How to Get Into the Insurance Industry With a Finance Degree
The insurance industry offers an abundance of job opportunities. From the most well-known job as an insurance agent to a less sales-focused role as a processing clerk, there’s a wide range of positions in the insurance field.
If you plan to start a career in the insurance industry, a finance degree can give you a head start. It’s because this degree focuses on developing skills essential to the insurance industry. These skills include financial analysis and risk management. They are necessary to calculate premiums, assess financial risks, and keep financial security.
Studying finance isn’t easy for everyone. For those struggling with their studies, consider getting finance homework help from experts who offer online finance assignment help. You can search “do my finance assignment” to find these service providers.
But only seek help with finance homework from reliable websites to ensure you’ll get quality output. Also, consider tutoring for accounting studies to make learning faster and find answers to your questions more efficiently.
Types of Insurance Jobs
Before discussing the steps to get into the insurance industry with a finance degree, let’s delve into the different insurance job types.
Insurance Sales Agent
An insurance sales agent sells insurance policies. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment of insurance sales agents is expected to grow 8% from 2022 to 2032. This rate of growth is faster than the national average for all occupations.
As an insurance agent, you’ll meet and talk with people to understand their financial needs and convince them to buy an insurance package.
Actuary
An actuary’s job involves compiling and analyzing a company’s statistics and data. The objective is to calculate the appropriate insurance premiums by forecasting potential risks.
Risk Managers
There’s an expected 5-8% growth in the risk managers’ employment rate through 2024. Risk managers identify and assess the perils of running an organization. These may include:
- Internet security breaches
- Illegal activities by employees
- Storm Damage
- Fires
- Explosions
Other responsibilities include finding the proper coverage for the perils. Risk managers also balance the cost of addressing the risks and losses if the peril happens.
Underwriters
Underwriters decide the fate of an application. They are the ones who determine whether to reject or approve a proposal. The job usually involves entering and analyzing information furnished by applicants into programs.
As an underwriter, you’ll have to ensure that application answers and analyses are accurate. This is to prevent the company from facing excessive claims.
Claims Adjuster
An adjuster is an individual who helps clients after their property has been damaged. They investigate the cause of the damage and determine whether the insurance company should pay for it. Most of the time, claims adjusters work in offices, but they have to go into the field sometimes to investigate or review the damage.
Customer Service Representatives (CSR)
CSR exist in different industries, including insurance. CSR professionals answer the client’s queries and ensure their needs are met. You may have to answer questions about insurance products or process payments.
A CSR position usually requires computer skills, a willingness to help others and other soft skills. Hence, it’s usually considered entry-level.
There are other roles within insurance companies, like marketing assistant and processing clerk. Some do not require a college diploma. As someone with a bachelor’s degree in finance, your skill set likely suits roles as underwriter, actuary, risk manager, and even a chief finance officer.
Tips to Get in the Insurance Industry With a Finance Degree
Start a career in the insurance industry as a finance degree holder with the help of these tips:
Seek an Internship
You can start early by looking for an internship. An internship can be ideal during and even right after college.
When applying for an associate or senior-level insurance job, you’ll likely have to compete with more experienced applicants. An internship can help fill in for the lack of full-time working experience, making it less challenging to land a job.
Find internship opportunities by checking the websites of financial organizations. You can often find internship information on their site. If there’s none, consider getting in touch with them to ask about internship availability and requirements.
Consider Applying for Entry-Level Roles
Everyone has to start somewhere. If you didn’t have a chance to get an internship, consider gaining employment in an entry-level or junior-level role. These roles include insurance sales agents, customer care associates, and technicians. You can use the experience you acquired in that position to advance your insurance career.
Network With Industry Professionals
When looking for a job, networking is a great strategy to find opportunities and boost your chances of getting hired. While you can get results from manually searching insurance jobs online and job sites, it’s often easier to land a job if someone in the industry already knows you.
Networking with insurance industry professionals to find a job does not mean connecting only with hiring managers. Connect with other experts within the same field as well. They may give helpful tips, trends, and other valuable information. Networking is also an opportunity to find potential clients and mentors.
Choose a Specialty
As previously mentioned, there are many types of jobs in the insurance industry. You can either become a jack of all trades or a master of one. Being a jack of all trades will make it easier to find a job because you will have many skills. But being a master of one will make you more valuable.
Think about your passion and preferences when making a decision. Do you prefer to work with a single company or multiple companies? What niche are you interested in?
Take Training Courses and Earn Certifications
Many have finance degrees. Obtaining a certification can enhance the appearance of your resume, increase your credibility, and provide you with a competitive advantage. For some positions like actuary, certification is a requirement.
Depending on your intended specialty area, you can earn certifications in specialized areas like underwriting and insurance investigation or general areas of insurance. Some certifications require continuing education to stay valid.
Here are some of the certification programs you can pursue:
- Associate in General Insurance (AINS)
- Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC)
- Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU)
- Certified Risk Manager (CRM)
- Certified WorkComp Specialist (CWCA)
- Accredited Advisor in Insurance (AAI)
Conclusion
The insurance industry is a great sector to start and build a career. As a consumer staple, insurance isn’t subject to the booms and busts affecting trendy products and services.
If you are ready to start your career in the insurance industry, the next thing to do is research your desired employers. Once you get a job offer, don’t just look at the compensation. Also, consider other factors like the culture, as it will make or break your work experience.
