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Adapting a Career to Insurance Underwriting

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How to Change Current Career Path Into Different Employment ?

 

Readers ask how to enter the fields of insurance underwriting, with undergraduate degrees already under their belt. It takes more education.

 

 

Finishing an undergraduate degree doesn’t mean the graduate has to stick to that field. There’s no time like the present to get further education and get into a specialized stream of employment, and it won’t cost another degree to do it.

Career in Insurance Underwriting

Q. My name is DF and I am finishing my Bachelors Degree in Business Administration this year and seeking a career in insurance underwriting and would like the proper advice on what to do and how to do things appropriately.

A. Much depends on where you live, as state and provincial requirements change due to local laws. The best approach is to contact an insurance company you would like to work for and ask about their inside training programs. Most will help you through the training program so that they have a new employee at the end of it. Often there are specific career fairs where insurance or investment companies actively recruit potential employees such as yourself – a degree in business makes you a top candidate!

Talk to Someone Already Working in Insurance Underwriting

Ask for human resources when you call, and explain you are looking to become an insurance underwriter, and if there is someone you might talk to at the company to help direct you to appropriate training. Once you have that name, be sure to either email or call them. Either way, explain you would like some information about becoming an underwriter, and if you could please have about 10 min of their time now. Even better, offer to meet them and you will provide the coffee from a local Starbucks or Tim Hortons – who could resist that offer?

Related Career – Financial Advisor, Insurance Claim Adjuster or Appraiser or Examiner

You may also become interested in their programs to be a financial advisor – again, most insurance and investment companies offer company-sponsored training. Many companies will also hire you while you are training through their program.



As well, once you have the necessary training under your belt, you may want to consider becoming an insurance claim adjuster, or an insurance appraiser, or an insurance examiner. Again, the company would train you through their own program. Remember, while there are rules governing these paths, each company can decide it’s own regulations within the laws. The company decides the risk level, etc.

The Insurance Writers handbook (USA) site will help you decide on your path.

Good luck!




criminal record

JOBS THAT MAY REQUIRE YOU TO HAVE A CRB CHECK

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There are some jobs that require you to be checked for a criminal record; these are jobs where you will be working with vulnerable people. There are three types of criminal records check in the UK, so an employer would always tell you about the level of check required. They are only necessary for those over the age of 16, as this is the age where lawful employment is more likely to begin.  The three types of check include:

● Standard – the standard check will identify spent and unspent convictions, any cautions given by the police, as well as reprimands and final warnings. This usually takes around two weeks.

●     Enhanced – this check takes a couple more weeks to come through, but would include the standard information, as well as any additional information held by local police that would be relevant for the job being applied for.

●     Enhanced with list checks – the final form of CRB check includes all of the aforementioned, as well as a check of the DBS barred lists. This check takes approximately four weeks.

It is worth noting that the current CRB check cost can be found online. If you have already had a check in the past, ask your potential employer whether they will still accept it; there is no official expiry date, it is simply to their discretion. Regardless, here are the types of jobs that may require you to get your first – or a new – check done:

Teacher

As a teacher you will be working with children on a daily basis, which means that you must be responsible in the eyes of the law. You will be supervising the kids in your class and ensuring their well-being, alongside the official duties of teaching. Therefore it would only be right for you to be checked to make sure you are ideal for the post.

Park ranger

Whilst a park ranger will be working with the environment a lot of the time, there is also an element of interaction with children and those with disabilities. Whether this is around the park, or even doing an activity such as pond dip, a ranger must be capable of dealing with the public in a safe and secure way.

Social worker

A social worker will be dealing with vulnerable people every day, so they must be checked to make sure they are the right people for the role. If you have trained in this area, this is something you will already know a lot about, so you will understand the importance of the check.

Prison officer

If you were to become a prison officer you would need to have a CRB check as you would be responsible for other people within the center. You would have a position of trust, and one that is very important for the wider community.

Healthcare professional

Finally, anyone working in the healthcare industry would usually need a CRB check as they would be working with a large cross section of society. This is to make sure that they do not have any convictions that could cause them to be a risk when carrying out the responsibilities of their role.

career in banking

CAREERS IN BANKING – AN OVERVIEW TO GET YOU STARTED

If you are looking for a career in banking, then you can choose from an immense number of career opportunities. These have a vast number of options such as client facing, trading, operational and so on. Due to such a plethora of choices, banking is very exciting and a job field that is ever changing. The diverse nature attracts many and as a result of this it is becoming highly competitive. If you decide to pursue a career in banking, you have to keep in mind the complexity of the industry which often leads to various pitfalls. The recent mortgage bubble burst and the collapse of some world leading banks which had to be bailed out by the government has concentrated the limelight on this industry. As a result of this crises, billions of dollars have been lost around the world. The activities that banks take up are being scrutinized now more than what they used to be. As the banking industry is emerging from the abyss it had plummeted to, it is coming up with innovations designed to serve its clientele better and make more money. Thus, for all those looking for a career in banking this is an exciting news as the right kind of work can push you up the first rung of career ladder.

