Sep 12, 2013 | News
Are you considering an insurance career? Wondering where to find a Canadian insurance training course? ILScorp is here to help you get started working in the insurance industry in Canada, with several online and classroom-based licensing options.
According to Statistics Canada, more than one million Canadians were employed in the insurance and financial sector in 2012 – and there’s always room for more. Consider the following numbers from Insureconomy, a review of the insurance sectors in Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia:
- From 2004 to 2010, total employment in the insurance industry across New Brunswick grew by 49 percent – faster than all other provinces in Canada.
- The insurance industry has been growing steadily in Ontario since 2005, with insurance carriers increasing their workforce by 18 percent. Overall, the insurance industry increased total employment by over 12 percent – well above the provincial employment growth rate of only 4 percent.
- Direct employment in Nova Scotia’s insurance industry has been on the rise since 2005. From 2005 to 2008, 655 new jobs were created by the insurance industry.
There’s never been a better time to get involved in this growing and dynamic industry.
The first step to starting your insurance career is through accredited insurance training and a provincial insurance licensing course and exam.
Canadian provinces each have varying rules and regulations for insurance training, licensing and continuing education for insurance agents and adjusters.
ILScorp offers the newest level 1 insurance licensing program – the ILS Introduction to General Insurance – now accredited in BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Introduction to General Insurance can be completed online any time, or register for the ILScorp Virtual Classroom, or for a live immersion classroom program.
ILScorp also offers exam preparation courses for Fundamentals of Insurance, CAIB (Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker) and RIBO (Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario).
All of these exam prep courses are offered online, and are designed to prepare you to write the exam in your home province. They are also available as Virtual Classrooms and, in select locations, as live immersion classes.
To learn more about the insurance licensing requirements for your province, visit ILScorp.com or call us at 1-800-404-2211 to discuss your training needs.
Sep 3, 2013 | News
CE with ILS – fast, easy, done!
Ontario insurance agents – your Continuing Education deadline is now only a few weeks away, and ILScorp is ready to help you complete your CE courses quickly and easily. With more than 50 newly updated, accredited Continuing Education courses now part of the ILScorp suite of CE classes, Ontario insurance agents can earn their CE credits online in time for the Sept. 30th deadline.
In Ontario, Principal brokers and deputy principal brokers are required to complete 10 credits per year, with 5 in the management category, and all other licensed individuals require 8 CE credits. The year runs from Oct. 1- Sept 30.
ILScorp offers more than 160 online General Insurance training courses designed to help insurance professionals meet their mandatory licensing requirements and receive the most relevant and up-to-date information in the industry.
All ILScorp courses are accredited and are written by insurance training experts. These text and video courses engage the user, so the learning experience is both interesting and entertaining. The online format allows you to access your courses anytime, anywhere, and at your convenience. A 6-month subscription to our General Insurance continuing education courses is only $175, which allows you to choose from more than 160 accredited online CE courses. Or, purchase courses on an individual basis.
The ILS General Insurance Training Course Catalogue includes the following course categories: Personal Lines; Commercial Lines; Automobile; Farm; and Professional Management and Personal Skill.
With more than 23,000 annual subscribers to our online training programs, ILS has been Canada’s leader in online insurance training and career development since 2001. ILScorp offers your best option for insurance industry continuing education credits.
Call 1-800-404-2211 or go to www.ILScorp.com and get started today.
Aug 29, 2013 | News
How can an intangible service as mundane as selling insurance benefit from the value of social media? The marketing and selling of auto insurance for example, is really no different than the marketing and selling of any other intangible product such as hotel rooms, and there is plenty of opportunity to use social media to engage and inform potential customers.
The most successful on-line campaigns come from those who know their markets and are focused on their customers’ wants and needs.
“The big pitfall is in not knowing your market,” explains Laird Rixford, vice president of Products and Marketing at Insurance Technologies Corporation. “If you’re sitting there trying to sell commercial policies on Facebook, it’s just a waste of time.”
Facebook and Twitter offer the ability to showcase the personality of an insurance agency while assuring customers that they matter.
And insurance companies like Progressive and Geico were two of the first to realize in creating to memorable mascots to sing their praises, they could use social media to tell their stories. Think of the recognizable spokespersons of Flo, the Progressive Girl and the Gecko from the Geico ads as examples of how auto insurance companies have put ‘personality’ into their offerings.
In 2012, Geico launched its “Gecko’s Journey Across America,” and while TV commercials whet the consumers’ appetite, the Gecko’s tour of the country was far more comprehensive and interactive online, thanks to social media.
Using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media portals, the Gecko posted commentary from the road, including photos and videos. With tweets and status updates, the Gecko delivered his perspective in the fun-loving way we as consumers have come to expect. What does a Geico office look like to a gecko? Where would a gecko go in New York? Know a great place to eat in Dallas? Let the Gecko know and he just might end up there.
The campaign’s social media staple of being “user-generated,” resulted in a lot social media engagement for Geico.
According to Jeff Charney, chief marketing officer of Progressive, Flo’s success is due to the fact that people are able to connect with her through her Facebook fan page – where she has more than 5.2 million fans. She also has her own Twitter profile. And her fans find it easy to connect and relate to her because she comes across as real and honest.
