Why are young people not attracted to the insurance industry?
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This video first ran in October 2011.
Why are young people not attracted to the insurance industry?
Hi, I’m Shelley Ridgewell and welcome to Word Up, a mini-show that will be offering a slightly different perspective on the insurance industry.
A lot of us did not initially choose to have a career in insurance. Some of us knew somebody in the industry who offered us a summer job and that led to our career. Some of us fell into insurance completely by accident and some of us actually had another job all together which led to another job which then led to insurance. I think it would be fairly safe to say that not a lot of us graduated from high school or university thinking “Yes! Insurance is a career for me!”
So why are people – generally speaking – not attracted to a career in insurance? We all know that it’s a diverse and challenging and exciting career, so what’s the problem? Especially in today’s economy as more and more people are being laid off or unemployment levels are high in some places, why are these people not thinking about looking at insurance as a possible career for them?
Scott: My name is Scott. I’m a second year student in chemical engineering right now, at the University of New Brunswick.
Shelley Ridgewell: Now Scott, have you ever thought about a career in insurance?
Scott: I haven’t. It was never really presented to me in high school. They don’t really actually focus on any one specific field. They just tell you to do what you’re good at. Insurance isn’t one of the things that came up.
Shelley Ridgewell: Do you have any friends who are planning on working in insurance?
Scott: I actually do know one person who’s going to work in insurance. He got the job through a business degree. I don’t think it was necessarily his plan, but he’s going there because he does know that there can be good money made.
Shelley Ridgewell: Now, when you hear the word “insurance”, what does that mean to you?
Scott: To be honest, I don’t really know that much about insurance. I just kind of think of the commercials I see on TV. I think of different brands that come to mind, insurance companies that I do know. Other than that, the only thing that springs to mind is home insurance and life insurance.
Shelley Ridgewell: What do you think an insurance professional does? What do think a typical day at work is like for them?
Scott: I have not given it that much thought. I imagine a lot of desk work, writing down things, maybe talking to people to find out what it is that they have insured or what they want to get insured or insurance claims they might be making. I would have no idea what different people would be doing during the day.
Erin: I’m Erin Flower, I’m 23 years old and I’m studying math at St. Thomas University.
Shelley Ridgewell: Erin, have you ever thought about a possible career in insurance?
Erin: I actually haven’t. The first time I even found out about insurance was when I bought my car and I had to go and get insurance for it. Other than that, I don’t really know anything about it.
Shelley Ridgewell: Do you have any friends that are interested in the insurance industry?
Erin: I could, but none that I know of. They haven’t really talked about it or thought about it for a possible career.
Shelley Ridgewell: What do you think an insurance professional does? Describe what you think might be a typical day of work.
Erin: Probably sit in an office and punch our numbers and try to find the best possibility for all of their clients and how many clients and talk to people about numbers.
Shelley Ridgewell: What kind of training do you think someone needs to have to enter in the insurance industry?
Erin: Maybe a business degree. It could have something to do with math, I’m not sure. And maybe economics, but I don’t really know economics.
Shelley Ridgewell: How much do you think an average insurance professional makes each year?
Erin: I really have absolutely no idea. At all.
Shelley Ridgewell: In three words, what first comes to mind if you were to describe someone working in insurance?
Erin: I might find it boring, but it can be hard work. Just a lot of numbers.
Shelley Ridgewell: The insurance industry is having a difficult time attracting young people like yourself in insurance. Why do you think this may be a problem?
Erin: I’m sure a lot of people would be good at it if they knew about it, but I guess no one really knows what it consists of or how to get in contact with anyone if they want to find out what it’s like.
Shelley Ridgewell: Now I know our conversations in today’s show was just a very, very small group of people and I’m not suggesting by any stretch of the imagination that this is majority thought however it is slightly worrying to think that insurance as a career and its profile is relatively low. I think what we should do is we should work together and somehow try to promote insurance as a career and promote our industry and attract this new talent that we so desperately need. The question is: we all know that there’s a recruitment problem, so what are you and your company going to do about it?
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