Getting young people into the world of insurance isn’t always easy, especially as studies have shown that their interest in finding careers in the sector is flatlining. Yet, opportunities in this space are increasing, with new technologies bringing a slew of potential career paths. Spotlighting those while getting younger generations excited about insurance is why one company launched its insurtech-focused scholarship, which just crowned its fourth recipient.
“We started it in 2016 and that was when the insurtech movement was really starting to pick up speed,” said Becky Schroeder, chief marketing officer at Insurance Technologies Corporation (ITC). “We view ourselves as one of the original insurtechs. It’s in our name, ‘Insurance Technologies’, and we saw an opportunity because a common conversation in the industry – probably always, but especially I feel like in the last five years or so – has been, how do we get young people in this industry? How do we fill the gaps that are going to be left by the aging workforce as they retire and move on to that next stage of their life?”
ITC’s InsurTech Scholarship recognizes and awards people who are in school and have plans to go into the insurance industry, with applicants having to submit a 1,500-word essay about why they want to work in insurance. The 2019-2020 scholarship went to Sarah Jaquez, a full-time student at the University of Texas at Dallas who first became interested in insurance after getting a part-time job at a local insurance agency, Quantum Alliance.
While Jaquez isn’t in an insurance-specific role at the moment, since she currently works as an executive assistant, she fell in love with the industry and wants to continue growing her career at the insurance agency.
“That was such a great story that we felt it earned her the scholarship for this year,” said Schroeder.
The growth in applicants over the years proves that ITC’s work in creating interest around the industry and the jobs within it is paying off.
“It has certainly grown a lot. In the beginning, we didn’t have a ton of applicants, but I think as we have gone through the years, we’ve certainly seen our number of applicants grow,” explained Schroeder. “And one of the greatest things about it is the people who know ITC and see some of the things that we’re putting out have recommended the people they know that are in school and that are going to be going into insurance to apply for it, so I think it’s just helping us grow it even more.”
