Financial and Accounting Professionals have a good avenue to start their career in Insurance sector. The complex involvement of finance in insurance industry is quite challenging for any accountant. The transaction being small and number of cases being plenty – the scenario of this industry is totally different. It certainly needs skills of different nature.

Normally, an accountant starts his professional career in an Insurance company at entry level as a Junior Accountant where he handles the customers transactions in operations, or look after books of corporate accounting or may be financial reporting where data’s of all the branches of the company are taken care off. 

In some Insurance companies, fresh graduates in accounting or related field are taken in as Trainees. These trainees are put to work as analysts or supervisor after a course of training depending upon their aptitude and skill, they are then set forth to prosper as per the company’s needs. In fact, most of the Insurance companies believe to shuffle these trainees from one area to other areas of activity which gives them a broad based understanding of the accounting procedure of the company which not only help advance the candidates career in insurance but it also help the company to have multi-faceted personnel in the accounts division. Some insurance companies even take care to get these trainee obtain certifications such as Chartered Financial Consultant or other professional designation from trade groups like America’s Health Insurance Plan etc.

Many big Insurance companies use finance and accounting professionals to complete various financial reports as required by the Statutes. It is quite easy for any qualified accountant to move into any Insurance company if he is ready to work under a senior accountant in the department, even if he doesn’t have any insurance sector experience. However, to fill management positions, insurance companies prefer to recruit persons from other insurance companies.

Resumes for a Sales job is strikingly different to other resumes that one writes for a job. Sales resumes must start at the very root i.e. how good one is in contributing sales in the market. It should highlight one’s capabilities in Sales and the value addition he makes to the potential customer. One should emphasize why the employer should call you for the interview and your strong points like your areas of expertise and knowledge of the market scenario.  As an example, suppose one is in technical sales and desiring or opting for a Sales Representative’s post, it is a must that those keywords and your knowledge in the trade must be highlighted in the profile prominently. One should not forget to exhibit in this section the drive and enthusiasm that is of paramount importance in this profession.

Salient points in the resume should include the following:

• Track record of Sales achievements
• Responsibilities carried out to be highlighted indicating specific areas viz. territory, budget or specific supervisory responsibilities et al.
• Top achievements which should be meaningful and easily quantifiable in a broader context outside your earlier company’s lingua franca.
• One should describe briefly how the objective was achieved
• One should mention any special training for Sales promotion undertaken, participated in any manner in new product development, new product launch, market research, attended any seminars, conducted any training program for juniors or new entrants for improving their sales performance, published or submitted any paper on sales promotion.

However, one aspect should never be forgotten and that is the confidentiality factor. No company would ever appreciate if someone writes anything in his resume that oversteps the threshold. That the resume should not divulge any information, which compromises the present or past employers confidential information or records.

The purpose or importance of writing a resume should never be misunderstood. The objective of writing a resume is to kindle prospective employer’s interest in you to call for an interview.

But, how to do it? There is couple of options, which normally serves the purpose. One is Chronological resume, which is common, and popular format mostly adopted. This resume contains summary statement, objective and properly ordered chronological list of all one’s employment details including the name of the employer, post held, period of employment and accomplishments. Educational and special skills with reference to testimonials and certificates are highlighted. However, this type of resume is usually good or suitable for one who is experienced in his profession and interested in a change of service. But, if one is a new comer and not having any past record to show up, this type of resume will not be appropriate.

One has to write a functional type of resume devised specifically for certain categories like new comers, he who frequently changed jobs, reentering the work force or had long gap since his last service period etc. The reason behind the success of functional resume is based on the fact that many of us might have acquired some special skill while working which are potentially transferable provided there are takers. Now, basically to develop such takers, the functional resume is formatted. To explain the matter little lucidly, one may give the example of a Retail Manager who while performing his duties was also responsible for allied jobs like training, hiring, firing, coaching, public / employee relation issues and in fact that normally looked after by HRD wings of any organization. But, this experience of the Retail Manager, if mentioned in a chronological resume will not get properly focused whereas the objective may better be served if the resume is written in functional format with proper emphasis given to his experience in the required field.

Administrative professionals are curious to know why even with identical job specifications, there is a gulf of difference in  pay packets for two separate individuals. There are many reasons for that like variance in the Industry concerned, the Employers and also the geographical location of the Industry. However, going by the trend of the industry, the following summing up is possible for the benefit of intending job seekers:

It is observed that financial industry pays the best and particularly the investment banking tops the list. If some administrative staff is working as a brokers assistant, he not only gets his fat pay packet, he also gets a commission on top more or less regularly that makes it really alluring for any salaried person.

The next best paying industry is Legal. In fact, it is proper to say if only salary aspect is  taken in to consideration, the Legal Industry is paying the best salaries to administrative support staff as per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and the same trend is expected to continue for some more time. The Legal Secretary may not be getting the profit sharing incentives like his counterpart in the financial sector; the salary structure itself in the legal sector is good enough to take care of other shortcomings. Further, there is a creamy layer of overtime payment also in this sector.

There are some options for some who are single or do not have much of an obligation in the family front or encumbrances of any type, who may work as personal assistant to big wigs. There earnings also seen to be in top brackets. But, there services are round the clock bound so to say since they may be summoned at any time of the day or night and also find it ticklish sometime as it involves the private life of the boss.

People who join glamorous industry for long time gains, are no gainer for considerable period of their career in the beginning. The industry like fashion houses, advertisement sector and publishing houses normally pay less to administrative staff.

The city in which a person works, also plays an important role in determining the pay packets.  Important cities anywhere in the world always synonymous to higher pay for similar jobs when compared to less important or smaller cities. However, the cost of living takes care of most of the differences as one may say so. 

Administrative Jobs are for those who keep their administrative skills in a constantly ascending curve. One must attend classes and take training to keep themselves abrest of the constantly changing scenario in various software programs related to the subject matter.

But, where to take classes? There are classes for every learning style. Cynthia Lively, the past president of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) advocates that training programs should start close to one’s home. Community Colleges are more tuned to what skills the local employers want.  One can get quite a bit from these classes since they are comprehensive in nature, from Access to Web page creation. These community college courses are inexpensive also.

Self learners who cannot spare any fixed time for attending regular classes , may opt for online courses and undertake the learning process at his or her convenience. These type of courses are offered by the community colleges. Assignments are given periodically for a fixed time period and the learner has to complete the same within the time frame.

Some others may not be wholly satisfied and inclined to go for other courses will get their proper directive through E-learning Courseware Certification program laid out by American Society for Training and Development  which indicates quality of various web-based courses.

There are software packages laid out by computer training companies which contains tutorials. These are extremely helpful for self learners.

Experts in the field are of the opinion that administrative personnel should check

out Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) product which it is claimed that 98% of the business houses are using. Naturally, MOS certification for administrative people are encouraged.

In summing up, it is advisable to stick to well known and established institution and it is generally helpful to talk to people who have successfully completed courses and satisfied with the outcome. One must treat the whole exercise including the expenses as an investment .  The skill or proficiency attained will help one to make higher income and elevation in the hierarchy.