Rising stars
“I have found that the senior cohort is very willing to train the younger generation on a more informal basis.”
Name:
Emily Shelley
Company: XL Re America Job:
Casualty treaty underwriter
Timeline: 2008: Casualty treaty underwriter, XL Re America
2007: Contracts analyst, XL Re America
2005: Underwriter, workers’ compensation, Arrowhead General Insurance Agency
2004: Underwriter, Preferred Employers
2003: Group sales consultant, UnumProvident
Describe your career so far and current role. I started working in the insurance industry right out of college in 2003. I was working for an employee benefits company in a support function in Chicago. After a brutal winter, I picked up and moved to California in 2004 where I found a job as a workers’ compensation underwriter trainee. I really enjoyed the job but had to leave because my (future) husband’s job was in Stamford. When I arrived in Stamford, I found a job at XL in the contracts department in 2007. I really liked reinsurance, but missed underwriting and, thankfully, XL was willing to take me on as a reinsurance underwriter trainee and I have been there ever since.
Why did you choose the re/insurance industry? I always liked problem-solving and critical thinking. My father was an insurance underwriter and from what he told me about it, it seemed like a good fit for what I naturally liked to do.
Do you think the industry is attractive to young professionals? I think it’s getting there. Social media are being used more and more to network and I think that type of interaction will help lure a younger crowd. A professional who has grown up with technology would also be attracted to those lines of business that are moving to an automated platform because they are comfortable working in cyber space and would have valuable insight into what the end user wants. The new ‘sharing economy’ also creates liability problems that a future generation would be good at solving. For those lines of business that are more complex and can’t be automated, relationships are still very important and we tend to be more social in our youth, so I think that’s also an appealing aspect of insurance.
Do you think the re/insurance industry offers good opportunities and career development to young professionals? Many employers don’t offer formal training programmes any more, but I have found that the senior cohort is very willing to train the younger generation on a more informal basis.
What are your aspirations for the future? To enjoy coming to work each day.
If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? Probably a career in the fitness industry or a lifeguard in California.
May 2015 | INTELLIGENT INSURER | 43
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