The job market in the Canadian insurance business is strong and rich with opportunities.
Looking for a career that offers stability, variety, innumerable opportunities for learning and advancement, which also enables you to help people and businesses? A career in the Canadian Insurance Industry offers all of these things
Stability
The insurance industry is going strong and it is generally resilient during economic shifts: “Not even the recent tough economic times could slow the growth of the insurance industry: while many industries were laying off workers at the height of the last economic downturn, about 12,000 positions were added to the insurance workforce in Canada!”
Variety
Is it possible to have a stable career that also offers variety? It really is possible to work in the insurance industry and find an incredible variety of areas to work in. There are the roles common in business sectors such as administration, assistance, customer service, sales/brokers, business development, marketing, management and executive roles, but there are also a wide range of jobs in the areas of underwriting, risk analysis, claims, actuarial science, appraisals and SO MUCH MORE. You could start in one area of the business, decide you’d like a change, and use your experience to move into another area.
Contrary to what some people might presume, the insurance industry is ANYTHING but boring. There is room to grow into new and exciting roles when you’d like to make a change.
“Insurance as a career is not just about sales. Other roles can work directly with customers, in business-to-business relationships, or in the ‘back office’ in claims, underwriting, actuarial science, risk management, appraising and investigations.”
– Trevor Buttrum, Career Connections Program Manager, The Insurance Institute of Canada
Learning
Another factor that keeps the insurance industry interesting is that we all keep learning as part of our jobs. There are always changes in this business! Many of us take ongoing courses in order to keep up with new technology, industry rules and regulations shifts, and opportunities in other sectors. For instance, cyber-liability has been a recent area in which we all have new things to learn and understand. The constant learning keeps this business interesting!
Advancement
The Insurance industry not only offers a wide variety of career types, it also offers generous room for advancement. For starters, there are multiple grades of insurance licensing available. Often people advance through the levels as their careers progress. From frontline retail broker, to small-medium business, to executive level management and corporate relations to company ownership, the limits are up to the insurance professional to determine for themselves.
Helping People & Businesses
A family struggles to get their lives back together after a traumatizing and devastating house-fire. In terrible situations like this, many of us who work in the insurance industry can be a great help. While stories of insurance interests wronging people in times of distress are good fodder for sensationalistic news headlines, the truth is that much of our time in our brokerage is spent advocating for people making claims when things have gone terribly wrong. In those times we are in a position to help our clients in a meaningful and practical way. It’s the same thing with businesses, large and small: when they face potentially catastrophic problems, we are often there to hold their hands and help them get things back together. New business owners often don’t understand the liability issues that could cause them serious problems; they really appreciate it when we spend time with them explaining how liability works. Of all the ways those of us who work in this business find satisfaction in the jobs we do, it is most meaningful when we are able to truly help people and businesses.
Could A Career in the Insurance Industry Be For You?
Whether you prefer to work with people, businesses, or numbers, there is a wide range of job types on various levels with room to move and grow in the Canadian insurance industry. Is it a good fit for you? People who excel in this field share certain character traits and work habits in common: responsibility, attention to detail, organization, and sound decision-making skills. If this sounds like you and you’re considering a career in the insurance business, it could well be the right direction to pursue.