Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Jobs in Insurance Companies

Jobs in insurance companies are lucrative options for all finance professionals in India. With 15-20 percent growth rate per annum and the entry of private companies, Jobs in India have become more demanding. A host of facilities including an attractive salary package, handsome incentives and steady career growth are offered by most of the insurance companies in India. Anyone who wants to go for a good job in the insurance sector can also pursue a course in management that will give him an edge in the job market.
Insurance management courses offered by several renowned institutes across the country cover the nitty-gritty related to the insurance sector so that students can get a clear idea of the sector and grab better positions in any insurance company after the completion of the courses. Anybody can opt for an insurance course after graduation. Some insurance management institutes in India conduct admission test while some other institutes select students for the course through CAT and MAT entrance tests. Working professionals can also opt for insurance management programmes as many institutes also offer correspondence and part-time courses.
As far as jobs in insurance companies are concerned, both national and international insurance companies are ruling the job market. Some of the big names in the insurance sector in India include Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited, Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited, HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited, Max New York Life Insurance Company Limited, Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited, Aviva Life Insurance Company Limited, SBI Life Insurance Company Limited and many more.
Anyone planning to make his or her career in insurance sector can apply for several positions. Some positions for which insurance companies mainly hire people are as follows:
• Insurance Advisor: Many insurance companies in India hire skilled professionals as insurance advisors. The job of an insurance advisor is to serve all the policyholders of a company. An insurance advisor is responsible for assisting policyholders to choose the best possible plans for them, enabling policyholders to understand various risks and find out the right way to avoid the risk.
• Insurance Associate: A finance professional interested in insurance jobs can also apply for the position of insurance associate. Generally, an insurance associate is responsible for achieving sales target, creating and maintaining relationship with customers, implementing various promotional schemes, just to name a few.
• Back Office Support: Any commerce graduate willing to start his or her career path in the insurance sector can opt for the position of back office support. A professional working as a back office support has to shoulder various responsibilities. He has to attend all the service related queries of customers, send the MIS report to the concerned authority, assist teams at the time of log and many others.
• Sales Development Manager: Sales development manager position in any insurance company is a great reward for finance professionals. The responsibilities attached to the position include identifying insurance agents and recruiting them, reviewing the performance of the team, providing training to his team, setting target, improving the productivity of his team and many more.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Insurance Job Descriptions

In the United States, insurance plays an important role in people's lives since people use it to pay for medical bills, protect their property and to pay for unexpected expenses. This means that there is a big market that insurance companies can fill, using the help of insurance agents. These agents are the frontline personnel who sell the company's insurance policies. The career prospects for insurance agents can be considered to be bright, which means that people who wish to become agents can look forward to a fairly lucrative career. However, before taking the plunge, people still need to be aware of what to expect when they become insurance agents.
General job description
The main responsibility of an insurance agent is to sell insurance policies, which he does by helping individuals and companies select the kind of insurance that fits their needs, including health and property insurance. In addition to this, an insurance agent also prepares reports, maintains records and seeks out new clients. In the event of a loss, an insurance agent is also expected to help a policyholder make a claim on his policy. Insurance agents can choose to work exclusively for an insurance company or he may choose to represent a number of insurance companies.
Specific job description
Just like in other professions, insurance agents can also choose to specialize in a specific field of expertise An agent can choose to specialize in property, casualty, life, health, disability, and long term care insurance policies. For example, an agent who may choose to specialize in property insurance is expected to sell to individuals or businesses various types of insurance that aim to protect properties, such as homes and cars, against fire, accidents, theft, and other events that may cause damage to the property. Another example is the current trend among insurance agents who also offer comprehensive financial planning services in setting up various pension and investment plans.
Given the premium that Americans place on insurance, insurance agents have access to a large market of people who wish to insure their health, their property and their investments. People who may wish to become agents need to be aware of the job descriptions of agents, especially based on the different type of specializations available so that they can be guided on the specific field they would want to focus on when they become agents.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Insurance Jobs a Protective Shield for a Nations Assets

