Thirty-four employers set up booths at the Insurance Industry Career Fair on Wednesday afternoon, seeking interns and job candidates from various degree programs. 

The event was from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom. 

Robin Pijor, assistant director at the Career Services Center, helped plan the event and said it was focused on the insurance industry to make students and alumni aware of what the employment options exist.  However, the event was open to all students and alumni regardless of their major.

“I hope that the students who come today learn that the industry itself is more than just selling insurance,” Pijor said. 

Pijor said the insurance industry offers jobs in fields like marketing, accounting, graphic design, computer science and human resources  needed for the industry’s success. 

“There are going to be 26,000 jobs open by the year 2020, so they are really hiring a lot of people,” Pijor said. 

Brent Maurer, a representative for Insuring Ohio Futures, said the large gap of job openings in the insurance industry came from the baby boomer generation retiring. 

“In Ohio, insurance is a real economic pillar for the state,” Maurer said. “Just shy of $18 billion of the state’s GDP (gross domestic product)  is insurance based.”

Maurer said Kent State was the first university to launch a bachelor’s degree program in insurance in 2012. 

“If you go back to 2011, there wasn’t a single bachelor(s) degree program in the state,” Maurer said. “Kent was the first to come to market with a program. Today, there are 82 declared majors in the program, which is a great growth.” 

Several businesses attened the event, such as Allstate Insurance Company, AmTrust Financial Services, Knights of Columbus, Liberty Mutual Insurance and Oswald Companies. 

Carmen Edgehouse, vice president of Oswald Companies, said he was a 2002 Kent State graduate. Edgehouse said his advice to students attending the event is to do their research on the companies represented because there are a lot of opportunities they might not know about yet.

“It’s important that you are honest with yourself about what gets you motivated,” Edgehouse said. “Don’t try to find a job just for the money. Find something that really excites you first, then find a way to make money doing that.”

More than 80 students attended the career fair dressed in business attire with resumes in their hands.  John Stahl, a senior finance major, said he came to the career fair looking for a summer internship and found a lot of information about the kind of employees companies are looking to hire by talking with professionals. 

“Coming here was great practice talking to professionals,” Stahl said. “It’s going to help in the long run when you have start interviewing for jobs because you will feel more comfortable.”

To learn more about jobs available in the Ohio insurance industry, go to www.insuringohiofuture.com. 

Contact Zabrina Hvostal at [email protected].