Under-Explored Income Opportunities in Insurance Sector for Graduates

Viewed as one of the most favoured investment destinations, Insurance sector in India has surely seen a steady growth in the recent years. Be it the smarter, customized product offering, innovation in sales with improved customer service, better claim settlement rates, the insurance sector has introduced it all and has become a market of US$ 41 billion (Source: Confederation of Indian Industry) on the global map.

The growth has fuelled many job opportunities in the sector as well. There is a constant need for professionals to increase the awareness of insurance in the country and further bolster the growth.

With a bachelor’s degree in your hand, here are some of the under-explored opportunities which you can explore in the insurance sector.

Insurance Actuary:

In the coming days, insurance actuary-ship will be considered as one of the highly desired professions with great income opportunities. An actuary’s ability with respect to modelling and analysis of problems hitched to finance, product design and risk management are extensively used in the field of pensions, insurance as well as investment, and not to be overlooked, sometimes also in other fields like banking, healthcare and project management. In short, an actuary holds the responsibility of managing the overall function of the insurance company they are employed with.

Individual Advisor or Agent:

Any graduate after qualifying the examination conducted by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the apex insurance regulatory body, can become an insurance agent or advisor. As an individual agent, you can process the business in your own name and hence can take the agency-ship for one non-life and life insurance company each.

To become an agent, you will have to approach that particular insurance firm which you want to be a part of. The expenses on your training will be borne by the company itself, and on the completion of the training, a certificate will be awarded to you.

Insurance Brokers:

The new entrants in the field of insurance, brokers are intermediaries who are given the provision to operate for all general and life insurance companies at the same time. However, brokers need to maintain a fixed amount as minimum capital for various categories and also have to adhere to certain regulations.

It is right to define brokers as the representatives of insurance purchasing consumers. They are the ones who undertake every single activity right from underwriting to claim settlement.

Recruitment under TPA’s:

Another new recruitment concept coined in the insurance sector is the Third-Party Administrators (TPA).  Third Party Administrators serve as an intermediate between the medical service provider, consumer and the insurer. They make sure that the consumer is able to avail all the insurance benefits on time. Third Party Administrators have link-ups with different hospitals and also help in getting cashless services. They settle all your claims with the hospitals and the insurer without fail.

Insurance Faculty:

Insurance companies recruit insurance faculty to offer training to their already employed and newly recruited agents, surveyors and brokers. Due to the dearth of efficient faculties, there is a huge scope for a graduate to take up a career as an Insurance faculty.

Surveyors:

A surveyor is an independent professional having license under the country’s insurance authority. As per this authority, the surveyor has the responsibility to survey all claims amount above 20000/-.

Upon receiving any claim request above this amount, the insurance company assigns a surveyor to analyse and prepare a report on the loss the consumer faced.

Insurance Manager:

Corporate bodies holding enough premium portfolios often appoint insurance managers for taking care of the company’s insurance requirements. As an insurance manager, you will be responsible for:

Other than these, a graduate can also opt for these following opportunities open under the insurance sector:

Supervision:

Valuation and risk inspection job- The property that a consumer possesses needs to be valued before insurance schemes are offered to him. Though this is the task to be done by an underwriter, in case of insurance proposals of a higher amount, the company appoints a risk and valuation inspector to get the valuation report ready.

IT requirements: An insurance company also appoints software engineer graduates, electrical engineer graduates, mechanical engineer graduates, BCA as well as MCA graduates to help them meet their technical requirements including insurance software and application development.

BPO Industry jobs: Those insurance companies outsourcing their service outside their home country hire graduates to meet their BPO needs. Both experienced and freshers have equal opportunity here.  

Final Words

While the life insurance market in India is growing at an annual rate of 32%-34% (Source: Confederation of Indian Industry), the general insurance market is also growing steadily. Also, many new verticals like property, health, motor along with corporate insurance, are emerging, which will increase the demand for skilled manpower in the insurance sector in the near future. So, if you hold a bachelor’s degree and the interest to take up a career in the insurance sector, go ahead with any of the choices mentioned above. 

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