What Do Today’s Students Want from Insurance Employers?
Published October 23, 2025
At the 2025 Gamma Iota Sigma (GIS) Annual Conference, GIS Board of Trustees member and Travelers President of Personal Insurance Michael Klein sat down with GIS Executive Director Grace Grant to discuss what today’s students seek in their future careers in insurance. They explored the evolving student perspective, the importance of mentorship, and strategies for attracting and retaining talent. If you’re a hiring manager in the insurance industry, this episode is for you. Listen to “What Do Today’s Students Want from Insurance Employers? Insights from Gamma Iota Sigma” now for insights to build a strong pipeline of future professionals.
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Speakers
Grace Grant
Executive Director, Gamma Iota Sigma
Michael F. Klein
Executive Vice President; President, Personal Insurance, Travelers
Key takeaways
- GIS is an international professional student organization with 120 collegiate chapters, 6,000+ students and 35,000 alumni that promotes careers in insurance, risk management and actuarial science.
- Students are pushing back against the narrative of insurance being an “accidental career,” indicating a more intentional and strategic approach to entering the industry.
- The insurance industry is expanding its talent pool by successfully attracting applicants from academic backgrounds beyond traditional insurance or actuarial programs, including marketing, finance, data analytics and general business.
- Students prefer face-to-face interactions with employers and seek work-life balance, valuing companies that support their mental well-being and their desire to engage in purpose-driven work.
- In Gamma Iota Sigma’s 2024 survey, 84% of students identified mentorship as important, highlighting this as a key differentiator companies should prioritize in their talent programs.
- The insurance industry may lose top talent by waiting until junior and senior year to offer internships, while competitors successfully recruit freshmen and sophomores, when students begin seeking internship opportunities.
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