John McNeil, Program Coordinator, Insurance Management, Humber College
The independent broker channel hired 60.7% of the graduates in Humber College’s Insurance Management Program over the past two years, according to an interesting industry placement study that was recently conducted by the college. This percentage was fairly steady over the past two years with brokers hiring 61% of students who graduated in 2021 , and 60.7% of students who graduated in 2022. There was roughly a 59% increase in program graduates assuming broker roles over the past two years, as the running average of the program for the previous years was trending at 2%.
There are several changes to the program that could explain this increase, including partnerships that Humber College developed with IBAO and Applied Systems. The IBAO partnership allowed students to directly interact with brokers and potential employers at numerous career fairs, career days and guest speaking events throughout the year. Students were also sponsored to write their RIBO licenses, paired with a broker mentor, and invited to attend broker events and conferences such as the IBAO Convention and the IBAO Young Broker Convention. The Applied Systems partnership gives students 15-weeks of hands-on training with a suite of products such as Applied Epic, Applied Rating Systems, and Applied PolicyWorks.
At the beginning of the program, students often think of a broker as someone who works in a call centre environment, sells all the time, or whose role is completely based on commissions. However, this stigma starts to wear down over the year, and students begin to see that brokers help people and have a strong entrepreneurial element in their role. The interaction with real brokers allows graduates to understand that a career as a broker can be both interesting and exciting.
The Insurance Management Program is also typically made up of approximately 50% international students. Many of these students have worked at companies that have an international presence such as Marsh, Gallagher, Willis Towers Watson, and AXXA. The Insurance Management program complements their international experience by teaching them about the Canadian marketplace.
I often get asked the best way to engage with our graduates. I suggest that employers get involved with the IBAO Mentorship Program, and college career fairs and events. Employers should also engage with students on LinkedIn, which, in my opinion, is the most used social media platform by post-graduate students. I often will hear how students landed a role that started from a conversation on LinkedIn.
To complement the Insurance Management Program, Humber College has also partnered with the IBAO and Applied Systems to launch the Commercial Account Manager Certificate Program. This program is designed to help with the talent crunch by helping prepare more talent for the independent broker channel. The program is delivered online to accommodate a professional’s busy schedule and is held three times a year—in fall, winter, and summer.
Students that join the program can expect in 90 days to:
- Obtain their RIBO level 1 license;
- Learn Applied Systems suite of products;
- Gain the needed foundational skills to start a career towards becoming a commercial account manager; and
- Be taught by industry thought leaders.
Humber College will pilot the Commercial Account Manager Certificate Program in winter 2023, with an official launch of the program in September 2023. For more information on the program, please visit: https://business.humber.ca/programs/insurance-broker-commercial-account-management.html