The Insurance sector in India has registered significant growth in the past few years achieving an average annual rate of 20% and total size of around $ 10 Billion. By allowing 26% Foreign Direct Investment the government hoped that through healthy competition peculiar requirements of the customers could be met.
The insurance sector comprises of life and non-life business such as car, marine, accident, medical and fire insurance. The government still holds 78% share of the market with LIC having a formidable advantage whereas in the non-life field, private sector companies both independently as well as joint ventures with foreign insurers account for 20%.
After the government loosened its grip the sector welcomed the participation of both foreign and domestic private players thereby providing an insurance cover to the people and job security too. The entry of private players in the service sector brought with it a big demand for professionals. The job options available to an individual in the insurance sector include agents jobs, advisors jobs, sales jobs for experienced salespeople and financial advice and management to some extent.
The first step for a career in insurance sector is to become an agent or an advisor. Insurance is a matter of solicitation; hence the responsibility of the agent to inform the legalities, process and specific plans to the policy holder is immense. risk management tool, the advisor must always be well equipped to provide best suited solutions to the clients whether individual or corporate. The agent must not forget that he is the authentic source of information and also the face of the company. Therefore, he should try to forge strong ties with the customers following a friendly, confident, enthusiastic and disciplined approach dispelling correct information about the products and services of the company.
The field of non life sector is so vast, one can even specialise in selling health, car and accident policies according to expertise and interest. Here the experience of sales is very helpful and sales jobs are available for those who can avail the opportunity and make a foray in the sector.
provides a cover or protection against any threat to life. An policy is a financial and legal binding between an insurer and insured. The policy holder is always exposed to many risks including the failure of the product to meet its forecast or delay in services etc. To address such grievances the government established Insurance Regulatory Development Authority. It is the nodal agency to regulate Life and General service sector in India. The knowledge of IRDA guidelines and being web savvy is useful for insurance agents jobs.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Insurance Jobs To Meet Professional Needs

Young professionals just entering the insurance industry in the United Kingdom need to consider a number of things in their daily lives. Insurance sales people need to deal with a variety of customers while staying updated on the latest changes in policy offerings. Claims adjusters and actuaries in the insurance field need to be concerned about corporate policy while assessing different aspects of the claims process. Managers, executives, and entry level insurance professionals alike have to consider their competition in terms of other companies and people within the workplace. All in all, working in the insurance profession can be tense for even the most self-collected workers.
Graduates and those just entering the insurance profession should heed these examples of daily stresses before starting their first job. By recognising the various pitfalls and problems that are common in the insurance industry, a young professional can start off on the right foot from day one. Organised, intelligent, and talented insurance professionals are capable of sidestepping stress and handling their competition with grace and style. With these problems out of the way, an insurance worker in the United Kingdom can assess the bigger picture, including where they want to go in the future. In essence, eliminating the small stresses can create a better focus on which path will help best meet a professional's needs in the insurance industry.
Employees who have grown within an insurance company over a matter of years have to consider whether their professional future involves staying working within this environment. Sales people, adjusters, and other professionals need to see how much they have grown within a company and their potential for advancement over the next few years. In addition, insurance professionals who have worked for a while with the same company need to determine the consequences of moving to another organisation. In essence, an insurance professional needs to know exactly where they are heading before leaving a secure position.
Graduate trainees, interns, and part-time employees alike differ considerably from established, full-time workers. These types of employees are not nearly as attached to an insurance company as their full-time colleagues. Graduate trainees in sales, actuarial sciences, or management can either stick it out with their current employer or move on to bigger and better things. Likewise, interns and part-time workers are often set for a certain amount of time with a company before needing to decide their next career move. For these employees, the most important consideration is not only which job secures their financial future but which job helps them fulfil their professional goals.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Insurance Jobs in Qatar

Qatar, an oil and gas rich country is an emirate in the Middle East surrounded by the Persian Gulf. With the diversification of economies in the region, sectors related to real estate, hospitality, finance, marketing and education among others are witnessing an unprecedented boom. The swift expansion of various industries has created millions of jobs in Middle East across all the levels and positions. One of the rapidly developing sectors in the State of Qatar is finance and banking as it shows progress both in terms of manpower employment and monetary investments.
As well known, it is the finance sector that allocates and regulates the funding of all the sectors in an economy. The financial industry is extremely wide, constituted of various branches that perform numerous functions in order to meet the monetary needs of a country. Finance jobs in Qatar have been available in plenty for the well qualified and experienced professionals to support the growth of the country. Just in its nascent stages, the sector could not lead to a progressive path without appropriate support by foreign finance personnel. Thus, Qatar jobs are open to expatriates from all around the world with relevant skills and training at handsome salary packages. The favorable part about employment of foreigners in the country is that both the employers and the professionals are equally interested in working together. If the former needs trained talent, then the latter wants good salaries & luxurious lifestyle.
Some of the components of finance industry are banking, insurance, credit, consumer finance, stocks, investment funds, currency exchange, wire transfers, etc. Of these, insurance segment can be seen as one of the most important components of any finance & banking system. It has attained such huge significance in wake of the increasing risks and complications in modern life both on personal and professional fronts. Insurance is available in diverse areas like accidents & fire, marine & land insurance, health & life insurance, property & vehicle insurance and others. Qatar has 9 insurance companies- 5 national and 4 agencies or branches of other companies besides numerous other financial institutions. Insurance jobs in Qatar are particularly multiplying as this financial division gears up for large scale expansion. The expatriates in the sector are welcomed with open arms as they can prove instrumental in the development of Qatari economy.
Qatar jobs are preferred by many as they offer hefty sums of money coupled with high standards of living. The pay packets include incentives, medical benefits, insurance cover, flight tickets, accommodation, transportation and numerous other attractions.
The country allows freedom of religion, options for recreation, free dressing style, working of women and good eating & drinking avenues to the expatriates. The green surroundings of the place and the open environment makes it a sought after destination for migrant professionals. If jobs in Qatar can proffer so much to an individual without compromises on any level, who would not want to take them up. On top of this, the sponsorship & visa charges payments as well as all the arrangements for the stay are made by employers. Certainly, those who land up with an opportunity to work in such desirable conditions won't let it go.
One can look for jobs in Qatar through newspaper advertisements, job portals or company websites. Employment in Middle East is always easier through personal contacts or reference for which networking is the primary key. One can create network by joining forums and communities online to interact with expats already working in the country in a specific area and industry. Just make sure that work contracts are read and understood carefully before final acceptance of the offer.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Becoming a Trainee Accountant - A Guide to Insurance Jobs

