Your Career Path Starts Here as an Insurance Broker
 Are you looking for a career that provides opportunity to grow, both personally and professionally? To meet people from all walks of life and to be an important part of your community? To bring your own ideas and expertise to help people and solve their problems? To be a part of a vital part of our economy and to expand your worldview? To build a rewarding career with no limits in where it might take you? It’s all here in the insurance industry. And the industry is looking for people like you.
Everybody Needs Insurance
Nearly everything you want to do − from driving a car or owning a home to starting a business, travelling or even just going to a ballgame − is only possible because insurance is there to remove some of the risk.
Simply put, insurance enables people and businesses to be compensated when unfortunate situations arise. It protects people’s assets against financial loss.
Insurance brokers are experts in the fields of personal and business insurance. They represent insurance companies and advise their clients on their best insurance options. As front-line professionals, they ensure that their clients are adequately covered for their needs and they help their clients manage their risk.
Most insurance brokers act as independent business people, and they occasionally offer additional other financial products and services such as financial planning, real estate and life insurance (though these brokers have to obtain additional licenses to do so).
General insurance brokers:
- Provide vehicle, property, liability, marine, aircraft and other types of insurance to their clients.
- Recommend and implement a client’s insurance coverage, premiums and method of payment.
- Provide information on varying insurance packages such as risk coverage, benefits and other policy features.
- Work with clients to manage and reduce their risk
- Work in their clients’ best interest, offering only those products and services suited to their clients’ needs
- Respond to emergencies and assist clients with their claims
Insurance Offers Diversity
Property and casualty insurance brokers generally start at the customer service counter where they process auto insurance policies. Or they start as an assistant to senior brokers who may specialize in personal lines of insurance (homes, condos, boats and other recreational assets). With experience and further education, there’s really no limit to how far a broker may advance.
Customer Service Representatives: Process insurance transactions under the supervision of a more senior broker.
Personal Lines Representatives: Provide more detailed insurance coverage for people’s homes and personal belongings.
Commercial Lines Representatives: Manage insurance accounts for businesses and commercial property.
Department supervisors: Manage the activities of employees in the above categories.
Producers: Develop commercial insurance packages for larger accounts, obtain new clients, and help their clients effectively manage their risk. They mainly work outside the office and over time gain a broad understanding of business management.
Branch office managers: Manage all activities within a brokerage including operations, marketing, sales and administration.
Insurance Offers Advancement
There are excellent opportunities in the insurance industry. New positions are constantly being posted on the IBABC Job Board, including many entry-level positions. Brokerages are seeking individuals with developed managerial, communications and interpersonal skills. Individuals eager to progress into higher-level positions and willing to put in the required effort are more likely to be able to move up in the industry quickly.
It’s a fantastic time to enter the industry, as many working within the industry are nearing retirement age. As they retire, many opportunities are opening for career advancement.
Insurance Offers Flexibility
Insurance is needed throughout all areas of B.C. and Canada. Your experience and education as an insurance broker can easily be transferred to new locations if you choose to move. Have you always wanted to live in an urban centre or a small town? Do you want a career that allows you to relocate should your life or that of your spouse head in a new direction? Are you seeking a career that allows you to job-share or balance work and child-rearing? Insurance provides that flexibility.
IBABC Offers The Training You Need
While most brokerages will hire and train high school graduates with potential many prefer to hire college or university graduates − especially those who have majored in business or economics. Sales courses and retail experience are also assets. A good understanding of computers and popular software programs is also essential.
Post-secondary training can assist brokers in grasping the technical aspects of insurance policies and how they meet the needs of their clients. Courses in finance, accounting, economics, business law, business administration, and public speaking are especially beneficial to insurance brokers. In fact, some of the credits earned from these courses can be applied later to some insurance designations.
To become an insurance broker, you will need to pass an exam in order to be eligible to apply for your insurance licence. There are two exams you can write to qualify for a license: the Fundamentals of Insurance or the CAIB 1 exam. Both are offered by the Insurance Brokers association of B.C., along with the courses and textbooks that will prepare you for these exams.
As a licensed insurance broker, you will continue your learning through industry-sponsored courses and programs. With an insurance designation such as the Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker (CAIB), your career will advance faster.
For more information click here. |
