Coming Soon… Student Members!
It’s no secret that a lot of people have been retiring, leaving behind a significant talent gap. Companies in every industry have been tasked with finding and retaining employees that share even a little bit of the experience and dedication found in the Baby Boomer generation. For many reasons, the insurance industry has struggled particularly hard.
For AICP, the increase in people retiring or leaving the industry means fewer experts in our network. We have to ask ourselves, as organizations have been doing for longer than we have, how do we fill the holes?
Two years ago a team of AICP members started working on a strategic plan for the organization. We asked, where do we want to be five years from now and what do we have to do to get there? One of the key initiatives of our plan is expand our reach by working with colleges and universities to introduce students to AICP and everything we have to offer. By exposing them to our education and networking opportunities early in their careers, we can open their eyes to who we are and everything our industry has to offer.
Our Learning and Development Committee has been working to learn what we need to do to accommodate the needs of students in insurance or risk management programs. Through a couple of personal connections (aka networking in action!) we are developing partnerships with the University of Baltimore and Saint Joseph’s University. Both schools offer programs in insurance and/or risk management and are excited to be able to increase the opportunities for students in their programs.
As a result of our partnerships, we are able to introduce a new Student Membership as well as educational content tailored toward those who may be less experienced in our industry. Students will be able to attend our online content, conferences and local meetings, be involved with chapters and committees, access our job bank, and learn and grow in our world-class network of insurance professionals. Coming this fall, we are introducing a series of podcasts geared toward the student population. We will initially focus on the high-level attributes of insurance regulation and what that looks like within insurance companies.
We are excited to see this evolve. We are starting small, working with two schools. I am hopeful this will grow into an impactful program that will help new graduates have success in our industry and bring a new generation of members into our AICP family.
