When it comes to understanding what employers want and what candidates desire, no one knows the brokerage recruitment landscape better than John McNeil, associate dean of the Insurance Management Program at Humber College. The program has successfully placed 70% of its graduates into broker channel roles. Other key milestones include 100% of the students joining the industry in some capacity and 100% of students completing the program.

We asked John for his expertise in attracting talent to the broker channel. Here are some takeaways.

Make that first conversation compelling

For many students and young talent, the word “insurance” doesn't sound exciting or glamorous, especially when speaking to someone who knows nothing about insurance. When I look to attract students into the program, I start with, “Would you ever consider working in the world of risk?” That immediately changes the narrative and sparks a conversation.

Another approach is to talk about what insurance brokers do daily and how we help people, build relationships, network, and make the world go round. Insurance is on everything, and potential new talent doesn’t realize that.

Build a career path through learning and development

The Insurance Management Program at Humber College is an excellent resource for talent, and hiring graduates from our program is beneficial because they chose the industry and possess the necessary knowledge, skills, and technology training to thrive. However, more is needed. We must continue to have conversations with new and existing talent to ensure they are constantly learning and developing new skills, especially as the industry and technology evolve.

If you are not talking to new and existing talent about how they will develop and grow with you, someone else will. I constantly get phone calls from alumni saying, “I had someone reach out to me about a leadership position, or I had somebody reach out to me about a senior position, a higher paying position, and so on.” To attract and retain your most valuable asset - your top-tier talent - establish a clear learning and development path and regularly discuss growth opportunities with them.

A broker role is a fantastic place to start

As the saying goes, “Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm,” and insurance is an incredible career for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it has so many excellent people working in it. Secondly, insurance is on everything, allowing the world to go around. Lastly, their entire role is to help people; there are even more reasons beyond these. Studies have shown that 97% of those surveyed felt that what they did in their insurance career made a difference.

When it comes to the war for talent, we see it at graduation when students are beaming because they have a job offer but don't just have one job offer. Some have anywhere between 10 to 14 job offers. Humber College is doing whatever it can to help get students into exciting and rewarding roles, specifically in the broker channel. Students will ask me, “Where should I start?” and I say, “A broker role is always a fantastic place to start.”

To learn more about what Applied Systems and our partners are doing to support the next generation of insurance professionals, download our eBook, Empowering the Rising Generations in Insurance.