 |
|
What she does:
- Johnna Nigh is an Account Manager/Underwriter with Amica Mutual Insurance Company in Providence, