Scout InsurTech Interview with Megan Miller

Megan Miller is CEO at Spencer Educational Foundation. In this interview, she talks about why so many people still overlook insurance as a career path, what tends to surprise people most once they get inside the industry, and what she thinks is missing when it comes to how the industry attracts and develops talent today. Megan was interviewed by Michael Fiedel, Founder and COO at PolicyFly and Co-Founder at Scout InsurTech.

Megan, why do you think so many people still overlook insurance as a career path?

“I think there are two main reasons we've come across. One is a lack of awareness. Risk management and insurance programs at the university level, while there are so many more today than there were even five or ten years ago, still aren't part of an accredited business school education. Universities don't need to teach these classes, even though in my mind they should be. Risk management and insurance, or RMI as we call it, is very much an optional degree. It's an expense some universities don't think is worth it. Since freshman year of college is typically when students might first hear about these careers, a lack of any RMI coursework on campus is a huge detriment. 

Then there’s the other reason: people’s perception. When people hear ‘insurance,’ they often think about their own experience buying a policy or dealing with a claim. They don’t immediately picture the work behind it: helping businesses understand complex risks, responding to major events, using data and technology, or building solutions that allow organizations to grow. There are so many different roles in this industry, and students rarely get to see that full picture.

That’s why our work at Spencer matters. We help students discover the field, meet the people in it, and experience what the work is actually like. Once they have that exposure, many see opportunities they never would have considered before.”

What tends to surprise people most once they actually get inside the industry?

“The variety of careers is what surprises people most. Insurance touches nearly every industry, so there are far more ways to build a career here than most students imagine.

My own path is a good example. I have an engineering degree and started my insurance career at FM as a risk engineer, visiting properties and assessing physical risks. From there, I moved into underwriting, reinsurance, client management, and sales. Today, I lead a nonprofit focused on helping students enter the industry. Those jobs have looked very different, but they’ve all been squarely positioned in the industry.

So whatever a student is passionate about, there may be a place for it here. Someone interested in art could help insure valuable collections. Someone who loves sports could work in risk management for a team or venue. Once students see that range of possibilities, insurance stops sounding like one type of job and starts looking like an industry where they can find their own path.”

How do early career programs and the ability to move across roles shape the way someone can build a career in insurance?

“Early career programs can give people a much better sense of what’s possible before they feel they have to choose a specialty. Insurance companies have many different roles, and a rotation through a few teams can help someone discover where their interests and strengths fit.

For a time, some companies pulled back from longer rotational programs. They require a real investment, and employers understandably want to know whether participants will stay. I’ve been encouraged to hear about programs that are expanding again, including opportunities for new hires to spend time in different lines of business, offices, and even countries. That kind of experience is especially valuable in a global industry.

It also gives people room to grow without feeling they have to leave to try something new. Someone might start in underwriting, discover an interest in client relationships or risk engineering, and build a very different career from the one they first imagined. Companies still have to make those paths visible and give people reasons to stay. And when they do, they gain employees who understand more of the business and have found work they’re excited about. And if someone eventually moves to another company in insurance, the industry still benefits from the experience they’ve gained.”

What do you think is missing when it comes to how the industry attracts and develops talent today?

“I think if more companies were willing to pool resources and take a collaborative, coordinated approach to messaging, that would make a real difference. I'd love to see companies go to the AACSB, the accrediting body for most university business schools, and push them on why risk management and insurance isn't part of the required curriculum. You cannot run a business without insurance and some level of risk management, so why should any business school student graduate without being exposed to it? I'd love to see our big industry companies come together, put resources together, and lobby for that kind of change, so every business school student is at least exposed to a risk management 101 course and understands that the topic is just as important as accounting, economics, or finance when it comes to running a business. That kind of collaboration across companies would guarantee that we are efficiently getting the word out about these career opportunities to as many students as possible.”

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