Second Acts in insurance: What it says about the insurance business
While skimming through the insurance press one day, I spotted an unusual new hire announcement that aroused my curiosity: “Re Source Pro Names Retired Rear Adm. John Spencer as Senior Director of Operations.” Why would a Rear Admiral want a second career in insurance?
With nearly a quarter of the insurance workforce expected to retire in the next few years, “Second Acts” or careers in insurance offer a great way for the industry to expand their recruitment pools and attract talented leaders with experience to shepherd the business into its next phase. What motivates people to choose a second career, especially one in insurance?
When asked why we chose an insurance career, most of us in the insurance business say we didn’t plan on an insurance career. Yet once in the business, we found ourselves intrigued. It is an exciting business, one that touches almost everyone, every business, and everything in the world. Not only were we not bored, but we enjoyed what we were doing.
In the “real world," however, insurance has a vastly different reputation. Younger people — millennials and gen-xers for example — look for jobs with a ‘sexy’ reputation like technology companies or Wall Street. No one grows up saying they want a career in insurance unless their parents had a career in insurance, and they saw how flexible, interesting, and great an insurance career could be.
When I broached the subject of Second Acts with Carrier Management’s Executive Editor, Susanne Sclafane, she suggested it would make a good series. To do that, she asked that I develop a list of possible candidates. Within days, I had three potential candidates for interviews. When I called them, all three immediately said yes:
Former Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy John Spenser to Resource Pro’s Senior Director of Insurance Operations
Former Commercial Airline Pilot Tom Vargo to AXA XL’s Head of Aerospace Claims
U.S. Air Force Cyber Operations Officer Vishaal “V8” Hariprasad to Co-Founder & CEO of Cyber MGA
The interviews were fascinating. I love finding out what makes people tick. I was totally surprised to discover that the appeal of a career in the insurance industry is its mission: to help people and companies recover from a disaster. I was totally blown away. Why is that story front and center? Have those of us in insurance forgotten our mission? Is it time to reframe how we tell the story of insurance and focus on its mission to help people and businesses recover from disasters? After all, we’ve been doing this successfully for hundreds of years.
The articles can be found in the Carrier Management section here.