There are a plethora of jobs to perform in the insurance industry, anything from accounting to IT to human resources and business operations. It is time for young Indians to start looking at the insurance sector as a viable job provider and skill themselves as its needs, says Shiney Prasad
Every year, millions of insurance policies are sold across the world, making insurance a big ticket sector. Not just the industry provides financial protection to people worldwide; it also employs a large number of people of diverse capabilities and qualifications. Ever since India opened its market to insurance sector in 2000, the industry has grown dramatically.
With a number of private players in the field, the industry has over the years evolved into an organised sector providing enhanced products and services. With major international finance companies shifting their business and knowledge process to India, the employment opportunities too have expanded manifold. Yet, the reach of the insurance sector remains limited for young Indians seeking new employment avenues. A lot of it has to do with the fact that there is limited awareness about career prospects in the sector.
Talk insurance as a career option, and most of the young Indians will visualise the job of sales agents selling insurance policies. Not many would know that there are a plethora of jobs to perform in the insurance industry, anything from accounting to IT to human resource and business operations. It is time, young Indians start looking at the insurance sector as a viable job provider and skill themselves according to its needs to have sustainable careers in the field.
There are a number of options to choose from for a career in this field. An insurance company will have openings in the marketing, distribution, customer service, claims, process management, actuarial or risk assessment, underwriting, operations and investing departments. Among these options, actuarial and underwriting jobs are rather exclusive to the insurance industry, and equipping yourself in these skills can make you a bankable employee. let’s take a fragmented look at job opportunities in the insurance sector:
Actuarial and Finance: To have a career in actuarial sciences, you need to have a background in Mathematics, Statistics and Economics. Actuaries are basically statisticians who compute insurance risks and premiums. To make a career as an actuary, degrees in actuarial science, mathematics, statistics, economics, business and finance are a good training ground. Once you graduate with these courses as background, you can go for a major in actuarial science and offer yourself as a wonderful employment potential.
Insurance Underwriter: This is a profile that is exclusive to the insurance field and involves deciding whether a particular insurance proposal is an acceptable risk. The job involves preparing policies, dealing with insurance brokers and clients and investment management.
Business Operations/Project Management: When a policy is bought, it sets in motion a long process of management, assessment, customer service, and settling claims. The business operations hence become a very significant aspect of an insurance firm and offer plenty of career opportunities.
Marketing Communication: Effective communication remains the cornerstone of the success of insurance companies. Marketing communication in insurance implies innovation and creativity. With constant innovations in technology and methods, insurance marketing and communications are evolving at a rapid pace. The insurance sector thrives on effective communication and campaigns, be it public relations, advertising or social media campaigns. If you have a degree in marketing communication, insurance is certainly a good bet sector for you.
Sales: Sales operatives are the most important interface a consumer establishes with an insurance company. This is what most of us associate with a career in insurance. Starting from a junior level customer service operative, you can build upon your understanding of the industry and ability to rise up in the industry. You may later graduate to other functions in the industry like risk management, underwriting and business development.
Claims: The claims staff works to settle claims against policies. They review the policy details, obtain evidence and check and evaluate facts before paying a claim. It also involves investigating claims for losses caused by thefts, accidents, or deaths to be certain that there is no foul play in seeking the claim.
Human Resources: Since the sector employs a large number of people and talent, it becomes essential to have sound human resource policies that will help retain good talent and offer them viable and long-term career options. If you are a human resource graduate, insurance sector may be looking for you.
Information Technology: Every industry today is deeply dependent on information and technology. The insurance sector too depends on its IT professionals to develop solid IT programmes and functions to help companies improve their performances, evaluation processes and speed up operations.
According to market research firm Deloitte, Indian life insurance industry, which contributes 88 per cent of total life and General insurance premium in India, has emerged as the 9th largest life insurance market in the world. Yet, insurance penetration remains low (at 5.2 per cent in 2010). The low penetration levels mean there is a lot of scope for growth and the operations of Indian insurance sector will only increase in the coming years. Understandably the industry will be looking for more and more equipped and skilled workers to perform specialized tasks. So, if you are a young motivated and talented student looking for promising career paths, insurance is one area you can dwell into.
The writer is managing director, Sun life Financial Asia Service Centres (ASC).