I never thought I’d say this… but I think I’m falling for insurance.

I remember the day I first came across insurance. It was a cold Monday morning when I arrived the doorsteps of Liberty Mutual. I was slightly jetlagged and I needed my morning coffee.  The people I met when I walked in were friendly, but I had my suspicions ... I thought all I would have to deal with in the next few months would be white sheets of paper with figures on them, and the occasional sales person. After my first day of work I returned home, switched on the TV and found it 'saturated' with insurance adverts… in one seating I saw eight adverts …. eight! Insurance had followed me home.

In the following weeks, I was steadily introduced to the world of insurance. My project involves Competitive Intelligence, so I needed to gain a meticulous understanding of Liberty Mutual and nine other top property and casualty companies; from their management teams at the very top, to their grassroots service distribution models.I started to realise insurance is more than processing applicants and paying out claims. A huge ‘cat and mouse game’ exists behind the scenes, and the task of underwriting involves the ability to somehow predict the future in order to better position your products and services.  I also began to appreciate the structural challenges of being a gorilla in a mature industry where responding to market trends is much easier than it sounds; thought must be given to how these changes are adopted, the training and education necessary for successful implementation … and before the change is even implemented … how do we know this ‘trend’ is not just a ‘fad’???

That was when I started noticing the signs... my pecking up at the mention of insurance in the bus, subway and supermarket …. paying closer attention to those adverts on TV, scrutinizing what competitors had to say and challenging their claims to anyone who would listen (my flat mates are often the victims of this, but they are kind enough to humor me) … I guess it’s time I confess to being insurance smitten!

As I look forward to my first investors call, it now dawns on me how preconceptions can often be limitations. Insurance might not have sounded like the sexiest choice for Externship A, but then I would have missed out on the opportunity to learn about a greatly underrated, yet significant and intriguing industry; in addition to meeting some lovely people along the way. I have no doubt that I would be leaving Boston tearful yet grateful, with some new tricks up my sleeve and lifelong friends.