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Insurance Careers Month Edition- New Ways to Recruit Outstanding, New Insurance Talent

Insurance Career Month

Wow. Insurance Career Month just sneaked upon us! For so many insurance employers (especially talent acquisition specialists and HR), I know that digging out from the curve balls from the pandemic, the great resignation, retirements, and just being overworked with so much uncertainty has been overwhelming. 

The challenge to find great new insurance talent marches on, and during Insurance Career Month, your company can gain a competitive edge learning from many experts. Here is the schedule of events: Insurance Career Month Website

Employers are always looking for ways to recruit younger people to the insurance industry. Recruiting at college campuses that offer insurance and risk management programs is a must-do to find young talent. Pairing up with and supporting Gamma Iota Sigma  can help navigate getting connected with up-and-coming insurance talent at these schools. If you need a list of these schools, here is a good one (Risk Management and Insurance College Programs). 

The challenge for college recruiting teams is that there are few candidates, and everyone wants them. If your team wants to be successful in college recruiting, not only do you have to start no later than a student’s junior year, you have to have a competitive “introductory offer” that includes expected first-year compensation. The nice thing about recruiting risk and insurance college students, you don’t have to sell the insurance industry. You have to sell your culture, upward mobility, and money and communicate with potential candidates frequently to “keep them in the cue.” Insurance companies that do this and work with organizations like Gamma Iota Sigma have great success.

However, this is just part of the solution. Simultaneously, you have the opportunity to recruit in ways you never thought about. Here are some suggestions:

  1. Mobile Geofencing. We just finished a recruiting project where we needed to hire fifty attorneys graduating from law school around the State of Florida. Geofencing allows us to put a virtual boundary around ten law schools in Florida. When the students used their phones in these buildings, our mobile career ad would pop up, and the call to action was to fill out a ten-second form (name, email, phone) for more information about the job. Very inexpensive to do, and I ended up hiring five attorneys from this source. You can geofence the insurance schools you target. 
  2. TikTok/IG Reels  This is very powerful. The challenge for traditional job marketing in insurance (which is very important) is the new trends for college students are being ignored. TikTok and IG Reels are the real deal.  Companies that want to reach young insurance talent can do this and have fun at the same time.  Creating a series of stories on TikTok is an excellent way to showcase your company.  This is just one example that talks (from a dorm room) about how an insurance internship (14.00hr) potentially can become a six figure job.  This is great!  Yes, it would be best if you had someone to get a bit creative and build momentum in the channel. However, done right and with the proper tags will get attention. I searched far and wide and only saw a handful of insurance companies using this method. Pro Tip 1: In your bio, have a linktree with links to the different jobs you have open (Claims, Underwriting, Sales, etc.). Pro Tip 2: Collect their name, school, and phone number only. You will not have any results if you send them to your applicant tracking system. Finally, once your channel is established, send a link to the Dean at every school. Trust me, they will help spread the word because it will make them look cool. lished, send a link to the Dean at every school. Trust me, they will help spread the word because it will make them look cool. tik tok 2
  3. LinkedIn Student Search.  Go to any college offering a risk and insurance curriculum. I chose my alma mater Florida State University. Once there, go to the alumni lookup. This is where it gets fun. Select “insurance” as a keyword, and then in the date field, I put 2023. This gives me many who are now juniors...or as I like to call them, outstanding targets. You will find a great group of students primed to speak with you. The great thing that came out of the pandemic is that video interviews are regular now. You have the chance to set many interviews with eager students and start filling many of your open jobs.

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Great, young talent is waiting for your call.  To get them engaged, it will require a plan and most of the time, it is just connecting with them.  If you take the time to reach out to students  with one of these methods or others, make sure the CTA (call to action) is a quick twenty-five second form.  DO NOT send them a link to some random job in your applicant tracking system. A quick form and the reason you want them to fill out the form works. Once you get their interest, you can then start your recruiting journey.  If you have any questions about this, please don’t hesitate to reach out.