Encouraging senior and middle school students to consider careers in Bermuda’s insurance industry is not always an easy sell. Just ask Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies (BFIS) Executive Director Catherine Lapsley, who along with Bermuda Insurance Institute (BII) Young Members volunteer their time to visit Bermuda’s schools and spread the word.

This year BFIS increased its target audience to include middle schools and since the program began Mrs. Lapsley and her team of volunteers have presented to Berkeley Institute, Bermuda High School for Girls, Bermuda Institute, CARE, CedarBridge Academy, Mount Saint Agnes, Saltus, Somersfield Academy, Spice Valley, Teen Services, The Education Centre, Warwick Academy and Whitney Institute.

“We try to give about an hour presentation to no more than 30 students at a time and talk about Bermuda’s place in the global insurance market to show them how important Bermuda is,” she explains.

“We also talk about insurance in general, like bike insurance and explain why it costs more for young men to have bike insurance than young women.”

Mrs. Lapsley elaborates that the interactive format has been developed over time to look at the various jobs involved in the insurance industry including underwriter, actuary, broker and claims analyst and explain what they do by using examples.

“The students choose a company, like McDonald’s in New Orleans, and we talk about all the things that can impact this business and take them all the way through the insurance life cycle for this company,” she says.

Students are also informed as to what skills they need to enter the insurance field, including what subjects to take at school and how to apply for scholarships.

Although there is a Q&A session, Mrs. Lapsley admits questions usually revolve around how much money actuaries, brokers and the like get paid, so to keep the discussion light-hearted, she also shares some quirky facts with students about future interviews they might have.

“Strange facts like if you walk into a room at a quick pace, people will think you are cleverer than if you walk in slowly,” she chuckles.

Workshops are also held throughout the year for teachers and guidance counsellors to increase their depth of knowledge of the career opportunities in insurance for their students.

At the end of each presentation, students complete feedback forms which also give them the opportunity to let BFIS know their level of interest and in this way allows the Foundation to stay in touch with students who are keen to pursue a career in insurance.