From: Leader’s Edge
Our industry may never be sexy, but we can show young professionals that it’s a hidden gem.
The other day I noticed a bumper sticker on a Toyota Prius that read “The Prius is such a cool car, said no one.”
After a chuckle, I realized that you could replace Prius with insurance industry and it would be just as true—yet somehow that didn’t feel quite as funny.
We know that our industry is a hidden gem. So how do we spread the word? I’ve pondered this question a lot lately now that I am leading The Council Foundation, which has a primary mission to attract new talent to our industry. Our focus is on early career talent, but changing young people’s perception of our industry can feel tantamount to boiling the ocean. At least it did to me, until recently.
In August I had the pleasure of joining feedback calls with interns who were participating in a pilot program The Council Foundation is funding at the University of Mississippi. Seventeen students from historically Black colleges and universities in Mississippi completed a 10-week certificate of insurance program offered through the Center for Insurance Transformation at Ole Miss. At the end of the certificate program, the students were offered internships at one of The Council member firms that were also participating in the pilot.
The students offered amazing feedback during these calls. I cannot tell you how many times I heard the words “life changing” as they talked about their internship experience, usually in reference to the support they received from a mentor during the program. The mentors were a go-to resource to answer any of the interns’ questions, including how to navigate life in the office. That’s when it struck me: maybe we don’t have to boil the ocean to change the perception of our industry. We can do it one intern at a time, using great mentors to make the difference.
