The insurance industry is a huge multifaceted industry with a multitude of career options. Each title has different responsibilities, required skills, and educational backgrounds. If you are an insurance sales representative, you might not even need a bachelor’s degree to get hired. In contrast, for more senior-level and associate positions, a bachelor’s degree and advanced degree or certification would be expected.
Some overarching requirements of professionals in the insurance industry include in-depth knowledge of the industry and the services offered, great analytical skills, and great financial and accounting skills. For a front-facing position, negotiation, marketing, and communication skills are key.
Here are some insurance industry career options with details of what recruiters are looking for when looking at your resume.
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In the simplest terms, an insurance agent sells insurance policies. Because of the nature of your job, your sales, negotiation, and communication skills must be incredibly strong. You will also have to have an in-depth understanding of the insurance industry and, more specifically, of the different insurance policies you are offering to clients. You can work for an insurance company or act as an independent broker.
Educationally, a bachelor's degree in finance or an insurance-related field would be highly beneficial but is not an absolute requirement. Depending on where you would like to work, however, you may need to be certified or licensed by the relevant governing body. If such certification is needed, ensure you list your relevant certifications in your resume.
What is your success rate in closing deals? On average, how many new clients did you bring your previous employers monthly? Whatever impressive figures you may have about your success as an insurance agent should be highlighted on your resume.
If you are beginning your career in insurance as an insurance agent, you may not have a lot of directly relevant experience to add to your resume. In this situation, you can list any communication experience you have. So if you were on the debate team, or if you have a small business where you handle your sales, include that experience.
An insurance sales agent’s job is to contact potential insurance customers and convince them to buy an insurance policy that suits their needs and budget. You may be meeting clients physically to discuss options, or virtually. This position includes a level of research as you source potential clients as well as admin tasks as you onboard new clients and get them registered with their policies.
To do this job you should be outgoing and have strong intrapersonal and negotiation skills. In addition, you need to be persistent and resilient in the face of rejection. Recruiters will be looking to see your previous experience to get an idea of your level of success, so ensure your experience section highlights any and all success you have had in your career thus far.
Here is an example of a successful insurance sales agent resume.
There are many types of insurance including life insurance, health insurance, travel insurance, motor insurance, etc. Each type of insurance has its specifications and requires a different approach to sales. If you are particularly skilled in one type of insurance, be sure to highlight that in your introduction section.
The saying 'your network is your net worth' is particularly true in this profession. The more groups of people you have access to, the more potential clients you can reach. If you have access to a particularly relevant group of people, find a way to include that in your resume.
Crafting a resume for a life insurance agent role isn't just about showcasing your sales acumen. The industry has been evolving lately with a stronger focus on customer relationships and digital marketing. So, in addition to sales, it’s vital to highlight your interpersonal skills and tech-savviness. Many firms are also increasingly looking for agents who can educate customers about complex insurance products effectively. Therefore, your ability to distill and communicate complex information clearly should shine through your resume.
You should highlight your proficiency in using digital tools like customer relationship management software, email automation, and social media platforms. These skills demonstrate your ability to adapt to the evolving insurance landscape and effectively engage with today's tech-savvy customers.
Potential employers value agents who can clearly explain complex insurance products to customers. So, emphasize instances where you've educated clients about their policy options and helped them make informed decisions. This approach demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction and ethical sales practices.
As the name suggests, life insurance agents sell life insurance. Like other agents, you can work for one insurance company or act as a broker and sell life insurance from multiple insurance companies. This is a particularly difficult profession with over 90% of agents leaving the profession within one year. Contributing to the difficulty in the profession is the fact that you will most likely not be officially employed but will probably be retained as a contractor. In addition, you will most likely be based on a commission basis which means you will only receive wages for completed deals. Add to that, the fact that life insurance unlike motor insurance, is not compulsory to have, and is not considered important by large sections of the population.
On the positive side, this profession has low barriers to entry. You do not necessarily need much more than a high school diploma. What you must excel in is networking, sales, and negotiating. Ensure your resume stresses your success in these areas most of all. Take a look at this strong life insurance agent resume.
To survive in this profession you have to make sales. To put yourself above the multitudes of other applicants, highlight your success rate if you have been particularly successful thus far. How much money did you bring in for your previous employer? How many sales on average did you make per month?
A potential employer would appreciate an applicant who can show that their career has grown in the industry. It shows dedication to the profession and affirms a wealth of knowledge and experience in the industry.
Insurance investigators investigate claims that are suspected to be fraudulent. Like others in the insurance field, you can work in-house for one insurance company or as a sub-contractor for multiple insurance companies. Your investigations may range from following paper trails to physically surveilling claimants to prove fraud.
While you do not need a bachelor’s degree, a potential employer would appreciate one. In addition, certain states or countries may require licensing or certification before you can begin in the profession so ensure you do your research and list your license on your resume.
Are you particularly skilled at surveillance work or at following a financial paper trail? Make sure you list that in the introduction and show figures of your success in your experience section to back that up.
Your ability to investigate is the core skill needed for this position. So if you used to be a private investigator or a claims examiner in any field, ensure that you include that experience in your resume. A lot of the skills from these positions will be transferable to the insurance investigator position.
