Turn Your Degree Into an Insurance Career

If you’re a recent college graduate – or if you’re thinking of changing careers – consider a career you may not have before: one in the insurance industry.

Why insurance? For one thing, jobs in this sector pay well (in May 2014, the average salary within the sector for all positions was a bit more than $57,000, according to Glassdoor.com). Growth in the industry is expected to be “about as fast as average for all occupations,” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), with employment in the sector growing 8.7 percent (or 194,000 jobs) between 2010 and 2020.

What’s more, the aging of the U.S. population might increase demand for insurance agents who sell long-term care and health insurance.

What kind of college degrees are insurance companies looking for? Graduates who majored in math, risk management, accounting, economics, finance, and business are the most sought after, but English majors, psychology majors, literature majors, theater majors, public relations/journalism majors – just about anyone who can listen to people – really listen – and who isn’t afraid of numbers (statistics is also something you should be able to handle) has a great shot at making a achieving a first-rate career within insurance.

You could even simply major in insurance: several colleges and universities across the country now offer this major, as well as one in risk management.

You also should have the following transferable skills:

• Critical thinking.
• A love of reading non-fiction (you’ll be reading a lot of information, professional journals and online magazines about insurance).
• An affinity for learning – and memorizing – plenty of laws and rules because if you wish to sell insurance and possibly other financial products, you’re going to have become licensed.

You also may want to have taken or have experience in public speaking and in sociology/psychology.

Even if you don’t have a college degree in any of the aforementioned majors (or a college degree at all), you can still build a career in insurance by starting out as a customer service representative in larger insurance firms and working your way up (you’ll still eventually have to take those licensing exams if you want to sell).

The insurance industry provides important life- and income-saving products to our clients. They provide peace-of-mind and help families cope in difficult and stressful times. If you want to help people protect what’s important to them, if you want to help them live knowing that their families are well taken care of should disaster strike, then you owe it to yourself to consider a career within the insurance industry.

If you’re a recent college graduate or career changer with the above-described aptitudes and background and you’re interested in a career in the insurance sector, talk to the recruiters at Insurance Relief™. We look forward to hearing from you.