Jeremy Kaplan
In today’s business climate, it is very common for people to change jobs many time throughout their career. The days when an employee stayed with the same company for decades are a thing of the past. Because of this change in workforce dynamics, it is important for people looking for a career change to constantly analyze their strengths and weaknesses. People who are most successful in the twenty first century are people who adopt an ethos of being a lifelong learner. Constantly developing skills and knowing which industries that need those skills can help a person develop a career that can be satisfying and successful. The insurance industry is one industry that far too many job seekers overlook. Insurance can offer a career path to people from many different college majors with many different backgrounds. Here are TKTKTK reasons why insurance is a great industry for people looking to change careers.
The Workforce in the Insurance Industry is Aging
First and foremost, the insurance industry offers a great place to launch a new career because the workforce in the industry is aging. According to the Insurance Journal, “The average age of an insurance industry professional is 54, and 60 percent of insurance industry professionals are older than 45.” Because of the age of the workforce in the insurance industry there will be an enormous amount of people within the industry will be moving in to retirement over the next decade. With these employees leaving the industry, there are a lot of opportunities for career changers to find their place within the industry and excel in an industry that needs workers at a large rate.
People Will Always Have to Buy Some Form of Insurance
Insurance is like death and taxes, everyone has to face them and nobody likes it. This makes the industry fairly recession proof. No matter what type of life you live, insurance impacts some part of your life. To drive a car, you need to have insurance. TO go to the doctor, in most cases, you need insurance. If you own a business, you are legally required to carry general liability or workers compensation insurance. Because of the requirements to purchase coverage in all walks of life, this industry provides people looking to change careers with an industry where they can use their skills developed elsewhere to relate to customers they will be working with in the insurance industry.
Insurance is Anything but Boring
The reputation of the insurance industry is that it is full of boring mundane tasks that people do to earn a paycheck and go out to the golf course on the weekends. Many people shy away from the industry for just this reason. In reality the industry is anything but boring. Insurance agents may interact with the owner of a small family farm looking for health insurance for his family first thing in the morning and interact with a corporate banker in a major metropolitan area looking for cyber insurance for his business first thing after lunch. These are dramatically different customer interactions that will keep you on your feet at all moments. People with a customer service background can excel in the insurance industry, because of the diversity of customers. If you are primarily working in an agency that offers business insurance, how well you interact with these diverse business owners will go a long way towards your success in the insurance industry. A customer service background will help you correctly place them in the proper workers comp class codes as well as getting them to proper additional coverages for their businesses unique needs.
The Insurance Industry is Welcoming to Women
Insurance has traditionally been a male dominated field. In the past, the industry has been slow to adapt to both technological and societal trends in the business world. The most successful businesses in the insurance industry have gotten ahead of this curve and opened up their doors to both women and minorities. In 2016, according to a study from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, there were 107 million women employed in the insurance sector making up 60.9 percent of the workforce. Some women have had success by starting as a receptionist at a very young age and working their way up the ladder. Other women have not entered the industry until much later in life. With the right focus and dedication to the craft, people from all ages and backgrounds can have success in the insurance industry. This means if you are a women looking for a welcoming place to continue your career, the insurance industry is a great place to look for a new home.
