Career Compass

(Re)insurance isn’t sexy. We’re sorry, but it had to be said. 

For those on the outside looking in, the industry has yet to shake the reputation of being old fashioned, complex, and boring. Yet behind the scenes this industry offers a dynamic environment with opportunities for professional and personal development. All too often job candidates don’t see this side of the industry – and it is up to us to show them!  

Insurance is pivotal to the development of safe, reliable, and resilient societies and despite the industry’s progress toward modernization in recent years, it has yet to shake the reputation of its past. During the most recent SCOR Live Session, SCOR’s Céline Louvet (Head of People Development and Talent Change Management) and Thibault Antoine (Chief Analytics Officer) were joined by Allianz Partners’ Global Talent Acquisition Leader, Jeremy Bingham, for a conversation moderated by Faith Lewis (Corporate Communications Manager at SCOR). Together, the panelists tackled these topics, highlighting trends shaping new business needs, the skills and profiles (re)insurers will need in the future, and employees’ evolving expectations in the workplace.

Trends shaping future hiring needs

The speakers mentioned that massive trends are reshaping consumers’ perception and need for insurance. For example, the Covid-19 pandemic led to a sharp and sudden increase in people’s awareness of communicable diseases, the importance of preventative measures, and their own risks. This has had a far-reaching impact on how people think about other aspects of health, wellbeing, and the risks they might face and how they protect against them.

Meanwhile, evolving and emerging risks, rapid digitalization, and the advent of new tools and ways of working mean that (re)insurers must adapt their business approach.  This is, in turn, driving new expectations from current and future employees as (re)insurers are turning their attention to new profiles and skills when hiring. Despite the impacts of these trends, (re)insurers emphasize that consumers must remain at the center of what we do. For SCOR, that means continuing to partner with our clients and working closely together as we adapt our solutions to keep pace with a rapidly evolving world. It also means leveraging new sources of data, new tools, and approaches like behavioral science that enable us to better understand client needs and adapt our products and process accordingly.

When it comes to hiring, our panelists mentioned how SCOR is putting more emphasis on profiles that have not only the technical and analytical skills and deep expertise we’ve always valued, but also the soft skills and interpersonal skills that are becoming increasingly important to how we work.

Skills of tomorrow

Historically, (re)insurance companies have focused solely on hiring employees with the strongest technical profiles, but today we are turning our attention more and more to soft skills. With this globalization, there is an increased need for cross-cultural collaboration and soft skills like adaptability, communication, and creative problem solving are taking a stronger place in the profiles we are searching for.

This change in focus on the hiring profiles is also motivated by the need for increasingly interdisciplinary teams. We need creative thinkers that understand the technical information around the products and tell a story that makes the customer care about what we are offering and help them to understand how our solution solves their problem, highlighted our speakers.

“In the past we have focused on technical and expert profiles, which is still the case,” Celine explained. “But today we need to value equally the personal skills and that is the change we can see. The need we have in terms of this hiring profiles is to have this softer side. I think the best we can do is to make sure that the people we hire have this curiosity, adaptability, and ability to learn.”

Applicants’ expectations

Meanwhile, a new generation is entering the workforce, with new capabilities and expectations to which we, as employers, are adapting and embracing.

While generalizations can only take us so far and we recognize that individuals’ experiences and preference will differ, it is safe to say that Gen Z is a highly digitalized generation that values speed, efficiency, and transparency both in the hiring process and in their day-to-day work. These expectations are leading to a shift in our hiring approach, particularly when it comes to streamlining the hiring process as we leverage more digital and flexible approaches.

The speakers also pointed out that what people want out of their career is shifting. People are increasingly interested in gaining experiences – even if this means changing positions or companies frequently – over maintaining a life-long career with a single company. As an employer, this means that retaining these employees will be more challenging than ever before, but it also offers us an opportunity to grow our offer to ensure we are meeting our employees’ needs. SCOR is looking at how we can offer more flexibility, prioritize work-life balance, encourage continuous learning, and promote not only vertical but horizontal career moves to ensure more dynamic career progression for our collaborators.

The panelists also discussed how applicants increasingly prioritize corporate values, company culture, DEI, and sustainability. At SCOR, we know we have a responsibility to support the welfare and resilience of societies. This belief is reflected in The SCOR Way – care, integrity, courage, open minds and collaboration– and we actively recruit candidates whose personal values align with this vision.

Advice for job candidates

No matter where you are in life, if you are just starting out in the corporate world or if you’re an experienced professional looking for new opportunities, these trends will impact us all.

Even in the beginning stages, you might be nervous, confused or unsure of what your future will be. But always take a step forward. As Thibault mentioned, It is underrated how the insurance industry is backed by passion and the sense of helping communities.

So, what should you keep in mind as you’re trying to get your foot in the door?

Celine mentioned the importance of asking questions, staying curious about the position and company you are applying to. “This sparks interest of the advancements the job or company is going through and opens new doors into the company’s challenges.”

Jeremy also mentioned the importance of curiosity and contacting people, asking for information on the roles and companies. “It makes sense too, if people's expectation is that they are coming to a company that has interesting things that they get to work on other projects, they need to have that curiosity to be able to seek that out.”

If you want to dive deeper into these topics, we invite you to watch our session replay here.

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