Insurance has a bad rap as a profession. We inside the industry try to combat the stigmas of our wonderfully nerdy and exciting realm of serving the personal needs of the world’s population. We help people. We are a people-orientated and focused industry. And we’ve done a pretty lousy job letting the world know what we offer and why we are important to their daily existence! We are a group of people who are dedicated to helping our customers achieve their dreams, recover from the worst disaster’s life can create, and realize the untapped potential of protecting what is near and dear to their hearts. At the soul of the insurance industry, we are all about serving others and making personal connections in a very disconnected world.
Life would be very different if insurance did not exist. I would posture we could be living in a lawless, wild west, “Wyatt Earpy” OK Corral twilight zone if insurance was not the backstop, safety net, and incredibly important thing it is to the world today. But the truth is, we in the industry have done a lackluster job selling what it is that we do, and we have made it difficult for us to attract and retain the next generation employee for our companies because of that. Let’s face it, while the movie Tombstone glamorized the whole OK Corral life, I’m not sure most of us would enjoy living in that world, despite how cool it was when Val Kilmer said, “I’m your Huckleberry.”
Most people when they think of insurance jobs see the bumpy- frumpy old dude insurance salesman, not unlike Ned Ryerson from the blockbuster hit Groundhog Day. Now while all of us inside the walls of our respective companies snicker at the humor provided by this character, we realize so many people get their “filters” about what it is that insurance professionals do from cinema and the media in general. Watch that first step, it’s a DOOZY!
Think about how insurance companies are portrayed in films like The Rainmaker. While I ADORE this film, sheesh Hollywood, could you make us look any more evil? What is the first image YOU conjure if you are not in the industry about insurance professionals? Think back to the classic film Double Indemnity, or the lighter spoof Cedar Rapids, and even the kid’s film The Incredibles. The dad in that film is an insurance adjuster with a HEART, but his job seems so mundane that no one would ever want to pursue a claims career!
These movies provide funny and poignant looks into the life of insurance professionals, but they have their moments where all of us in the industry cringe at the message they send.
What the world outside of our bubble in the insurance industry doesn’t realize is that insurance companies are FILLED with amazing, incredibly challenging, and exciting job roles which will keep you learning, changing and developing. You have choices within insurance career paths. It’s not all insurance sales or claims or underwriting or actuarial roles. Although those jobs have their own distinct “coolness factors,” if you believe that’s all there is to our industry, then like that Judas Priest song goes, you’ve got another thing coming! The grooviest types of jobs in insurance companies may not actually deal with front-line insurance work. Here’s just a few that come to mind. Change Management Consultants, Software Developers, Innovation and Research, Insurtech Architects, UX Engineers, Historical Archivists, Media Relations, Public Affairs Communicators, Learning and Development Designers- the list goes on and on. You can pretty much DO anything with an insurance industry career. The opportunities are almost endless.
- Insurance can be fun.
- Insurance is exciting.
- Insurance has MASSIVE diversity of choices in career options.
- Insurance can be for YOU!
And insurance is a lucrative career choice for those who pursue the right kind of education for a particular job skill set. Check out this website for more information on average insurance job salaries. Now while these are averages, insurance careers provide massive opportunities for salary potential!
People often make remarks and you hear frustrated sighs of irritation when you tell them you work in insurance. They may have had a bad experience with a homeowner’s claim or an agent which has tainted their understanding of our amazing industry. Do we have issues with our image? Yes. We struggle with our image as an industry because we haven’t told our stories well, and the negative attention we have received often becomes what people believe to be the reality about our entire industry. So I encourage all of us in the industry, TELL YOUR INSURANCE STORY.
This mover and shaker in the industry recently put a call out to us to do exactly that!
John Bachmann- Insurance Nerds
People need to hear and understand how great this industry is to work in!
We are a family of nerdy, fun and awesome professionals dedicated to helping the world be a better place. What could be more rewarding than working at a place where you can do THAT every day?
About Heather Blevins
Heather Blevins began her career in insurance with State Farm in 2004. She currently works as a Change Management Analyst. The thing that gets her excited about her work is she gets to be an integral part of something much greater than herself. Training and teaching others about the world of insurance sets her soul on fire! Heather was recently elected to serve as the Vice-President of Marketing for SITE- The Society of Insurance Trainers and Educators. She has earned her CPCU, AIC, AINS, and SCLA designations, and is working on a Master’s of Education in Instructional Design at the University of Illinois. She is heavily involved in the Claims Interest Group of the CPCU Society as their social media geek, and also serves on the board of the Central Illinois Chapter. On a personal note, she enjoys writing, college football and traveling the world.
Heather Blevins began her career in insurance with State Farm in 2004. She currently works as a Change Management Analyst. The thing that gets her excited about her work is she gets to be an integral part of something much greater than herself. Training and teaching others about the world of insurance sets her soul on fire! Heather was recently elected to serve as the Vice-President of Marketing for SITE- The Society of Insurance Trainers and Educators. She has earned her CPCU, AIC, AINS, and SCLA designations, and is working on a Master’s of Education in Instructional Design at the University of Illinois. She is heavily involved in the Claims Interest Group of the CPCU Society as their social media geek, and also serves on the board of the Central Illinois Chapter. On a personal note, she enjoys writing, college football and traveling the world.
