InVEST, an insurance classroom-to-career education program, is actively supporting efforts across the country for members of the independent agency system to participate in National Job Shadow Day. Numerous InVEST students, agents, brokers, company leaders and other industry leaders are participating today.
“InVEST is proud to maximize opportunities like National Job Shadow Day and bring students and professionals together,” says Heather Minkler, InVEST board chair and CEO of Clark-Mortenson Agency, an independent agency in Keene, N.H. “An important initiative for our board this year is to encourage more agencies and carriers to host job shadow days and this effort is a great start to what we’re confident will be a successful year.”
Job shadowing provides students with first-hand experience as to what it is like to work in the industry and understand the wide variety of positions available in insurance. Numerous organizations are conducting job shadowing days and field trips today.
“Quite often, students view an industry only by what they see on the surface. For insurance, that is sales and claim personnel,” says Neal Montgomery, InVEST board member and Travelers director of field management. “This event provides students with a look at product development, risk control and forensics, underwriting, finance and accounting, compliance and regulatory areas, market research and information technology, as well as college recruiting and event planning. Students are exposed to a variety of areas of insurance from large national accounts to homeowners insurance.”
InVEST provides professionals and teachers with a job shadow guide that provides step by step directions on how to implement a job shadow day, complete with student release forms and media information. These and other resources are
here.
“InVEST is critically important not just to the future of the independent agency system, but to the insurance industry as a whole,” says Robert Rusbuldt, IIABA president & CEO. “The InVEST program is crucial in the effort to replenish our workforce for the coming years. The work InVEST is doing today will pay important dividends in the near future. The participation of educators, volunteers, agents and industry leaders, in efforts like the National Job Shadowing Day, are key to the success of this program.”