By Brenda McDermott, CPCU, CLP, SCLA, CIIP, SCLA, ARM, AIDA, AIC
Like many of you, when I was little, I dreamed of being an insurance professional … (ok sarcasm Sheldon). Like many of you, I never dreamed of an insurance career. When I was little, I wanted to be a ballerina or a princess. Unfortunately, I’m a klutz with very poor balance and I was born into the wrong family and lack connections to royalty. I picked up my grandparents’ old box camera when I was five and that was it. I was going to be the next Ansel Adams. So off I went to college to major in photography and art. Two years in, I took a summer job as a photographer who traveled around the Midwest taking family portraits at stores and I’d made it. I never went back. I never finished my degree, but let’s be honest, I’m not sure that having that degree would have ensured me a livable income.
When life on the road got old, I decided to figure out how I could make a living with two years of college and a love for creativity. I soon found myself tired of being a starving artist and started looking for other options. My mother, who never crushed my dreams, but knew the reality of the world, had encouraged me to take clerical classes in high school. And yes, when I went to high school, they taught secretarial skills to the girls who wanted to be more than homemakers. My father, who could draw up plans and build anything, had taught me how to draw blueprints and do scale drawings. So, off I went with those skills I had outside of my major and I applied for work that would give me a steady, livable wage. One was an entry level job for an architectural firm and the other was a clerical position for an insurance company. Let’s just say if the architectural firm had called me before the insurance company, this “archinerd” probably wouldn’t be writing this blog for Today’s Insurance Professionals.
What do the previous two paragraphs have to do with tearing through the paper ceiling? Ok maybe before I answer that I should explain what the paper ceiling is. Women all know and understand the glass ceiling, but the paper ceiling is the invisible barrier that impacts 50% of the work force or approximately 70 million workers, from being considered for the higher paying, higher level jobs because they don’t have a bachelor’s degree. The last two paragraphs explain the start of my journey in tearing the paper ceiling.
I am what the “Tear the Paper Ceiling” initiative calls a STAR (Skilled Through Alternative Routes) because I have learned and developed valuable skills to an employer through life and work experience instead of a bachelor’s degree or strictly college education. I’m what my mother used to call not book smart but life smart. With the challenges employers are facing in finding good skilled workers to do the jobs they need to fill, many of even the largest companies are recognizing that focusing on a bachelor’s degree as a prerequisite may not be the best way to find that perfect employee for the role. And with the high cost of a four-year degree and the fact it can take 20 years on average to pay off that debt, tearing the paper ceiling is critical to not only the current workforce but the future workforce.
How can STARs help themselves tear through the paper ceiling? One of the best ways is by creating a skills-based versus an education-based resume. What is a skills-based resume? It is a resume that highlights the skills you have developed through life and work experience that are relevant and desired for the job you’re applying for. It highlights aspects of your work history that make you a great candidate for the job you’re seeking. The skills-based resume emphasizes your work history. It includes a summary of your qualifications with details such as your job description and your personal accomplishments or achievements. If you are new to the workforce or have gaps, it can also focus on skills developed and accomplishments in volunteer or unpaid experience. Think of the leadership or organizational skills you developed by being a student body president or PTA or HOA president.
To create a skills-based resume:
- Read the job description for the job you’re seeking or applying for:
- What are the skills they’re looking for?
- What are the keywords that are attached to the position in your job search?
- Determine your transferable skills from work and life experience that fit the job. What are your adaptive skills or personality traits that make you a good candidate? Are you uber organized? Creative? Curious?
- Make a list of the skills you want to highlight and add a statement about your relevant experience for each of those skills, focusing on achievements and results. It is helpful to use words that fit the industry.
- List your work and personal accomplishments relevant to the position you’re targeting. It is important to make the accomplishments quantifiable in money or time saved, percentage of efficiency or profit increased, to show a potential employer the measurable value of those accomplishments in a work environment. Think about a specific situation or challenge, the action you took and the result of your actions.
- Outline your work history in a brief list of employers, dates, positions, and a brief description of the job duties. If your work history is short or has gaps you may want to include internships, or volunteer and unpaid work experience.
- Finally consider other details that add to your credibility or value, such as:
- Projects you’ve worked on
- Testimonials (references from people)
- Community-based activities
- Professional affiliations
- Published work
- Educational background or development courses taken
Focusing on the last three examples in the list above, your membership in IAIP can help you tear the paper ceiling at your current employer for the role you want to advance to, or for that position outside your current employment. Professional affiliations in organizations like IAIP show employers your commitment to the industry. It shows that insurance is more than paycheck, it’s your career choice. The Today’s Insurance Professionals blog offers you an opportunity to have published work for your portfolio or resume. Through IAIP and its focus on leadership and education, you can continue to build on those soft skills that employers are looking for.
IAIP offers five designations that you can earn. Three of those designations require hours of learning to earn those designations. The Certified Leadership Program (CLP) requires 52 hours of education. The Advanced Certified Leadership Program (CLP-A) requires 40 hours of education. And the Associate in Client Relations (ACR) requires 40 hours of education. An average bachelor’s degree is 120 hours. If you have earned or are working on earning these three designations, you will have achieved 132 hours of education. Just think about that. And the NAIW Legacy Foundation Scholarship program can help you pay for that education, so that means no student loan debt.
Need to tear through the paper ceiling? Check out the IAIP community calendar to start working on adding some initials after your name. Go to the NAIW Legacy Foundation to find out when the next scholarship opportunity is. Go to the IAIP website to learn how to submit an article for Today’s Insurance Professionals blog. Engage as a member in IAIP can help you rip that ceiling to shreds.
For more information go to: What is the Paper Ceiling? (tearthepaperceiling.org)
Brenda McDermott, CPCU, CLP, SCLA, CIIP, SCLA, ARM, AIDA, AIC is a workers’ compensation claims specialist in The Hartford’s Major Case Unit. She is a past International Rookie, Claims Professional of the Year, Risk Management Professional of the Year and International CWC Speak-Off winner. She was the 2022 Region V Insurance Professional of the Year. She has been a long-time member of IAIP and served in multiple offices at the local, state, and regional levels. A past Region V RVP, she is currently serving as the Region V Marketing Director and Assistant to the RVP. She is co-chair of the International Marketing and Today’s Insurance Professional committee. She is an MAL in Region V, from Missouri.