Leader: Go beyond the milk round to get the cream

This week, a survey from the Association of Graduate Recruiters revealed that the insurance sector is set to take on more graduates than last year, bucking the trend across the rest of the economy.

Admittedly, insurance started from a relatively low base, given its dismal track record in recruiting graduates. But now that it has weathered the worst of the financial storm (fingers crossed), it has an opportunity to capitalise on the battered reputation of banking and other financial services.

Stop yawning at the back! It’s summer time, students are on the loose, and as the economy slowly staggers back to its feet, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to beat the banks and get the best talent out there into the insurance sector.

To do so effectively, insurers and brokers should avoid worthy messages and clichés that will sound all too familiar to students jaded by the milk round, and instead focus on the fantastic opportunities insurance has to offer. Variety, career development, travel, working with people and making money: not a bad offer for your average 21-year-old.

Meanwhile, let’s not forget that not every job should be filled by a graduate. The Labour government’s relentless drive to get even the most unsuitable of candidates into university has thankfully come to an end and, with a bit of luck, apprenticeships and other forms of vocational training will come back into their own. Insurers and brokers can benefit hugely from this, and should be hitting the schools’ careers fairs as well as the universities’. IT

ellen.bennett@insurancetimes.co.uk.