What Flo doesn’t do is tackle customer inquiries and problems directly — @Progressive handles the customer complaints. Separating the customer service issues from the brand persona allows Flo to remain a brand-focused asset for her Progressive presence on Twitter.
Characters like Flo and the Gecko offer a softer sell which is a perfect fit for marketing via social media channels.
On Facebook, “one out of every seven posts should be self-promotional,” Rixford said. “The other six should be just fun things that you are doing for charity, your community, what’s going on in your community. Just being out there is what people like to see.”
You don’t need a fancy mascot or dedicated character, but sharing information, insight, and putting a real voice to your business via social media, can keep clients coming back to you for their insurance needs.
Connect with ILScorp on facebook and on Twitter at @ILSCorp.
Excerpted from inventorspot.com
Aug 28, 2013 | News
ILScorp offers insurance training and exam prep courses for CAIB 1, 2, 3, & 4, via online video training, virtual classrooms and live immersion classes.
If you are just starting your insurance career, then the Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker Level 1 Exam prep course is for you. Learn the fundamentals of working in the insurance industry, and prepare to write your CAIB 1 licensing exam.
Looking to earn your CAIB 2, 3, or 4 designation? ILS can help there too!
Our interactive, online CAIB Exam Preparation video courses combine the dynamic instruction of Todd Hochban with the ease and convenience of online learning. Each CAIB insurance training course contains streaming video, and is divided into easy-to-manage chapters. Each chapter includes 10-20 video clips, along with easy to read text. Numerous exercises and mock exams help to reinforce knowledge retention. Study online with 24/7 access to the program, allowing you to work on your own schedule.
Or if you want more guidance, start the ILS CAIB Virtual Classroom program on Nov. 4 and receive a study schedule, daily emails and quizzes and more. You’ll be ready to write any level of CAIB exam in just four short weeks.
Online self-study is a proven way to successfully prepare for insurance licensing examinations. Study at your own pace – stop the program at any time and return when you want. Go back over difficult-to-grasp points as often as you wish. More than 80% of students who prepare to write their CAIB exams with the ILScorp CAIB tutorial courses are successful.
Through ILS’s online courses, you’ll receive the same dynamic instruction as students who attend classroom sessions. Long-time insurance educator Todd Hochban brings his successful “need-to-know” approach to this video production. Preparing to write the CAIB 1, CAIB 2, CAIB 3, and CAIB 4 examinations has never been easier!
Once you’re ready to write the exam, contact your local insurance council to arrange your exam.
Instructor Todd Hochban highly recommends using the CAIB textbook in conjunction with the ILScorp CAIB Programs to thoroughly learn the material. CAIB textbooks can be purchased through your provincial brokers association. Contact the association directly for more information.
And remember when it comes to CAIB, ILS wrote the book! Our founder and past president Steve Hawrishok developed and wrote the CAIB course.
Call 1-800-404-2211 or visit ilscorp.com today for more information.
Aug 27, 2013 | News
Heading back-to-school in search of a career? Have you considered training for a high-demand career in Insurance?
A CIBC World Markets report released this week shows that many university graduates aren’t gaining the career traction they had hoped after earning their degrees.
Completing post-secondary education is still the best route to a well-paying, quality job in Canada but the premium is dropping as too few students are graduating from programs that are in high demand, the report found.
“Despite the overwhelming evidence that one’s field of study is the most important factor determining labour market outcomes, today’s students have not gravitated to more financially advantageous fields in a way that reflects the changing reality of the labour market.” says CIBC Deputy Chief Economist Benjamin Tal who coauthored the report with CIBC Economist, Emanuella Enenajor.
“Most Canadians are aware that on average, your odds to earn more are better with a degree in engineering than a degree in medieval history,” Tal said. “But it’s not clear that students, armed with that knowledge, have been making the most profitable decisions.”
Canadian Insurance industry studies are highlighting the need for a number of new entrants into insurance field. Basic Insurance agent training and licensing in Canada can be done in a short time and at low cost, in comparison to a university education. Insurance careers in Canada can be very well paying, and trained insurance professionals are in high demand.
The CIBC economists examined various reports that have attempted to compute an annualized average return on investment (ROI) on education and found stark divergences depending on the field of study.
“For students shelling out thousands in higher-learning costs, a university degree can be viewed as an investment with upfront expenses, and a stream of future benefits,” says Mr. Tal.
“With roughly half of all Bachelor’s degree students graduating with debt, a significant share of the population is starting their career one step behind in terms of financial health.”
Licensing for Insurance agents can be done in some provinces in as little as one week, at a cost of only hundreds of dollars, not the thousands that university students can expect to pay on their way to earning a degree. This means insurance training and licensing students can be working in their chosen career years earlier than university graduates, and can enter the workforce with far less debt.
Tal says he thinks it is crucial to Canada’s economy that we start producing more graduates in growth areas of the economy. “Improving participation rates in these fields will likely require some combination of developing an information infrastructure system designed to identify emerging trends in labour market needs, improved quality and equity of learning opportunities, increased resources, improved system efficiency and increased private investment, in part, in the form of corporate investment.”
The Insurance Institute of Canada‘s 2012 report highlights the need for insurance companies to diversify recruitment and retention strategies, and be pro-active about management training and education, in order to fill the expected demand for trained and qualified insurance professionals.
To learn about insurance training options in your province, visit ILScorp.com, Canada’s leader in online insurance education.
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