Due to the rewarding nature of accounts work in the insurance industry competition for trainee positions can often be quite fierce. However if you have a clear idea what companies are looking for in an accountant candidate, you'll find that much easier to get the perfect job.
Qualifications Are Important - in most trainee positions you'll be working towards an acknowledged accounting qualifications, but that doesn't mean that your previous qualifications are irrelevant. You'll need to display a great level of numeracy, that needn't mean a degree in maths, but if you haven't used figures in any of your previous courses you might find it hard to convince any interviewer you have the skills to become an accountant.
Focus on the Top Five - there are five big accountancy firms Arthur Andersen, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Competition for roles within these firms can be tough, so any work experience with these organizations can really make you stand out against other candidates.
Appear Motivated - anyone working in an accountancy role has to have great get up and go and it's vital that comes across when you meet any potential employers. You got to be attentive and responsive to their questions while at the same time giving concrete examples of where your positive attitude has been important in the past.
Show Intelligence - you've got to be adaptable and able to work quickly to be an accountant, if you're able to show you have those skills in abundance you'll be well placed in a career in insurance. Before any interviews, prepare a couple of examples of where you were able to make use of your intellect for the benefit of an employer.
Show Ability to Multitask - accountants, much like any job in the insurance industry, requires the ability to multi-task. Juggling lots of figures, reports and queries is part of the job when dealing with accounts. People, who struggle with dealing with lots of things at once, aren't well suited to this kind of career. Most people work best when focusing on just one thing, but if you can't manage lots of tasks at once you might have to take steps to improve.
Deal Well With Others - accountants more than anyone rely on the team around them, in your interview you will want to demonstrate that you are able to work within a team. If you have management experience, even if not in an office environment, let people know. Managing people effectively is a much valued skill and an edge over many other trainee accountant candidates.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Insurance Jobs in India

This is the sector which is growing rapidly at faster pace in the country. Insurance analysts say India has a huge potential for this sector. This is the reason why India has practically witnessed many private foreign insurance players and many joint ventures between Indian companies and foreign ones in the recent past.
This has happened since the government of India has allowed and restricted the foreign direct investments (FDI) in insurance sector in our country. However the government has put a ceiling limit 60% of foreign investments in this sector in India.
As per the Insurance Regulating Authority of India (IRDA), the one and only insurance regulating body in our country, our country now has a total of 22 private players and only one public player which is LIC of India. Believe it or not, the annual revenue of LIC accounts to 26% of government's total annual revenue. Such huge success was Life Insurance Corporation of India.
There are about 8million agents for LIC. Apart from the insurance companies, emerging now are brokerage firms which aid those firms in increasing their business by increasing their customer strength. These brokerages collect the information from different customers through online and analyze their (customers') situation and suggest a best policy for them and then sell those insurance policies suggested to them. They (brokerages) even sell the policies by providing the customer information to agents and there by gaining the commission from those agents. These brokerages are different from the agents; the agents will be biased to a particular company where as the brokers are unbiased to any (insurance) company and they provide genuine feedback to their customers.
The reason for the brokerages' unbiased nature is that they don't get any benefit out of giving biased information to their customers and they get same commission (per a policy) from every insurance company for selling policies. These companies in India are Bajaj Allianz, Bharti Airtel, IDBI Fortis, Religare insurance, Aviva, ICICI Prudential et al. The main job other than routine jobs (jobs common to all the companies) in these companies would be insurance agent. Not much qualification is required to be an agent.