There may be those who roll their eyes when you put ‘insurance’ and ‘hot career’ in the same sentence – but a recent study has placed insurance in the top 10 of desirable jobs to be in.
The University of California, San Diego put out its fifth annual list, ‘Hot Careers for College Graduates’ and cracking the top 10 of desirable jobs this year was insurance agent.
A recent Insurance Business round table on the future of the industry, and where the new brokers, underwriters and actuaries are coming from, found that “there is a hunger for a job or career” in insurance.
“What I find is that people are getting excited about the industry because this is a stable, solid industry that people can have a job or career in for the rest of their lives,” said Michael Paisley, president of the Paisley-Manor Insurance Group.
The UCSD study also looked at “bridgeability factor,” a yes or no decision “based on whether a college graduate could bridge into the career with one or two years of study or reskilling.”
Several careers — such as nurse, veterinarian, and pharmacist — scored well on UCSD's criteria, but would be unobtainable for an untrained college graduate.
Almost half of the careers in the top 10 dealt with computers and technology, including the top two on the list.
But where does insurance place in the top 10? (continued.)
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According to the UCSD survey, “as the population lives longer, there will be an increased need for insurance agents; the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects this career path to increase by 22 per cent by 2020,” bringing insurance sales agent in at number 10 on the list.
“Our research shows there are 336,740 insurance agents in the U.S., earning a mean annual salary of $63,400. Although one third of all insurance sales agents in 2010 reported having at least a bachelor’s degree, only a high school diploma is required for entry to this job — a unique factor among the top 10 hot careers.”
1. Software Developer – Systems Software
2. Software Developers – Applications
3. Market Research Analyst/Marketing Specialist
4. Accountant/Auditor
5. Network/Computer Systems Administrator
6. Elementary School Teacher
7. Computer Systems Analyst
8. Management Analyst
9. Public Relations Specialist
10. Insurance Sales Agent
According to Workopolis statistics from the month of March, the most sought-after job for Canadian graduates is pharmacist.
The best of the common entry-level/student jobs is account manager, beating out tech support workers and beauty advisors.
However, like their American counterparts, the fast growing tech sector and big-data jobs are where the hot career opportunities exist, in software and computers.
