A résumé lands on your desk for an occupancy at your brokerage. It’s from a young woman, who is currently finishing up a postgraduate degree, and is working three jobs on the side to pay her way through college. She has no prior experience in insurance and no certification that would make her a strong candidate.
Would you hire her?
That’s exactly how Page Forron, operations and marketing lead at McConville Omni Insurance Brokers, started her short presentation at the IBAO Convention in Toronto earlier this week. Why? Because she was that woman. She was the one who took a leap of faith, sent off her résumé without any prior insurance experience, and low and behold, “insurance chose [her]”.
“If you were to look over my résumé, you wouldn’t see things you would traditionally want for your brokerage,” said Forron. “I didn’t have my RIBO certification. Am I any good to you if I can’t talk to clients? I didn’t have three to five years of experience in insurance. I didn’t know how to handle a claim. I hadn’t even thought about the word ‘indemnify’ since my fifth grade spelling bee. And I didn’t have any volunteer experience in the industry to show that I had anything to bring to the table.”
So, how could a career in this unknown industry be good for Forron without these typical qualifications? It’s all in the skills that aren’t physically present on the résumé paper, she explained. It’s in the soft skills she’s been building since she had her first job at the age of eight. It’s in her proficiency in customer service, time management, willingness to learn, stress management, work ethic, dedication, passion, problem solving, civic responsibility and caring.
“These are not skills you can teach. They’re built over a lifetime […] and they’re probably the most important skills you can have,” Forron said.
The soft skills on Forron’s résumé packed a punch with McConville Omni Insurance Brokers, based out of London, ON. They offered her a job, and, 18 months later, she’s grown successfully into her role to the extent that she’s now presenting in front of hundreds of people at a huge convention like the IBAO.
“Brokers are really busy places,” she said. “A lot of us are growing faster than we can keep up. It’s been really cool to see a lot of my colleagues grow into role that are best suited for their skills and expertise. I’ve also had the ability to grow in my role at the brokerage over the last 18 months, and I’ve had the privilege of building my own role right from the beginning. I’m constantly challenged and I’m constantly inspired and it’s so great to work in a place that values innovation and change.
“One thing I love about the industry is that it always presents opportunities for learning, whether it’s webinars, seminars, articles, blogs, certifications, designations, there’s always something new to sink your teeth into, and that’s pretty cool. I get to use all the fundamentals of customer service that I’ve been building over the years to find new and creative ways to connect with our clients. Insurance is a complicated topic, but we get the privilege of educating and being a resource for our clients every single day.”
One thing rang true during Forron’s short speech - she really likes working in insurance. At a time when everyone’s talking about a talent gap and a lack of young people entering the industry, there are intelligent and enthusiastic individuals, like Forron, who might not have the traditional training and expertise to bring to the industry, but they have other unique skillsets that are invaluable to this evolving industry moving forwards.
“I would challenge you to look beyond the words on a résumé and think about the skills that make up a high-performing team,” she said. “Do you value hard work, teamwork, grit, determination, and empathy? Then scan for the jobs that build those skills and ask questions in the interview that test for them. It’s really easy to teach a job. It’s really hard to teach soft skills that are built over a lifetime.
“In order to attract good talent, you don’t need goat yoga at lunch or ping pong tables in the office. I’m certainly not looking for the toys and I’m not wowed by the fluffy stuff. If your talent lights up when they talk about finding the right solution for the client, or how they work well in a team environment, those are the skills and values that you need to build your team from. I would encourage you to open up your parameters and open your brokerage up to different skills, experiences, and backgrounds. Look past the words that you see on the résumé page, and you might just be surprised at the talent that you find when you look at a résumé a little bit differently.”
