A Better Career as a Licensed Insurance Representative

[ music ] [ music ] When looking for a career, Michael believes that The Co-operators really is a better place for you. Hello, I'm Mike, and I love my career because I get to help people on a daily basis. Right now what I'm doing on a day-to-day basis is taking calls from clients. So I'm a Licensed Broker. So any inquiry they have about their policy, or if they'd like to set up a new policy or make changes, they'll call us directly and we help them with any changes that they need to make to the policy. I really wanted to be on the front lines. I want to work with our clients directly and try to make a difference to them. what's most important to me. Originally when I started in Guelph, I was working in almost like an internal audit department. We worked very closely with the Insurance Bureau of Canada. It didn't lead directly to this role, but that's one of the great things about The Co-operators, is there's so many different positions that experience in one position although it may not be directly related to another, it still does build a foundation within the industry and allows you that opportunity to experience different roles within the company. Well my next step in my career is I really want to get into claims. My supervisor is constantly looking for opportunities for me to job shadow adjusters, go out on the road with road adjusters. They've been fantastic. They really help you pursue and achieve your goals. Before I worked for The Co-operators, the qualifications I had was I had just graduated from university. It wasn't in a field that was related to insurance, however, just having that experience working with deadlines, working with others, I think really stood out to The Co-operators. I would say, look to a degree that involves working with people. that involves working with people. Besides getting your degree, I would strongly recommend getting involved in your community. The Co-operators is fantastic with continuing education. They support a wide variety of different educational pursuits. I know when I was working in Guelph, a lot of my colleagues were taking French. It was right on sites that The Co-operators provided. They also provided on-site CIP programs, that's through the Canadian Insurance Institute. That's what I'm currently working on right now is getting my certified insurance professional designation. One of the things I notice about working in a team oriented environment is that we have goals as a team. In the call centre, there are so many teams that we all have this healthy competition working towards a common goal overall for the company. The top thing that I enjoy most about this job is the culture of The Co-operators. They want to know what your ideas are, what your opinions are. Even though The Co-operators is the largest Canadian insurer in Canada, we still have a voice as employees and I think that is how the co-operative stays true to its co-operative roots and I think that's really important. The Co-operators is very much focused on the community. What can we do to make the community a better place? What can we do to make sure that we are still here tomorrow and that we can improve our sustainability? So they're encouraging you to get out to the community and I think those are values that are highly relatable and those are values that draw people to The Co-operators. The number one best thing about working for The Co-operators is just the environment. It's just such a fun place to work! [ music ]