There are four major types of banking which you can choose for your career. These are:

  • Retail Banking – Direct dealing with individuals and small scale business owners.
  • Private Banking – A service for rich individuals on a one-to-one basis.
  • Commercial or Corporate Banking – Offering banking facilities for medium to large enterprises.
  • Investment Banking – Assisting clients to raise capital by mainly investing in the capital market.

When it comes to large global banks, they generally deal with all these four verticals. These are often called as universal banks. The services that you would provide include:

  • Providing advisory services to corporations for their mergers and acquisitions.
  • Trading on stock markets
  • Handling the finances of well-to-do individuals
  • Managing the risk capacity of investment of wealthy individuals and enterprises.
  • Doing restructuring of corporate finances
  • Development and marketing of new financial products which majorly includes structured packages for investment.
  • Designing new finance related technologies and implementing them.
  • Handling daily transactions of individuals such as loans, savings accounts, checking accounts.

If you are a part of a large financial institute, you may find yourself managing internal processes too. These include:

  • Handling the own finances of the bank and not just that of other individuals.
  • Nurturing and guiding new talent ( a function in the Human Resources capacity)
  • Identifying, assessing and mitigating any risks which can arise from their own internal or external processes and trading their own assets.

Thus you can see that banking is a intricate career option to choose which has many possible career paths for you. You should choose wisely the deliver your best.

car broker

HOW TO BECOME A CAR FINANCE BROKER

Unless someone is pretty wealthy, when they are in the market to get a new car (especially if it’s new), there’s a pretty good chance that they’re going to need to make arrangements to have the vehicle financed. And when that’s the case, they are usually going to require a car finance broker. They are the individuals who serve as “the middle man” between the one who wants to obtain a car loan and the institution that will grant it to them.

car broker

If this sounds like something that you would be interested in doing and you’d like some information on the steps that you need to take in order to become successful in the field, we have enclosed five of them for you below:

Have the right kind of personality. In order to thrive in this kind of industry, there are certain kinds of personality traits that you are going to need to have. You need to be professional and courteous. You need to be a great communicator in-person, over the phone and on email. You need to be sympathetic to different kinds of financial circumstances. You need to be analytical and very solutions-oriented. And you also need to spend a significant amount of time studying America’s consumer credit system. Remember, when people come to you, they are going to be looking for you to get them approved for a loan and so you have to be willing to do all that you can in order to make that happen.

Get a college degree. Although there are some businesses that may be open to hiring you without a degree, because this is somewhat of a competitive market, it really is to your advantage that you have a bachelor’s in something like business or finance. This will definitely serve as a foundational tool to be successful within the profession.

Work in sales or customer service while you’re in school. There aren’t too many people who don’t find themselves needing to work, at least part-time, while they’re in school in order to help make ends meet while they’re pursuing their education. Well, in order to sharpen your people skills, we recommend taking some kind of job in sales or customer service—even if it’s simply something in retail.

Look for a job as a car finance broker. Eventually, you may discover that you want to run your own company. However, in order to do that, you first need to establish some reputable connections within the car dealer and car finance industry. That’s why we recommend that you spend at least a couple of years working at as a car finance broker for a company that specializes in automobile financing. If you go to a job search website like Indeed or Simply Hired and you put “car finance broker” in the search field, you’ll find several positions available.

Develop a niche. Something that can help you to gain even more customers is to spend some time developing a niche. For instance, you might want to work mostly with individuals who have bad credit. Or you might want to specialize in financing exotic cars (like the ones on the top speed website). Or maybe it’s first-time buyers that you would prefer to work with. Just remember that if you are able to perfect a certain kind of clientele, that is what can help you to become an expert in the car finance broker field and quite possibly earn you as much as a six-figure salary. Not bad, for helping others get car financing. Not bad at all.

computer-engineering

LUCRATIVE JOB OPTIONS FOR COMPUTER ENGINEERING MAJORS

Got a computer engineering degree? – You’re in luck. Industry analysts say that computer engineering is one of the most valuable majors today. In a fast paced, digitized, computerized world, those that know how to create computer programs and applications rule the world. Almost 80 percent of the world is connected to the Internet and that means that they are connected to each other. Not only are computer engineers making very handsome annual salaries, they are also an integral part of that worldwide connection – and everyday they are building tools to make it more connected. Here are some lucrative job options for computer engineering majors.

