Insurance is super competitive, which means high-quality marketers like you are in demand.

If you’re a marketing or communications major, you’re probably thinking that the next logical step is to find a job at an advertising or marketing agency. And sure, that’s cool. But you should also be looking at companies known for investing heavily in marketing, because they’re likely to have lots of opportunities.

Actually, now that we think about it, you know what kinds of companies do a ton of smart and interesting marketing work? You guessed it. Insurance companies.

This shouldn’t be news; you see insurance ads everywhere. That’s no accident. Marketing is a key way insurers distinguish themselves and their products and services from their competitors. The largest insurance organizations spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year on advertising alone. That’s a lot of good work for marketers.

Here are some of the routes you can take that perfectly align with your marketing experience:

• Insurance advertising
• Public relations
• Product marketing
• Corporate communications
• Business analyst
• Social media manager
• Product management

As part of an insurer’s marketing team, you control your company’s brand. You’d work with pretty much every other part of the organization developing products; testing them in the marketplace; and coming up with the best ways to advertise, talk about and sell them. Your team would also oversee social media, helping to create the content, campaigns and collateral that spread the good word about your company’s offerings.

How to Make It Happen

Your communications courses will get you geared up for practically any marketing career, but try taking a few business classes, too. A baseline understanding of how the risk management and insurance industry works will help you better communicate with potential employers (and land more job offers).

Also, we can’t repeat this enough — get an internship. It’s a chance to get on-the-job experience and see what a workday is actually like. Look for opportunities to intern at a company in the risk management and insurance industry or at a communications agency that works with insurers.

If it’s a good fit, you might not have to look for another job. Plenty of interns who show they’re smart, creative and ready for the working world land great marketing jobs where they interned before they even graduate.

To take the next step, see all the opportunities for marketing students in risk management and insurance.