E&S insurance career development thrives... even in 2020
Job opportunities remain abundant in a sector of the insurance business that continues to struggle to close a talent gap.
Rising stars in the field of wholesale, surplus and specialty line insurance will shine just as bright in 2020 despite pandemic-induced adaptions to their schooling, graduation ceremonies and internships.
While some career-development plans may have been canceled during the early months of the COVID-19 public health crisis, both the students interested in insurance careers as wells as industry leaders looking to connect with them, found creative, resilient ways to accomplish their goals despite social distancing challenges.
“[Students] have had to be very adaptable,” says Tim Chaix, president & CEO of R.E. Chaix & Associates Insurance Brokers, Inc. and chair of the Career Development Committee for the Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA). The committee’s mission is to empower working insurance professional to create awareness and interest among college students in careers in the wholesale, specialty and surplus lines industry among college students. Committee members have traditionally made in-person presentations to risk management classes and collaborated on programming with Gamma Iota Sigma, the insurance, risk management and actuarial science professional fraternity.
Early in 2020, WSIA’s Career Development Committee successfully completed Extreme Risk Takers Symposiums and co-sponsored career fairs with the WSIA Education Foundation. These events included a visit to the University of Southern California Leventhal School Of Accounting, an event that attracted students from four different campuses.
Then, the pandemic ramped up, and some campus visits were canceled. Many other presentations, however, were rescheduled as virtual events. Committee members are now scheduled for virtual presentations with a number of universities this fall, and there are Extreme Risk Taker Symposiums scheduled virtually in October and November with Arizona State University and Troy University, respectively.
“One positive element that has come from the need to present virtually to college students is the possibility of reaching campuses we hadn’t in the past,” Chaix says. For instance, committee members were able to complete a presentation to the Gamma Iota Sigma students at the University of Hawaii, which would not have been a likely campus visit for committee members in the past. “We’re enjoying the ability to reach places we haven’t normally.”
During 2019, WSIA Career Development Committee volunteers reached an estimated 3,800 students during 52 college visits, three symposiums, and five Gamma Iota Sigma events. This represented a 28% increase in student interactions over the previous year, according to WSIA.
“The WSIA members who volunteer for student outreach are very passionate about talent development and about this industry,” Chaix says. “They are really committed to talking with students about the opportunities it presents, and we have been able to include some of that passion for their work in videos that we can use in student presentations, which is a great way to tell the story from a first-person perspective.”
This WSIA committee also organizes a White Paper Contest twice a year in which risk management and insurance students and faculty members are invited to submit analysis of a pre-selected topic relevant to the wholesale, specialty and surplus lines industry. Roughly two dozen students compete in each contest for a chance to win three cash prizes. Winner papers are published on the WSIA website.
“The WSIA White Paper Contest is an excellent opportunity for students and faculty because the selected topics are relevant to most risk management courses,” Chaix says. “Faculty can incorporate the paper into curriculum, and for students, the chance to earn a cash prize while they learn about a specific industry topic or trend can be financially rewarding.”
WSIA Career Development Programs Manager Chris Timmerman says that also 2020 forced insurance and risk management students to become flexible in their career planning, job opportunities remain rife in an industry that continues to struggle to close a talent gap.
“There is great talent out there,” Timmerman concludes. “We are doing everything we can to connect with them and bring them into the industry.”
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