One of the most common and high paying careers in computer engineering is that of a software engineer. Software engineers work in a number of different fields, industries, and markets. For instance, you might work in the medical field to design platforms and programs for doctors and nurses to use – to track patients and organize records. A software developer might also design special hardware to go with the software – thus creating an autonomous tool that could benefit millions of people. If that’s the case, people looking for PC wholesale outlets could snatch up one of your products. Starting salaries for computer engineers range between $90,000 and $100,000 dollars – depending on the industry you start with.

Another high paying position for computer engineering majors is that of a web developer. Today, websites are a little bit like the skyscrapers of yesteryear. However, where the skyscrapers of yesteryear were tangible monuments that shot up into the sky, websites exist digitally. More and more businesses are switching to fully virtual platforms, which is why web developers are so in demand. Web developers are the architects of websites – not just small five page informational sites, but large platforms for multinational businesses and organizations. Starting salaries for web developers are around $75,000, but can quickly shoot into the six-digits.

Next, you can even become a translator with your computer engineering major. Most web languages are hard to understand by the layman – sometimes these languages are impossible to understand. However, a technical writer’s job is to take that information and language, and translate it so that anyone can understand. They help write books for people who are learning how to use the program, helping them understand the way it works. They might also write how-to manuals for web platforms and applications so that individuals and businesses can learn the program easily and then train their workers to use it as well. Starting salaries for technical writers are around $70,000 or more, depending if you go freelance and work for a number of clients.

Lastly, you could find a high paying position in any one of the major auto, aeronautics, or industrial industries as a hardware engineer. You could be designing interfaces for automobiles, airplane cockpits, or even for large machines used by factories. Whatever the case is, if you have your computer engineering degree – you have the golden ticket and the future is in your hands. Not only will you have a lucrative career in store for you – you will also be doing something that you love.

business meeting

START UP BUSINESS ADVICE

Creating a new business is exciting but also financially risky, so it pays to have a carefully thought out business plan from the outset. Clarifying the business vision and mission will help to structure the plan and devising a set of key values will assist should the business experience difficult times. Having a blueprint will keep the business on course and will also be useful if seeking funding – most start-ups require financial help from the beginning.

Options for financial assistance

Sometimes business owners, and their family and friends, financially support a new business and investment finance can also be sought from banks and other external bodies. Crowdfunding has become increasingly popular for raising relatively small amounts of money from interested individuals. A good, robust business plan is needed to secure funding via low rate loans or external investors. It is worth bearing in mind that commercial investors, such as ‘business angels’, are likely to want a share in the business that will yield high returns on their funding.

In the UK there are several schemes designed to help start-up businesses that are administered by local or national government, certain trade associations and business support organisations, as well as some charities. Some geographical areas offer incentives designed to attract new businesses to their regions. There are also schemes to encourage training and the use of technology and financial incentives for businesses that export goods or services.

Business responsibilities

Besides identifying sources of finance and negotiating a loan or overdraft facility, new businesses must ensure they have put in place the right legal structure for their business operations. Traditionally, models include setting up a limited company, where the shareholders are also company directors. They can keep the profits from the business once they have paid corporation tax. However, there are other structures in place that may be more suitable, depending on the nature of the business. A sole trader, for example, is an organisation where one individual is responsible for a business, even if there are other members of staff employed by it. That person keeps all the company profits, after having paid tax on them.

Known as an ‘ordinary’ business partnership, another alternative structure for a start-up is to share profits between two or more business partners, each of whom is then liable to pay tax on their share. In each case the business owner must ensure they are correctly registered for payment of tax and also, if they employ other people, for payment of national insurance contributions and tax for their employees.

Certain types of businesses that help people or communities can be structured as social enterprises and there are several different kinds, including community interest companies (CICs) and charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs). It is important to use the appropriate structure as social enterprises do not distribute profits to company directors and thus do not operate in the same way as profit making businesses.

Always take advice on financial and legal matters in advance of embarking on a business plan for a start-up – that way everything will be correctly in place from the beginning.

THE LEGALITIES OF COMPANY DRUG TESTING

THE LEGALITIES OF COMPANY DRUG TESTING

The subject of employee drug testing in British workplaces is controversial but there can be many good reasons to do it.  In some industries, such as transport and construction, drug use has the potential to be a serious safety risk, and all employers have a duty to protect the health and safety of their employees.  It may also be important to protect members of the public with whom those employees come into contact.

