Editor's Note: This article was contributed by Harold A.Weston, CPCU, ARM, a clinical assistant professor of RiskManagement and Insurance in the J. Mack Robinson College ofBusiness at Georgia State University.

What do students looking for jobs in the risk andinsurance fields expect of their future employers?

Among the many factors that affect the success of the employmentrelationship are expectations and perceptions.

While compensation, work load, responsibility, and support ofvarious types all are vital to the total relationship, the happiestemployees are not necessarily the highest paid. Moreover, highlypaid employees are not necessarily happy or loyal. Add ingenerational differences between management and employees (thenewest generation is never as good as the last one) and workexperience (for new hires about zero; for lateral hires a differentculture), and the possibility for misaligned expectations andperceptions is a major factor that employers and employees have tosurmount.

The risk and insurance fields are keenly aware of the need torecruit young staff due to the aging workforce, as many studies andarticles have shown. The recruiting practice for a century has beento hire recent graduates of any college major. Most people in theindustry admit they majored in anything but insurance and that theystumbled into the field late. In fact, the current president ofRIMS told the audience at the annual conference that she was an arthistory major.

Providing a Head Start
The expansion ofcollege curriculums to offer at least some courses in risk andinsurance gives college students an early awareness of the fields.There are a few colleges with large, well-regarded andlong-standing risk-management programs that grant a degree in thefield—and these have always been a source of new talent with a headstart in the subject matter. There are ever more colleges withsmall programs, often within other business majors like finance andreal estate. A few colleges dropped their small programs followingthe economic collapse in 2008—exactly when many people firststarting wondering about risk management in business andeconomics.

If there are more college students with at least anawareness of—if not a dedication to—the careerpossibilities in risk and insurance, then it is fair to ask whatthe students expect in their first jobs. From the other side, whatmight employers anticipate of their new recruits?

An informal survey of some students in the large risk-managementprogram at Georgia State University (GSU), and the small program atUniversity of Colorado-Denver, gives a little insight of studentexpectations.

Please keep in mind this was a conversation, not a study.Furthermore, not all of the questions were exactly the same betweenthe two groups. Students were told that Claims magazinewas interested in their views about future employment and that thestudent comments would be without attribution. With theselimitations, the comments are a useful insight as to what studentsexpect as they search for jobs in the risk and insurancefields.

Perceptions and Expectations
Collegestudents often press themselves to map out their entire careers andget their first jobs exactly right. Usually they seem to shoot atmultiple targets because they do not yet know which one will suitthem best. Sometimes the targets are in different fields entirely(finance and insurance and real estate), sometimes in differentroles in an industry (broker, underwriter, risk manager), becausethe students usually are unaware that life will probably shift themaround with several jobs and perhaps a few different careers overtheir 40+ years of work.

So we started our questions on this topic: Do you needto get your first job exactly right? The responses showedstudents put a little less pressure on themselves toward thisnotion than customarily thought, although the age of the studentsseems to play a part in their perception. Several students saidthey had to get the first job right and that it would “map out thecareer,” but most were flexible on the point. Many said the firstjob would “set the tone” for one's career, at least as to contactslater or as a foundation “to learn and develop skills,” or becauseit is “important to do well and make a good impression.” A fewstudents seemed more aware that the first job would show thempossibilities within the field, whether the particular work theywere doing was interesting to them or whether some other aspectmight be more appealing.

When pressed on the number of careers and jobs they expect,answers ranged from 2 to 3 careers (one person went to 5), and 3 to7 employers. Retirement age is likely to be 70 years old.

Starting salary expectations seem reasonable, based on publishedsalary ranges that some students cited. At least in the risk andinsurance fields, students interviewed are not expecting to hit$100,000 in annual compensation too soon, although a few studentshad the idea that prompt raises would bring them to near that levelwithin 5 years.

Students who are working now are dissatisfied with raises. Theyrecognized the reality that raises, if any, are maybe matchinginflation and that businesses are still shaken by the economiccollapse of 2008, but they did not think this compensationadjustment is fair.

Benefits were also important—and not just theusual health-dental-vision package. Fitness centers, child care,and work-at-home options (at least for family reasons) werementioned. Interestingly, some students listed mentors and othertypes of fellow employees as guides to be valuable benefits.Whether this is in line with the oft-remarked observation that thenew generation is used to having their parents and teachers showthem how to do everything, or a recognition of the long-standingtruism that a mentor relationship advances a career by helping theyoung worker learn the ropes and avoid the dumb mistakes, is hardto say. Either way, it is an employee benefit they recognize—andone that is inexpensive and valuable to both employers andemployees.

Some students remarked on the need for obtaining furthercredentials such as the insurance and risk-management designations,although sometimes the tone of RMI students seems to be acredential per se, to be acquired as easily as possible, ratherthan an acquisition of detailed knowledge that the credentialreflects. A few students mentioned obtaining MBA or other master'sdegrees.

When asked how they would respond to the perception by employersthat the new generation has a sense of entitlement, meaning theyare entitled to jobs and to rewards for doing their jobs, somestudents were aware of the perception of their generation. Thequeried students disowned this notion, saying “if you do your job,that's what they pay you for,” and in this economy “the only thingyou can ask for is more work.”

Relocation brought a variety of responses. Many were keen on anemployer offering them relocation, or students seeking outemployers in other cities or countries they might like to try,including some international opportunities.

None of the students mentioned Silicon Valley-type perks likesushi on-site, dogs at work, or play rooms.

The Role-Hedging Debate
One of the thingsthat comes across is that risk and insurance majors seem to have adecent idea of wanting to be in the field. They should—one does notstick with risk and insurance without some sense of what is ahead,even if the specific role is yet to be chosen.

There is also the role-hedging debate, which is probably truefor all new college majors. That is, should one start inunderwriting and then go to brokerage, or the other way around? Orif corporate risk management is the goal, then where should onestart, assuming a direct opportunity is not available? Thesequestions are probably comparable for most majors such asaccounting and finance. Ask experienced workers for advice on thisand the answers will likely be as varied as the number ofrespondents.

While there are some generational differences as the newgraduates move into the work force (as employers always discover),overall, it seems, risk and insurance employers should beharnessing the strong interest of candidates that comes with thededicated course of study of a risk and insurance major. Unlike theusual broad array of students who have traditionally entered thefields, this group will not mishear “underwriter” as “undertaker”or confuse “enterprise risk management” as an office pool forbetting on football teams or buying lottery tickets.