Career Connections

The findings of the Insurance Institute’s A Demographic Analysis of the P&C Insurance Industry in Canada 2007 -2017 justify and predict that recruitment into the industry will be challenging for years to come if current hiring levels continue. The research findings point to a real gap between the industry’s current recruitment levels and the forecasted numbers of potential retirees in the next five to 10 years.

The industry’s senior human resource professionals (and hiring managers), as well as the industry associations, are beginning to recognize that an important step is to generate greater awareness of career opportunities within the insurance industry.

Designed to build awareness

Since 2003, the Career Connections program has been building momentum and is succeeding in its outreach campaigns to secondary and post-secondary school students and graduates. The program, hosted by the Insurance Institute on behalf of, and financially supported by, industry employers, is well-positioned to address the current and future challenges facing the industry.

The mission is to improve the understanding of insurance, illustrate its role in society and encourage young adults and career seekers to pursue one of the many skilled professions available in the insurance industry.

This is done by:

• Promoting all careers and all sectors within the industry — Career videos, profiles and a comprehensive web site promoting a career as a broker, underwriter, adjuster, risk manager, actuary, marketer, loss control specialist, and more.

• Promoting the value proposition of a career in insurance — emphasizing the variety of roles in all sectors of the industry, emphasizing the stability of the industry, possibilities for advancement, reach of insurance into all sectors, and the challenging and rewarding positions available.

• Promoting insurance education and career awareness to many audiences, by generating:

1. greater presence for insurance on post-secondary campuses across the country;

2. greater promotion of the full-time insurance programs to encourage secondary school graduates to choose to study insurance;

3. more opportunities for students and graduates to connect with the industry through co-op programs, industry information sessions, workplace tours, etc.;

4. more awareness among junior high and high school students of the career possibilities within insurance;

5. greater understanding about how insurance works at the secondary and post-secondary levels through the development and promotion of lesson plans and student activities so that tomorrow’s consumers will know more about insurance;

6. more tools, lesson plans, and resources for teachers to teach basic insurance concepts like risk, responsibility and ethics, as well as how home, auto and business insurance works; and

7. greater awareness of the Career Connections program and its outreach within the industry to generate understanding and promotional support, participation by companies in career events, involvement of industry professionals in the ambassador program, and more.

During the 2008/09 school year, Career Connections was present at 64 events on 32 university and college campuses across the country. We participate in career fairs, sponsor events, give presentations including a number of ‘lunch and learn’ presentations, and host insurance-specific career fairs. Our initiatives this year promoted careers in insurance to more than 50,000 postsecondary school students.

Career Connections is also instrumental in helping full-time insurance students in the college programs to connect with the industry. This year, we were pleased to help facilitate a job shadowing opportunity, C S I (Career – Students -Insurance), for Mohawk College’s Business-Insurance program. Local insurance stakeholders invited students for a workplace tour and job shadow opportunity. Students gained practical experience, industry insights, and a better understanding of their future role in the property and casualty insurance industry.

This past school year, 11,000 students in 87 high schools have learned about the insurance industry through 306 classroom career presentations given by ambassadors and the Career Connections team. Industry professionals, acting as ambassadors, have also had the opportunity to promote careers in insurance at career fairs hosted by schools, school boards and communities. Total attendance gave us a potential audience of 90,000 students.

In addition, ambassadors have given presentations to driver training classes, providing an opportunity to explain auto insurance to young drivers as they are getting ready for the road.

Making the Connection

The program receives evaluations and feedback from the students, who share their thoughts on what they learned. Ambassador presentations are always rated very highly. Students indicate their surprise at the opportunities available to them within the industry, and teachers are pleased at how interactive the presentations are and how engaged their students become. Opportunities to ‘put a face to the industry’ and dispel some of the myths about insurance, are necessary to generate greater awareness about the possible careers in the industry.

In one case, after seeing an ambassador presentation, a high school student approached his cooperative education teacher asking if he would be able to work in the insurance industry for his placement. The co-op teacher contacted us, and we were able to connect the student with an insurance company in the area.

Feed the Minds of Youth

Each year, we partner with Take Our Kids to Work day and provide Feed the Minds of Youth events in many locations across Canada. Students have the opportunity to learn about insurance industry roles through presentations by guest speakers and participating in games and activities. The Feed the Minds of Youth program continues to grow with more than 400 participants taking part this year.

Going Forward

Looking forward, the Career Connections program is developing new career promotional materials and expanding our target audiences.

The Career Connections program is succeeding in its outreach to secondary and post-secondary school students and graduates, and will soon include those changing careers and new Canadians as audiences for our outreach efforts.

Based on the research that we have conducted, we know that the right message can impact perceptions and attitudes. We are confident that the Career Connections message is resonating with the next generation of insurance consumers and industry employees.

For more information on the program or how to get involved, please visit www.career-connections.info.

Peter G. Hohman, MBA, FCIP, ICD. D, is the president & CEO of The Insurance Institute of Canada (IIC).