While I normally work with experienced insurance talent, occasionally I am asked to help find an entry level candidate that has excellent computer skills and strong attention to detail, key skills for success in the insurance industry. The roles are typically front desk reception/customer service related and are at an insurance agency or carrier. They provide the building blocks to allow you to advance into senior insurance roles.
I just wrapped up a front office reception/admin search for an insurance agency. I received over 100 applications in only 3 days! This is good news for the insurance industry which is predicted to have thousands of openings in the coming years due to retirements. The bad news is that of the 100 resumes, only 10 were properly formatted, error free, and targeted for an entry level insurance role! Sadly, the rest had capitalization, spelling, grammar, missing words, confusing dates of employment, wrong phone numbers, and objectives that did not match the position. Because insurance work requires strong data accuracy and attention to detail, 9o% of the applications submitted were rejected! It’s hard enough breaking into the insurance industry without experience and virtually impossible when your online resume is getting rejected for preventable errors.
Here’s some tips to help you “tune up” your online resume and profile before you hit that “apply” button.
- Upload a Word or PDF resume and eliminate simple spelling, capitalization, grammar, and date errors that may be in your online profile. While it may seem trivial, these resume errors make you appear careless and unprofessional to potential employers. Remember, this is the hiring manager’s first perception of your work quality. On job boards like Indeed, if your resume profile has misspelled words, capitalization errors, or incomplete sections, that information is transferred onto the Indeed auto-generated resume that the system sends out on your behalf. Worse, all of these computer-generated resumes look exactly the same and they also only have an Indeed generated email address which increases the likelihood of responses landing in your junk mail. They are usually 3 to 5 pages long and often list many job skills that have no correlation to the position you are applying for. Separate yourself from the pack and upload your own formatted Word or PDF resume. This way you control the resume content, not the job board.
2. Stop sending out “one size fits all” resumes when applying online through company website portals. Applicant tracking systems and AI tools are weeding out generic or vague resumes and in-house recruiters will spend less than 6 seconds looking at your resume. They are looking for key words and they read top down, left right, so make sure that you capture their attention right off the bat with a solid resume summary that matches the job title and expresses your desire to be in the insurance industry.
3. Think about your resume “impact”. Don’t just list job duties, paint a picture of your specific job accomplishments that correlate to the role you are applying for. You want to stand out and show progression in your work experience. Make sure you have enough detail and use key industry words when appropriate to whet the hiring manager’s appetite to know more about you.
4. Make sure your resume is well-organized and formatted correctly. You should have clear headings, company names, locations, job titles, job dates for each promotion, easy to read font size, and bullet points to highlight your qualifications specific to the job you are applying for.
5. Eliminate any resume and social media inconsistencies. These can raise red flags for potential employers. Make sure that the information on your resume is accurate and matches any social profiles such as Linked in. This includes your contact information, job titles, companies you’ve worked for and dates of employment.
Remember, your resume is the first impression you make on a potential employer. Take the time to tune it up and refine it to fit every online role you apply for before you press “send”.
If you want to start a career in the insurance industry, I can offer advice and guidance. Contact me and let’s figure out which roles best fit your skills.
