Did you ever consider a career in the insurance industry?
Well, that’s exactly the problem, says Jeff Stephens, the outreach manager for the recently-established
California Insurance Careers Program.
Fortunately, Solano Community College has become a pioneer in solving that problem and in connecting students with interesting, high-paying jobs.
“Everyone has their reservations about entering the (insurance) field because of their misconceptions,” said Stephens. Most people don’t realize that the insurance industry goes far beyond insurance sales people, he said.
“It’s so diverse,” he said. “You can work in an office; you can work in the field. You can have a job talking to customers; you can have a job not talking to customers.”
In fact, California has a $100 billion-insurance industry which requires workers with a range of talents for a broad variety of positions, said Stephens. Most of those positions are high-wage and high-growth positions; the industry’s annual payroll exceeds $10 billion. Despite this, insurance companies have reported extreme difficulties in attracting workers, largely due to confusion over what the insurance industry is.
That’s why two years ago the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration launched the California Insurance Careers Program, an initiative to link community colleges and insurance companies. SCC jumped on board immediately.
Starting this year, SCC became one of the few colleges to offer basic training for an insurance career. The training consists of six courses, one of which is an internship.
“A big draw for students is we have a group of employers on a parallel track offering internships and entry level jobs,” said Stephens. “It’s a great partnership.”
SCC Dean of Business and Computers John Urrutia serves as project lead on the college’s end.
Over the past two years he has coordinated the collaboration between leaders in the insurance industry and educators to develop a relevant, and student-friendly, curriculum. Now the program is ready to go.
“The problem is industry is going out trying to find people and having to find people off the street,” he added. “Then as soon as they hire them they have to send them off to training. This program will fill that need.”
Students who complete the curriculum receive a certificate of completion as well as an Associate of Science degree, said Urrutia.
Julie Kay can be reached at schools@thereporter.com.
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thereporter.com/ Julie Kay/Staff Writer
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