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L’assurance est présente dans tous les aspects de votre vie

POURQUOI N’Y FERIEZ-VOUS PAS CARRIÈRE

High School Students

High School Students

Student Clubs & Groups

Volunteering with student organizations can be a great way to build your experience and competencies that can help you in your future career. Many of the knowledge and skills you gain can be easily transferable to a career in the insurance industry.

Drafting the amendments to the student council bylaws or overseeing the budget for the school dance might provide the foundation for a career as an Underwriter. Analyzing the impact posters has on dance profits or how likely students are to want to buy candy-grams on Valentine’s Day may point to a love of statistics and probabilities that could be useful in a career as an Actuary. Or, ensuring everyone is familiar with the procedure for selling dance tickets and has postcards to hand out to passers by over the lunch hour and in between classes aligns well to skills needed for success as a Marketing Representative.

Participating in student clubs and groups offers an amazing opportunity to build leadership, communication and teamwork skills that could serve you well in any industry – but, is particularly useful as a foundation in insurance should you have aspirations of management or senior leadership roles in your career.

Explore your Experience

In exploring the nine examples offered here, and later in the career profiles, you may be surprised to see how much of your experiences so far, in combination with the skills and knowledge you will gain after high school, can help you to get to where you want to go in the insurance industry.

Attractions Attendant

You may be wondering how taking a movie ticket or helping a child choose which colour of golf ball they want to use on the mini-putt course or how that carnival game you helped to run last summer might apply to the insurance industry . . . well, because of the variety of roles in the industry and the fact that insurance is all around us, there is a connection.

The customer service skills and experience of working in a fast paced environment may come in handy should you wish to be a Broker. You might also have a potential career as a Loss Control Specialist because you may have saved the owner many an unnecessary refund or law suit with the signs you made outlining the refund policy and the uneven ground in front of the snack bar. And, when the movie projector stopped working . . . you kept your cool, verified the company’s policy to give everyone a free movie and popcorn in the event of a technical glitch and ensured these vouchers were in people’s hands before they could get angry. These are the foundations of working as a Loss Adjuster.

Babysitter

So, how does looking after a child apply to Canada’s property & casualty insurance industry? Babysitting is not an easy job. It requires a great deal of trust, involves a lot of responsibility and requires someone to be quick on their feet as something could pop up at any moment. These are characteristics that are a part of virtually every insurance career.

The ability to spot or plan for trouble – like, noticing the sharp edges on a pair of scissors left on the table and putting them back in the drawer, or, that first aid course you took – before anything happens might be applied to a career as a Risk Manager or Loss Control Specialist. You may also have written the parents a detailed note about when their child started to get sick or a fight that occurred with another child down the street. Your detailed account helped them to understand the situation and take action. Documentation and writing reports is a key part of being a Loss Adjuster.

Barista - Fast Food Worker

Making coffee or cleaning out the deep fryer may not seem like it has anything to do with insurance. But, working in the service industry requires a cool head, excellent communication skills and the need to follow established guidelines and policies. You also are likely working as a part of a team to achieve optimum results and efficiency. These are examples of skills that can be easily applied to the insurance sector.

Taking, ensuring full understanding of and delivering on a customer’s request in a high volume environment is a core element of being a Broker. It is important that the customer feels valued and that they received a quality product in order to ensure repeat business. Understanding and ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations could help you when putting an insurance policy into place as an Underwriter. And, that mini-training session for staff to help the store get ready for the new promotion from head office? That is similar to something a Marketing Representative might do.

 Camp Counselor

Canoeing, campfires and supervising campers . . . how does this add up to a career in insurance? Reassuring a concerned parent, planning for safe and high quality programming and ensuring policies and procedures are followed are all related to a career in the insurance industry.

Preparing for a camping association accreditation or writing a procedures manual for a program area are great foundations for a career as a Risk Manager. Filling out an accident report from when a camper fell off the swings at the playground and calling home to explain what happened are essential transferable skills for Loss Adjusting. Also, putting a bucket of water and sand next to the camp fire as a safety precaution might contribute to you thinking about other ways to reduce and mitigate risk in a career as a Loss Control Specialist.

Customer Service Representative - Retail

You may be thinking about how taking inventory, creating displays or operating the cash register applies to a career in insurance. Because of the variety of roles in the industry and the fact that insurance is all around us, there is a strong connection between your retail position and insurance.

Actively developing a plan and taking steps, along with your manager, to prevent theft in your store may help to contribute to your decision to become a Loss Control Specialist. Your ability to interpret and explain the customer return policy could be a good foundation for a career as an Underwriter. Or, you may also enjoy helping people find just the right product or service for them – this is a big part of being a Broker.

Customer Service Representative - Call Centre

Many insurance organizations make use of large contact centre’s to sell their products to consumers and manage the claims process. Though sometimes seen as an entry point to the industry, the individuals who work in these centres are insurance professionals with many of the same skill sets as those who work with clients face to face. Your experiences in the fast paced and sometimes stressful call centre environment could help greatly in your connecting to a rewarding career in insurance.

Your comfort level and experience with industry systems that support sales, log information and facilitate escalation/distribution of customer requests to appropriate departments will likely serve you well as a Broker or Loss Adjuster working in a call centre. You may also find that your ability to interpret and explain customer service policies could be a good foundation for a career as an Underwriter.

Lifeguard

Being a lifeguard is a big responsibility – people are putting their trust in you to keep them safe and ensure they are protected. This is a big part of what drives Canada’s property & casualty insurance industry.

The chlorine levels checks, site walks and enforcing the ‘no running on the deck’ and ‘no horseplay’ (among other) rules plays an important part of a carefully developed risk management strategy developed in consultation with Loss Control Specialists and Risk Managers. You have also likely developed excellent customer relations and documentation skills from all of those times someone needed a bandaid, was separated from their parents or needed support in registering their child for swimming lessons. These skills, along with your knowledge of the human body from the first aid and lifesaving courses, could be great starting points for a career as a Loss Adjuster, particularly in accident benefits or bodily injury adjusting.

Site Assistant - Landscaping/Construction

Flowers and a tool belt may initially not look like they have a lot to do with the insurance industry. But, teamwork, the ability to understand and follow prescribed plans and procedures, and fostering a strong relationship with your customer sure does.

Working in the landscaping and construction industry can equip you with the knowledge of costs associated with materials and resources required to carry out projects you have been a part of. This knowledge may serve as a good starting place for a career as an Appraiser. Keeping your equipment in good repair, your tools in a safe and accessible location and ensuring everyone is aware of the safety precautions required for their use are all part of careers in Risk Management and Loss Control associated with the job site. Also, your relationship-building and interpersonal skills, coupled with the knowledge and experience noted above, may help you in getting a start as an Underwriter.