Public sector insurance jobs appear to be a rage again. A majority of students completing their post-graduation from the National Insurance Academy (NIA) have opted for PSU insurers over private players. They have even given large IT services companies visiting the campus for recruitment a miss.
The campus recruitment at NIA has achieved nearly 100% placement this year, barring a few students who had plans of their own. Around 48 students out of a class of 64 opted for public sector insurance companies. A few others chose IT firms. NIA started the Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) programme in 2004. So far, 430 students have passed out of the institute. This year, 12 students were absorbed by the General Insurance Corporation (GIC) and nine each by the four general insurance companies. Six were picked by Intel, three by IBM and one each by Infosys and Cognizant.
G Srinivasan, CMD, New India Assurance and chairman of NIA Governing Board, said youngsters now see value in a career with public sector insurance companies. So, even IT companies, such as TCS and IBM, could not pick up the numbers they wanted. NIA was set up by government life and non-life insurance companies. As the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has different recruitment rules, it does not pick directly from the campus.
According to Srinivasan, there are not many insurance training institutes in the country and there is a huge shortage of insurance talent in the market. NIA now want to increase the intake of students.
