Why Your Best Insurance Candidates Are Choosing Competitors
Charlene Demers
As insurance recruiters, we see top candidates interviewing with multiple companies—and consistently choosing your competitors. After placing hundreds of professionals across carriers, brokers, and TPAs, we’ve identified what separates companies that land great talent from those that don’t.
The Real Competition
Your biggest competitor isn’t the insurance company down the street. It’s every other industry offering remote work, transparent compensation, and faster career growth. The insurance professionals worth hiring have choices, and they’re evaluating your opportunity against offers from companies that have adapted to what today’s workforce wants.
What Drives Hiring Decisions
Through candidate feedback, we consistently hear the same decision factors:
Compensation transparency. Candidates walk away from companies that won’t discuss salary ranges upfront. They see this as a red flag about company culture.
Clear growth paths. “Opportunities for advancement” isn’t enough. Top candidates want specific examples of internal promotions and realistic timelines.
Genuine flexibility. Hybrid policies that require justification for remote days lose out to companies with truly flexible approaches.
Modern technology. Nothing kills enthusiasm faster than learning you’ll work with outdated systems.
The Interview Process Problem
We see excellent candidates remove themselves from consideration because of:
- Marathon interview processes (4+ rounds for non-executive roles)
- Unprepared interviewers who haven’t reviewed resumes
- No clear timeline or next steps after interviews
The Cost of Slow Hiring
Every week your position remains open, you’re overworking existing staff, losing institutional knowledge, and missing opportunities. We regularly see companies lose their first-choice candidate to faster-moving competitors, then spend months settling for their third or fourth choice.
The Bottom Line
The insurance talent you need is available. The question is whether they’ll choose you when they have multiple options. Companies that adapt their processes, improve their value proposition, and move decisively on strong candidates will build stronger teams.
Those that stick to outdated approaches will continue struggling to fill key positions.
Our team helps insurance companies compete more effectively for top talent by identifying the right candidates and streamlining hiring processes. Ready to discuss how we can help you win the talent you need?
