The line above was their advertising slogan. When it was first released by Parker Brothers in 1955 the choices of career paths included:

    Farming

    Business

    Sea   

    Politics

    Hollywood

    Uranium

    Moon

I’m not sure what they had in mind with “Uranium” and “Moon” as careers but they were very topical subjects in the 50’s. Later versions of the game introduced career paths just for girls such as teacher, fashion designer, and Super mom. Times have certainly changed. In the real world there are more career paths than ever before and, just as in other times in our history, old occupations become obsolete and new ones take their place. With few exceptions occupation-related gender stereotypes are a thing of the past.

One very stable industry for lifelong careers is the insurance and risk management industry. After all, it’s been around for about 400 years and, in fundamental ways, remains unchanged. Today more than 2.5 million Americans earn their livings in the insurance industry. However, unlike many other occupations, insurance does not rank high on young people’s list of desirable occupations. In fact a recent survey by Signet Research, Inc. found that 43% of those in the insurance sector got there because they had relatives and friends in the industry while another 32% said they “stumbled into it”. Most of the agents and brokers that I have met in my thirty years in the industry also stumbled into it after working in a different occupation. I suppose as an industry we need to do better at getting on young peoples’ radar screens.

Now I’m the first to admit that a career in the insurance industry isn’t “top of mind” for most young people. If it’s on the list at all it’s way down there. However a recent survey of independent agents under age 40 revealed that 81.6% of them would recommend a career in insurance to another young person. I doubt that there are too many other industries with such high satisfaction rates. Openings? In property and casualty insurance alone there will be 400,000 available positions within the next four years.

There are a great variety of paths that can be followed in the industry including actuaries, underwriters, technical disciplines of all types, marketing, claims, service, and sales. The industry also employs many medical professionals who perform various underwriting, risk management, and disease management functions. Most insurance positions provide complete compensation and benefit packages with long-term opportunity for upward mobility and retirement benefits. Not very sexy, but very solid.

The best undergraduate programs in the country offer anywhere from seven to fifteen different courses that lead to undergraduate degrees. The top twenty undergraduate programs have about 3,000 majors enrolled each year. The top ten graduate programs send about 850 advanced degree graduates into the workforce each year. The two major paths that are followed in the insurance industry are property and casualty (insuring things) and life and health (insuring people). Regardless of the path you choose, if you like and can relate to people you won’t find many other industries that provide the opportunity to build relationships and friendships that can last for decades.

So, if you are a young person reading this message, looking for career possibilities, please add insurance to your list. If you know a young person who, like so many today, are under-employed or unfulfilled in their current career let them know that a career in insurance could be just what they’re looking for. We’re going to need thousands of new employees for years to come.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Alan Leafman, President

847-559-9699 x 222

480-654-1200 x 222

aleafman@wwins.com