Careers in life insurance

The life insurance industry today has changed greatly from that of 10 to 15 years ago, and with this has come changes in careers within the industry. Nancy Lim, Senior Vice-President and Head, Human Capital, Great Eastern Life Assurance (M) Berhad, shares with us what careers are found in the industry today.

Today's life-insurance industry has progressed when compared to the past. The industry today has moved beyond only selling insurance protection to consumers; it now provides financial planning and solutions to its customers and agency teams have been given skills to provide this assistance. Customers are also provided with a wider selection of products to choose from, and we have different products to suit different life-cycles.

Careers in life insurance

There are various job families within an insurance organisation, which demand graduates from various disciplines. Insurance companies are constantly looking for actuarial science, accounting, marketing, English literature, economics and mathematics, bio-technology and biochemistry graduates.

For positions that require specialised/ technical knowledge such as actuarial, information technology, accounting and investment, the minimum requirements would be qualifications in the respective course of study. For generalist positions, the minimum requirement is a degree in any field of study complemented with strong communication skills, good attitude and a good value system.

Some of the careers which are unique to the life insurance industry are actuarial, underwriting, claims assessment and product development.

Management trainee programmes are designed to prepare fresh graduates for the leadership pipeline and also to expose young graduates to the heartbeat of our business on both the front-end and also the backbone of the operations.

'The work cannot be done by the baby boomers and Generation X alone.'

Qualifications, skills, and aptitude required

You would need to have at least a bachelor's degree or diploma in the areas mentioned above.

A good-quality candidate to us is one who has achieved academic excellence, possesses good communication skills and exhibits a high level of emotional intelligence. Thus, some proficiency in social skills is relevant.

'Growing with an organisation, learning and acquiring technical skills, and grooming themselves professionally should be their main agenda rather than aiming for mere financial rewards.'

In the corporate sector, a good professional must also be able to balance work demands, evening classes, family, personal hobbies and managing relationships with their own circle of friends.

In short, we seek out talents who have had more holistic exposure and who are also willing to be stretched when they come aboard.

Companies are always keen to select bright graduates who have completed or undergone a more holistic education, besides just getting their degrees. Graduates, who possess a positive attitude, integrate well, are independent, multilingual, culturally sensitive, agile and flexible, and believe in personal development, succeed better in corporate life and also work better in teams.
With more and more cross-border assignments coming to Malaysia, as well as shared-services being set up, young graduates can expect to work with more nationalities and also be able or are expected to understand their peer groups' countries' history, geography, socio-economic and socio-political environment.

Good organisations promote continual learning

A good life insurance company is a learning organisation, where staffs are provided with ample opportunities to attend internal and external development programmes for their professional and personal development. Comprehensive, systematic training and career development programmes will enable graduates to unlock their hidden potential and develop their talents.

Moreover, they would also have in place a strong performance-management capability to differentiate and identify top performers.

The insurance sector demands technical and specialist skills and some of these skills are scarce in the market. In this highly competitive industry, movement of talents can be very fluid and our challenge is retaining talents within companies and the country.

A word of advice

This younger generation should graduate and try to seek a career rather than seeking just a job.

Growing with an organisation, learning and acquiring technical skills, and grooming themselves professionally should be their main agenda rather than aiming for mere financial rewards. They should also try and find themselves a mentor early in their work life so that they can receive positive encouragement and candid feedback. Graduates must be aware that they, too, have a responsibility to help build great organisations, and to build the workforce of the future.

The work cannot be done by the baby boomers and Generation X alone.

© GTI Specialist Publishers. Reproduced with permission.