Whether you are looking for special operation jobs within the insurance sector requiring specialist skills and experience or general operation manager jobs and positions, time spent in this area provides a great opportunity to obtain hands-on problem solving and identification experience which is very useful for developing your career.
Here we have the top ten tips for helping you get a position within insurance operations.
Tip Number One
Jobs in the operation function of an insurer require flexible skill sets and experience with bringing a variety of management techniques and skills to bear on business processes. Before you consider jobs for operation matters, try to gain as broad an exposure as possible to all parts of your current employer’s business to demonstrate an understanding of the context you will be working in.
Tip Number Two
When you are looking at different operations jobs, pay very careful attention to the vacancy information and extract what the main skills and experience the employer is looking for.
Adapt your resume to highlight the skill sets and experience that you have which compliments what the employer is looking for.
This means you should be using multiple versions of your resume depending on which job you are applying for.
Tip Number Three
Never pay money upfront to any recruiter for administration fees or job placement advance commissions; recruiters’ commissions are paid to them by the employer and not by you pay recruiters.
Tip Number Four
Your resume is important and not just because it is the first indication most potential employers will have of you; it is important because as a document it has a dollar value all of its own.
You must ensure that whichever recruiter or web site agency you use, that there are strict policies in place to secure your resume and that it is not released without your permission or under strict pre-arranged criteria.
Just imagine what would happen if an identity thief was to come into possession of your resume with all of your private and personal information in it?
Tip Number Five
Avoid general job vacancy web sites; the reason is simple, as generalized resources for vacancy information they may be able to help you but operations management for an insurer is not a vacancy which is going to lend itself to such generalized classification as each role is very specific to the employer’s own individual requirements.
Tip Number Six
The best information resource on the web will be those sites that do not charge employers anything to promote and advertise their positions. Even better look for a web resource that actively collects and organizes job vacancy information within your sector. Specialist agencies will perform this work because it provides the most comprehensive vacancy database that can be created and job seekers gaining access are able to exploit a much wider range of opportunities than a site which charges employers, many of whom will simply refuse to pay for the service.
Bear in mind that you are likely to be required to pay to access this information but you should insist on a free trial before you commit and if one is not available, simply avoid the site.
Tip Number Seven
Many web sites are simply not going to deliver what they claim to provide. A simple way to establish whether a web site is credible or not is to check for a physical business mailing address and a landline telephone number; simply look at the Contact or About Us section of the web site and if you are not satisfied, simply avoid using the site.
Tip Number Eight
Internal vacancies with your current employer will tend to give current employees with the company priority. Make sure you let your HR and line management within Operations aware that you wish to develop your career in that direction. It will help enormously if you are able to gain the support of your own line management and in many instances; employees spending a permanent transfer to operations is frequently encouraged as a means of providing career development and progression for staff.
Tip Number Nine
Message boards and forums dealing with the insurance industry are a great source of insider information on who is hiring and also who is leaving a particular position. Take some time to register and become acquainted with these resources which are completely free and you will be dealing with people involved in the very same industry you are looking to build your career in.
Tip Number Ten
Look at insurance news and publications to see who has been appointed in a new position and generally you will see where they were previously employed. The previous employer will have a vacancy for operations staff in that role or if they have promoted someone else to that role, an opportunity will be available somewhere in the department as a consequence of losing a member of staff.