Even in an office environment, drug taking may result in poor timekeeping and erratic behavior that becomes a burden to the employer.  In this case, a positive test could create an opportunity to try and solve the problem and could actually make it less likely that the employer would simply have to dismiss the employee.  In fact, only 5% of employers say they would always sack an employee who failed a drug test.

How it works

Some drug tests can be conducted using saliva sampling but the majority require a urine sample.  A person of the same sex as the subject should oversee the provision of this sample.  The majority of employers test staff only once or twice a year, but crucially, they have the right to do so randomly, so that employees cannot ‘prepare’ for a test.

Unless an employer has good cause to single out a particular employee for a test, based on recent behavior in the workplace, those sampled must be chosen at random.

Employers’ rights

In order to exercise the right to test for drugs, an employer must have a clear policy either in contracts with employees or in the employee handbook.  With this in place, a drug test can be required at any time.  Under normal circumstances, an employer has the right to dismiss an employee who fails such a test.  Should this go to a tribunal, the employer has a stronger case if there were safety issues involved, if the reputation of the business can be shown to have been at risk, if the employee was under the influence of drugs at work (rather than taking them only in free time), or if the nature of the job involves contact with children or young people.

An employer is not required to provide notice or severance pay to an employee dismissed for failing a drug test.

Employees’ rights

No matter what terms of employment have been agreed to, an employee always has the right to refuse to take a drug test.  Unless a good reason is given for this, however, it could be considered grounds for dismissal in itself.  There is no clear protection from being required to undergo drugs tests under the Right to Privacy (Article 8) in the Human Rights Act as this is a qualified right which may be overridden by health and safety concerns.

If an employee fails a drug test as a result of taking prescribed drugs for medical reasons, dismissal is not legal.  The Disability Discrimination Act provides some protection in cases where drug use is prompted by an underlying medical issue, such as depression, but addiction is not recognized as a justification for drug use.

recruitment agency

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A GOOD JOB RECRUITMENT AGENCY

With increasing demand for jobs in Canada, the role of employment agencies is gaining prominence across the country. Hiring firms provide services that benefit both job seekers and employers. These job placement firms act as the vital link between hiring companies and skilled candidates who are required to fill any vacant positions that arise.

There are many job placement firms out there, but you should choose wisely. The services offered by these firms vary in terms of satisfaction and professionalism levels. Before deciding to outsource hiring functions or look for a job with a recruitment agency, first get to know what kind of services to expect. Here is an outline of what a good job placement agency should offer to both employers and those looking for employment.

Good Candidate Recruitment Services

The success of any organization or business depends on the calibre of its workforce. As a result, hiring the right employees for job openings is a critical factor that will determine productivity within a company. Any good staffing agency should demonstrate its commitment towards finding the best candidates by providing a comprehensive recruitment process.

Generally, recruitment services that one should expect to avail from a good staffing firm include the following.

  • Candidate Sourcing
  • Job applicant profiling and vetting
  • Candidate selection based on merit

When a job opening at your company is available, the human resource staff of your chosen recruitment firm should start looking for candidates on their jobssite database. The firm may also deploy other recruitment methods to increase your candidate pool.

Before selecting the ideal candidate for the position at hand, thorough screening of each job applicant is necessary. Any expert recruitment company will handle the vetting process with interviews, verification of backgrounds, and even assessment tests so that candidates can prove their skills.

Finding a Job with a Reliable Recruitment Agency

In the current competitive job market, it is only sensible for job seekers to take measures that will increase their odds of getting employment. With scarce job opportunities and limitations of networking, job placement agencies can help you find employment that matches your skill sets. This however will depend on the job search agency you choose to work with.

Be on the lookout for job placement firms that provide a positive candidate experience. Some of the services you should expect from such firms include.

  • Assessment of your  core skills and competencies
  • A place on their candidate database
  • Briefing about prospective employers before interviews
  • Competitive rates and terms of service

It is normal to take interviews along with skill tests when signing up with professional job recruitment companies. This allows the recruiters to gain a deep understanding of the core competencies and skills you possess. Through this process, job seekers have an opportunity to express the expectations and goals as well. This approach is therefore necessarily in order to find the perfect job fit for candidates.

Besides knowing the scope of service provided by your chosen job search agency, make sure to pick a company that will make it easy to find a job. When looking for a job agency in Lexington or elsewhere, you will find many firms making promises of having helped job seekers to find a wide variety of employment opportunities that range from general labor jobs, to management and executive level roles. Keep in mind though that a good recruitment company is one that that specializes with job placements in your field.

