The path from journalist to underwriter is not one often tread but for Jarrod O’Connor (pictured), senior underwriter and team leader – southern region at Accident and Health International (
AHI), it was a move that paid dividends.
O’Connor was part-way through a journalism degree before he decided to take a year off to travel the east coast of Australia. However, a knee injury that required surgery cut the trip short which left a gap to fill before studies resumed.
“Like many before me, I fell into the insurance industry as a result of sheer luck,” O’Connor told Insurance Business.“I took a role as a broker broking personal lines insurance and within no time I knew it was what I wanted to do and haven’t looked back since.”
With close to 12 years of experience under his belt, O’Connor moved from broking into underwriting and was recently promoted to a team leader role within AHI.
O’Connor noted that he knew the industry was right for him “pretty much instantly” after being struck by the scope for personal growth and career opportunities within insurance.
“Not that you really realise it at the time, but upon reflection I never had any desire to leave, nor to go back to my journalism studies even part time,” O’Connor continued. “I took a year out of insurance to travel the world and found when I got back home that my desire to re-join the industry was greater than I had realised. I think at this time it dawned on me that insurance was right for me.”
As a younger member of the industry, O’Connor said that the current changing market conditions are positive for the industry, even if it does present some challenges.
“We are slowly, perhaps too slowly, starting to see the market begin to harden for the first time in some years which is positive news for the entire industry,” O’Connor said. “It’s perhaps daunting for some, as many from my generation and younger have never experienced a hard market, but certainly it’s a positive for the industry as whole.”
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