The 2019 Insurance Industry Employment Outlook Can Help Job Seekers Understand Why They Are Not Getting Hired
The 11th annual Insurance Industry Employment Outlook was just released with some juicy nuggets for job seekers, job changers and those who may want to enter the industry. We spoke with 54 insurance companies which in total employ 285,871 employees and found out some interesting information that would help many in a job search. The full report can be downloaded (www.GreatInsuranceJobs.com/JobReport) at no cost.
Job seekers, employers we spoke to for this report shared some fantastic “behind the scenes” takeaways that may help you understand what they are going through. Human resource departments are overwhelmed right now. The insurance industry has all-time record employment (job additions). Retirements are playing a huge factor and current employees are quitting for better compensation packages from competitors. What all of this means to you is that there are many great jobs available. The main challenge for many job seekers is getting the interview. This report can shed some light. Here are some highlights:
Which positions are employers looking to fill?
The breakdown according to surveyed companies: Actuaries 2%, Claims 22%, Underwriting 15%, Customer Service 15%, Technology 12%, Sales 21%, Product Managers 1%, Administrative 9%, Loss Control (Risk) 1%, Accounting/Finance 2%, Other 3%.
The top five jobs that this survey forecasts to be in heavy demand for the rest of 2019 are:
- Customer Service/Administration Professionals
- Insurance Sales Professionals
- Claims Adjusters (company and independent
- Account Managers
- Technology Jobs
Additional jobs mentioned that are new to this survey:
- Data Analyst
- Social Media Director
- Telematics Software Engineer
Understanding employer challenges will help you do an optimized job search.
The top challenge employers have almost every year is that they post their jobs and get way too many unqualified candidates. They leave candidate selection up to a robot (applicant tracking system, ATS) or human eyeballs. We know that many resumes are not optimized for either and therefore get thrown into the unqualified pile. We also know that many of you spend more time applying to positions you don’t qualify for instead of doing a thorough search for jobs that will have a significant impact on your career.
The insurance industry needs excellent talent (and in many cases will train). If you want to get the interview, make sure your resume aligns almost precisely with the job you are applying for.
Technology jobs in insurance are on fire!
There are plenty of jobs in the backend technology of insurance companies. However, the face of typical claims and underwriting is changing and will also be more tech savvy. Data analysts, telematics engineers, and data scientists are in huge demand. All these jobs come with more extensive compensation plans. It’s time to get some training!
How are insurance companies solving the retirement issue?
With the need for 400,000 hires in the next couple of years, insurance companies are rolling out the red carpets in colleges and training programs. Learn from this report what that actually means and how it can help you become part of this great industry or even upgrade your career.
There is a lot of great information in this year’s report. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you might have!
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Contact the author, Roger Lear, via email or Twitter.
