By Mary Byrnes, AAI-M, AU, Education Department
At Syracuse I Day last week, I had the pleasure of having lunch with representatives of a community college who are interested in providing students with insurance courses. As you can imagine, they asked many questions that caused me to stop and think, perhaps you will too.
As we all struggle with staffing issues and trying to replace staff that moves on, it's natural to think of young people coming into the business. Only we can adjust the misconceptions of these young people of an industry that we think of interesting, service oriented, and even vibrant. Sure we can tout a regular paycheck, great benefits, vacation time, etc. But is that going to flip the switch of a young person who is under the misconceptions that they usually have?
Here are the questions that were asked over lunch…
- In your career, is there one thing that you've done or been involved in that stands out for you as a high point?
Wow, that's quite a question, it makes you stop and think especially if you've been at it for a few years (a few decades for some of us).
I thought of my time at an agency, we had been presented with the opportunity to quote a moderate sized airport, my experience had been that I had traveled through an airport in the past which is not very impressive. I closed myself in the conference room for a few days and read the policy cover to cover, found a broker specializing in the coverages and asked a ton of questions. It was the most interesting account that I've ever worked on. BTW, we did write it.
- What impact do you have?
I'm sure that every one of you out there can tell about an instance where you helped someone. After all, in the most vulnerable time for an insured, you're there to help. Whether it's a fire, an accident, a death etc., you answer the call.
I told them another story from my agency days. An insured had a house fire that burned it to the ground, the claim was reported to the carrier which sent a check immediately for $20,000 so that they could find a place to stay, buy clothes and so forth with only the request that they keep and submit their receipts. It was such a show of good faith in the face of such devastation. I still remember the insureds names and the carrier that responded and it's been many, many years.
- For a young person, what's the potential?
In honesty, the potential over a career for someone starting out now is limited only by their willingness to learn, be open to every opportunity that comes their way, to have an innate curiosity and be ready to never be bored.
I challenge you to ask yourself these same questions. I hope that you'll remember your own experiences and the differences and that you've made to someone.