Getting a job hasn't been easy for college graduates for the past two years. However, one bright spot has been the insurance industry, which offers diverse and rewarding opportunities. A lot of people yawn when they think of insurance and think that insurance companies sell insurance and handle claims. Those are important functions in an insurance company, but the industry needs people to handle legal, marketing, investing, operational, and other issues.

Another reason that many opportunities exist in the industry is that some traditional insurance companies are now offering financial-services products, and traditional financial service companies are selling insurance. State Farm Insurance Cos. now sells mutual funds and offers banking services. Citigroup, a large financial services company, now sells life and long-term care insurance through its Citicorp Insurance Agency Inc. subsidiary.

"We always sold life insurance; we had that expertise," said Willie Brown, Senior Vice President on the Chairman's Council at State Farm. "In the financial services arena, we did not have that experience. We needed people who understood mutual funds and other financial services products." Financial services companies aren't the only source of competition for insurance companies, according to Brown. Retail stores and other companies are also selling insurance and financial products. "Our competition isn't coming from just traditional insurance companies," Brown said. "Our plate is full."

The industry needs fresh, new talent, said Art Albright, Diversity Officer at commercial property and casualty insurance company Zurich North America, who previously worked for Allstate for twenty-two years. When insurance companies used to post jobs. they often required at least three to five years of experience. That meant they often hired someone from another insurance company. The industry is beginning to realize that it needs to grow its own talent, Albright said. "The insurance industry workforce is getting older, especially as it relates to the workforce. A lot of workers are retiring."

That doesn't mean that the industry is boring or that young workers can't make an impact. In fact, younger workers can make a difference in how things are done, said Renee Harper, Assistant Vice President and Assistant Controller at Liberty Mutual in Boston. "I wouldn't want people to think this is an older environment," Harper said. "When I interview people I tell them that this is like the Army – you can be all you want to be. You can help shape the direction of the company."

And while there are opportunities, college seniors pursing jobs in the insurance industry must be aware that even insurance companies are cutting back expenses. State Farm has avoided major layoffs, but it has reduced staff in some areas through attrition, Brown said. The company has also had employees focus more on critical tasks and eliminated less important ones, he said. "We had to learn to do more with less."

In general the employment picture could be better, but it could also be worse. Employers expect to hire 12.7 percent more new college graduates in 2003-2004 than they hired last year, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

About half of the employers surveyed said that they expect to hire more new college graduates this year than they did last year. Twenty-eight percent said that they plan to cut back and 21.3 percent anticipate no change in hiring levels.

For students who succeed in getting jobs in the insurance industry, salaries can be lucrative, although starting salaries are often not as large as they were a few years ago, according to NACE. Among the business disciplines, for example, accounting graduates, who are often sought-after by insurers, saw their average starting salary offer increase 2.9 percent to $40,647. Marketing graduates saw a one percent increase for an average of $34,038. On the down side, management information systems graduates saw one of the biggest decreases among business majors-their salary offers fell 4.6 percent, to $40,556, NACE said. By comparison, the average salary offer for English majors was $28,786, and for psychology majors it was $27,683, according to NACE.

The top three life and health mutual insurers – companies whose structures make policyholders stakeholders in the company -- were New York Life Insurance with $24.7 billion in revenue in 2002, Mass Mutual Life insurance with 20.2 billion in revenue and TIAA-CREF, with $19.8 billion in revenue, according to Fortune Magazine 2003 rankings.

The three biggest publicly traded life and health insurance companies were MetLife, which had $34.1 billion in revenue, Prudential Financial, which had $26.8 billion in revenue and AFLAC, which had $10.3 billion in revenue, according to the magazine.

State Farm Insurance Cos. was the largest property and casualty insurer on Fortune's list with $49.7 billion in revenue. Auto Owners Insurance was second largest with 5.5 billion in revenue, and Sentry Insurance Group was the third largest with $1.8 billion in revenue.

The top publicly traded property and casualty insurance company was American International Group with $67.7 billion in revenue. Second on the list was Berkshire Hathaway with $42.4 billion in revenue and third was Allstate with $29.6 billion in revenue.

There are many careers in insurance that people don't realize are available, said Albright of Zurich. For example, an engineer could get a job as a risk-management specialist for the company: "A petrochemical engineer could go out to an oil rig in the ocean and use his or her background to help determine what kind of risk we are exposed to if we take this business," according to Zurich.

Working for an insurance company wasn't what Renee Harper of Liberty Mutual had in mind for a career. Like many other people, the New York native thought that a job in the industry wouldn't be exciting. "I have to raise my hand and plead guilty as charged," she said, referring to the common belief that the insurance business is a narrow and limited field. "I never really gave it a thought. I had the misconception that all you do in insurance is sell and handle claims."

But there are lots of jobs that many job seekers wouldn't necessarily think about at first including pricing insurance products, underwriting and marketing insurance products, Harper said. Liberty Mutual has a legal department with about 1,900 employees, which mostly works to defend policyholders against claims. As a controller in the department she handles budgets, does forecasting and fiscal reporting, determines rates the department charges clients, and helps oversee billing. Another role she has is working in corporate real estate and overseeing some of the company's investment initiatives. When a person works in insurance, working directly with the insurance product is important, but there are many other vital functions, she said. "Our investment department is critical to our company," she said. A lot of people interested in money management might not think about working at an insurance company, but it's a "key part" of the businesses, she said.

For Albright of Zurich, much of his career has revolved around bringing more diversity to the insurance industry. During his years at Allstate, he worked with management to hire more qualified minorities. One of his areas of expertise at Zurich is to work with staffing on increasing a diverse pool of candidates from which to hire and promote. He also works with the Independent Insurers and Brokers of America Association to increase diversity among independent agents. Another component of his job – outside of the human resource and diversity issues he handles -- is managing compliance issues required of a federal contractor by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program.

Brown, who has worked for State Farm for 33 years, is responsible for Administrative Services, Regional Services, and Creative Services. Administrative Services includes handling all the physical properties owned by State Farm. Regional Services includes overseeing the company's insurance support centers, which handles functions such as mailing renewal notices, data processing and banking of payments, and the company's Customer Response Center, which handles after-hours calls from customers when their agent's office is closed, and customer billing. Creative Services includes areas such as advertising, marketing, and interactive distance learning.

Students interested in insurance studies can look into a number of schools such as the Howard University's Center for Insurance Education, Florida State University, Georgia State University, Illinois State University, San Francisco State University and other institutions. While majoring in insurance oriented programs is helpful, a student interested in a career in insurance doesn't have to go through any particular program, according to people in the industry. However, courses in mathematics, accounting, and business administration can be helpful. The industry also needs people with engineering, marketing, and communications backgrounds.

So called "soft skills" are also important, Brown said. Students should consider taking a psychology or sociology course, which may help them understand and work better with the diverse range of people they will encounter, he said.

Really being involved in group-projects in school really helped Harper who earned a master's in Business Administration at Bentley College in Waltham, MA. "The work in group projects was invaluable," she said. "If you are not accustomed to working in a team environment (that experience) will help you."

Getting an internship or into a training program is a great way to break into the industry. Check out insurance company websites for information about opportunities.

P. A. Patterson is a financial services industry specialist who has written for major financial publications on the East Coast.