An insurance case manager takes care of the insurance company’s clients. They help clients decide on the most beneficial policies and ensure clients can benefit from their insurance policies. They also oversee any claims and cases. This is not usually an entry-level position as professionals in this position will usually have begun as insurance agents or advisors. Because there will be contact with clients, communication skills are very important as are problem-solving skills.
Take a look at this strong insurance case manager resume.
This position requires you to root for the company's clients and assist them where necessary. Because of this, any experience in a support position can be mentioned as the soft skills are transferable. This should especially be included if you do not have a lot of professional experience in the insurance industry.
It would be easy to craft your resume around your communication and negotiation skills. But a significant part of your job will include administrative work. This will include writing reports, processing claims and policy registrations, etc. Ensure that you include experience doing these tasks as well. To bolster your resume further, quantify the administrative workload that you can and have handled.
An insurance underwriter analyzes the risk associated with insuring a potential client or their assets and then calculates an acceptable price determined by that risk. You will usually be the middle man between insurance agents eager to make sales and insurance companies who want to minimize risk at all costs. Unlike other professions in the insurance industry, you will probably work as an employee of an insurance company as opposed to working as a contractor on a commission basis.
While there is software that you can use to establish risk, you will still need a very analytical mind to accomplish your tasks. You will also be expected to have a bachelor's degree - preferably in an analytical field. Your resume should highlight your experience with industry-standard technologies and software as well as your experience and educational background.
It is sometimes hard to judge the quality of an applicant’s underwriting experience without seeing them in action on a case. To improve an employer’s confidence in your skills and success, include any recognition for you have gotten in your previous positions. So if you had high ratings, or won awards for your work, make sure you highlight that in your resume.
This is a very technical job and technology is constantly evolving. Make sure you are using the latest risk calculating software at all times and ensure your list of technologies in your skill section is constantly up to date.
Health insurance agents sell health insurance. These agents, unlike health insurance brokers, will work for one insurance company as opposed to many and will work on a commission basis, so must be excellent salespeople to be able to make a living. Your tasks will include finding leads, approaching them, finding them the best cover possible, and convincing them to buy a cover. To thrive you will need soft skills like communication skills and perseverance. In most states and countries, you will need to be licensed to do their job so ensure you have researched to find out what licenses you require in your place of work.
You will almost definitely be using some kind of a CRM to keep track of your leads and the status of your engagement with each lead. So become experienced with all the main CRM software and list all the CRMs you are comfortable with in the tools section of your resume.
Insurance claims managers will handle insurance claims as they are processed. Your tasks may include giving clients advice, investigating their claims, and ensuring their claims are processed to completion efficiently and fairly. You will have the added responsibility of managing a team in the claims department. You will be in charge of maximizing productivity and efficiency in processing claims.
You will need to prove your ability to manage a team as well as your experience doing all tasks in the claims process. Most people in this position begin in an entry-level position (intern, broker, agent, etc.) and grow into this position. Once in this position, you may undergo further training to allow you to specialize within the insurance industry.
Show your competency as a manager of a team by listing your team’s successes. Quantify their increased efficiency and productivity. If your team has won any internal or external awards for their work, include that as well.
Are you particularly experienced in health insurance or life insurance? Ensure that you list the areas of insurance that you are particularly experienced with, in the introduction section.
As a hiring manager who has recruited for insurance roles at companies like Geico, State Farm, and Allstate, I've seen firsthand what makes a resume stand out. The following tips will help you craft a strong resume that showcases your skills and experience in the insurance industry.
Employers want to see that you have the specific skills needed for the insurance role you're applying for. Make sure to highlight your relevant skills, such as:
For example, instead of simply listing 'insurance knowledge' as a skill, you could say:
A resume summary for an insurance position is optional, but it can be a helpful way to provide context and highlight your most relevant qualifications. While an objective statement is outdated and should be avoided, a well-crafted summary can help you stand out to hiring managers and applicant tracking systems (ATS).
When writing your insurance resume summary, focus on showcasing your unique value proposition and the specific skills and experience that make you an ideal candidate for the role. Avoid repeating information that is already covered in other sections of your resume, and keep your summary concise and targeted.
The work experience section is the heart of your resume. It's where you prove to employers that you have the skills and experience to excel in the role. Use the tips below to write a strong work experience section that will make you stand out from other candidates.
The education section of your insurance resume is a key element that showcases your academic background and qualifications. It helps employers understand your foundational knowledge and determine if you have the necessary skills for the role. Here are some tips to craft a strong education section on your insurance resume.
Strong action verbs help recruiters understand your role in specific tasks. Insurance professionals’ resumes should use action verbs that are relevant to the sale of policies and the processing of claims. Action verbs like "Authorized", "Contacted" or “Negotiated" are examples of strong action verbs for this profession.
For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.
When you speak of skills for someone in insurance, you will want to list skills associated with selling insurance, and processing and investigating claims.
Here is a list of skills you would expect to see in an insurance professional’s resume. Add those that you are experienced with to your resume to impress recruiters.
You can include the above skills in a dedicated Skills section on your resume, or weave them in your experience. Here's how you might create your dedicated skills section:
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Insurance job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.
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