Help wanted
Quebec’s damage insurance industry seeks to fill 2,000 jobs this year alone
Are you a motivated, ambitious and career-oriented person who likes to help people? Then Quebec’s damage insurance firms are looking for you.
Thanks to retiring Baby Boomers, “Quebec’s $7 billion-a-year insurance industry needs at least 2,000 new hires in 2012 alone,” said Robert Lagarde, president of the Coalition pour la promotion des professions en assurance de dommages, a Quebec industry group that was formed to help recruit new blood into the province’s insurance industry.
“Moreover, the number needed will grow every year afterward as more people retire,” Lagarde said. “So the opportunities are out there for the right people.”
For the right people, damage insurance offers the chance for a satisfying, well-paid career with room to grow. Yet the industry needs to attract more people than are currently applying.
The reason? “Young people coming out of school don’t see damage insurance as a ‘superstar’ profession,” Stéphan Bernatchez said. Bernatchez is exiting president of the Regroupement des cabinets de courtage d’assurance du Québec, the Quebec damage insurance industry’s brokers’ association. “This is why the industry came together about 12 years ago, to encourage them to consider this career, and all it has to offer them over their working lives,” he said.
Young people aren’t the only ones who can find opportunities in insurance. “The industry also needs people with solid work experience in other professions, who are looking for a mid-life career change,” Bernatchez said.
“Their life experience can make a real difference when it comes to relating to older clients, and finding solutions that work best for them.”
There are two major fields in the insurance industry: personal and damage insurance. Personal insurance includes life, disability, medical, dental and travel protection, to name a few. Damage insurance protects people against damages to personal property as a result of fire, accidents or other risks. It extends to such areas as home insurance, civil liability, farm insurance, the coverage of such events as concerts and hockey games, and the protection of valued possessions such as cars, boats and airplanes, and it provides monetary compensation to replace those damaged goods.
Within damage insurance, there are four main career options available: agent, broker, under
writer and claims adjuster. Both agents and brokers act as intermediaries between the policy-holder (the customer) and the insurer, advising clients about which insurance policies would best suit their needs. According to Services Canada, which offers through its Web site access to a wide range of government programs and career options, “The titles of insurance agent and broker are used to differentiate loss insurance representatives who work for a single insurer (agents) from those who sell the loss insurance products of several insurers (brokers).”
Damage insurance agents sell damage insurance on behalf of a specific company. This career gives you the chance to gain experience by becoming thoroughly familiar with the industry by focusing on one company’s portfolio of products. The agent advises clients on the products that are best suited to their needs, provides information on risks covered, and closes sales.
Damage insurance brokers work with a number of insurance companies, rather than just one. Brokers identify and assess clients’ risks and needs, provide them with advice on the products that are best suited to their circumstances and negotiate with insurers on the clients’ behalf.
These career paths are good choices for problem-solvers with highly polished people skills and
a talent for analyzing a situation and summarizing it in an easy-tounderstand manner.
Underwriters are the people who get into the nitty-gritty of risk. They evaluate insurance applications to assess insurance risks, premiums and the extent of the coverage. They approve the sale of insurance policies and make sure they are in compliance with government regulations, and they provide recommendations on insurance plan design.
Claims adjusters take the statements of insured parties, third parties and other parties involved in order to establish the facts and circumstances of the claim (fire, theft, accident or other property loss). They then write a report and negotiate a settlement.
“There is room for all kinds of personalities in damage insurance,” Bernatchez said.
“If you’re someone who loves to sell one specific product, consider becoming an insurance agent. If you like negotiating, be a broker. Do you have a mind for math and calculating probabilities? You’d do well as an underwriter. And if you like digging into details after the fact, you could be a natural claims adjustor.”
Whatever appeals to you, there are good employment opportunities available today in Quebec’s damage insurance industry. These are careers with room for lifelong financial and personal growth – and the real satisfaction of helping people in their time of need.