Beethoven In Trance - Episode 43

Time to panic.

Interview tomorrow afternoon, with sales and distribution group. I have had an informational interview with the hiring managers and still didn't have a clear picture of what they do.

The interview is in part, a result of my recent 'performance action plan' with my direct manager, who recently mentioned that there were other opportunities in the company in our recent meeting. The conversation changed my decision on whether to apply for this position.

So what are the other reasons I want to change my job? Hum... let me think... Well, I came from a sales and marketing background and I might fit in better in the new group. There are more data analysis projects in the new group than my current group where I spent most of the time on filing. The new job is a step closer to sales and marketing job.

But still, is any of the above reason strong enough for me to leave the current post? I don't have the answer. I have to evaluate the pros and cons here. The pros of staying in the current job are: learning special lines business, pricing? and working with good team. The cons include: one more mistake and I will be out, really feel like a hostile environment. I can't see my future in pricing. Can't see any project in the near future that will leverage my strength-technical skills.
The pro of the new position: new beginning, new learning, and a 'less hostile environment' to work in. It's a one step closer to sales and marketing which is a field I am interested in getting into in the future ideally for a cookware company. And I have more interest in sales than filing. The cons include: it might turn into a reporting type of position that I eventually grow bored with. The challenges involved in the position is unknown, and I don't know if I can handle them or not.

If I break the pros and cons down even further, I will have to ask 'what do I want to learn in pricing?' How to price insurance? Well, I got the basics covered, the question should be how to more accurately price insurance? Well, that will involved much more technical research on the statistics and actuarial science. Do I want to do that? Hum.. maybe not. So, there is not much learning in how to price then. How about learning special line business? Well, what aspect of special line business I want to learn? Sales, marketing, IT, or ... pricing? As a pricer, I have limited resource and time to learn and research these area. How about filing? Yes, there are still things to learn in filing, how we state our rule in the filing, and how we charge people with the coverage and rating factors. I have some general ideas of them and I think those are useful information for me to understand the insurance business fundamental. But after learning all these, there doesn't seem to be much left for me to stay. Therefore, it's just matter of time I leave pricing.

So if eventually will leave pricing, the question become 'is it the time for me to leave pricing?'. Considering the current hostile working environment and no project that requires my strength, it sounds like a good idea to leave now.

But wait, what about the learning from pricing? Do I just gave it up? Have I learned everything I need to learn in pricing? Well, I am sure there are plenty to learn in pricing, but does the learning contribute to my career goal? And compare to the learning in the new group, what will the answer be?

Now, what I need to find out is how to get into the new position and whether or not the new position is a good fit for me.

And the night before the interview is really not a good time to try to figure out the answers to those questions...