IS YOUR BUSINESS CHEMICAL RISK COMPLIANT

IS YOUR BUSINESS CHEMICAL RISK COMPLIANT?

When you are busy establishing or growing your business and running the day-to-day operations, sometimes it is difficult to remember common work place health and safety practices.  Alongside this, your business must be chemical risk compliant.

What constitutes chemical risk?

Chemicals have a multiplicity of benefits in our modern lives.  They help to make our water drinkable, our food edible, and they make up the vast majority of our drugs.  Despite this, there are some compounds which may constitute a risk to our bodies and our environment.  These chemicals constitute a chemical risk, and they must be dealt with appropriately.

Risk assessment

The best way to deal with the risk of chemical contamination is to prevent it from occurring in the first place by completing a chemical risk assessment.  In general terms, CRAs make sure that the toxicity levels of chemicals and biological compounds are compliant with EU legislation.  Current EU regulation ensures that chemical, plastic and rubber industries are ‘among the largest and the most dynamic industrial sectors in the EU. Together they generate about 3.2 million jobs in more than 60,000 companies.’

EU legislation maintains that the quality of the legislation is imposed in order to attain the EU’s agreed health and environment targets, as well as to ensure competitiveness in the chemicals industry.   What that means for you as a business is that the risk assessment you carry out should be to extremely high standards, and upon successful completion you should have full peace of mind that your business is a safe and viable workplace.

Chemical risk assessment network

In fact, the quality of chemical risk assessment continues to rise year by year.  In 2012, the World Health Organisation launched the chemical risk assessment network to generate a global effort in analyzing the risks to health associated with exposure to chemicals.  There are four main areas the network will research:

  • capacity building and training
  • chemical risk assessments/sharing knowledge
  • risk assessment methodology
  • identification and communication of research priorities.

Clearly this states that attention is being given to all important areas of research into chemical risk.  It also shows that there is a vast amount of research to be done in the area.  If you are unsure as to how your business needs to meet chemical risk assessment requirements, it could be a good idea to consult expert advice from somewhere like Bibra: Chemical Risk Assessment.

book keeping vs ACCOUNTING

BOOKKEEPING VS. ACCOUNTING: WHICH IS THE RIGHT CAREER OPTION FOR YOU?

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If you happen to be someone who enjoys working with numbers, you consider yourself to be extremely organized and you don’t mind working in an office environment (or even as a consultant for a company), have you ever thought about either becoming a bookkeeper or an accountant? They are both competitive jobs, the pay is good and they can be challenging yet fun positions.

However, before you start combing the newspaper or internet for bookkeeping or accounting positions, we did want to take out just a moment to share with you some of the differences between both professions; just so that you can select one what will ultimately be the best for you.

So if you’d like to know what a bookkeeper does vs. an accountant, please keep reading.

The Role of a Bookkeeper 

book keeper

 

When a company is looking for someone to keep up with its financial books, there’s a pretty good chance that they will either hire or contract a bookkeeper. With the help of a software program like QuickBooks, bookkeepers are able to record business transactions, keep up with accounts payable, inventory and sometimes, they are also in charge of handling payroll. They are usually also required to turn in either monthly, quarterly or annual reports of the work that they’ve been doing. As far as the educational requirements that you need for this position, while not all employees will expect you to have a four-year degree in business or accounting, an associate’s degree (a two-year program) is strongly desired. Also, working to obtain a national bookkeeper certification (from the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers) is preferred. This is something that you can apply to get after having two years of working experience as a bookkeeper and having the certification helps to make you a major contender when applying for a bookkeeping position.

The Role of an Accountant

accounting

 

An accountant is a level up from a bookkeeper. Although they can do the duties of a bookkeeper, their focus is more driven towards strictly dealing with a company’s finances by preparing detailed reports and also helping them to prepare their finances. As a matter of fact, if an accountant works to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), they are also able to represent a company when it comes to dealing with the IRS as it relates to some kind of tax issue, including an audit. In order to land an accountant job, you will need to earn your four-year degree, preferably in accounting. And although you are not required to be a CPA in order to have an accounting job, by passing that exam, it does give you a certain level of credibility within the industry along with a substantial pay increase.

No matter which profession you choose, you will need to be patient, analytical, organized, have strong math skills and willing to sometimes work long hours (especially during tax season). But if you feel like you have the right traits for either position, it’s definitely something to strongly consider. For more information on how to become a certified bookkeeper, visit certifiedpublicbookkeeper.org. For more information on how to come a certified accountant, visit CPAExam.com.

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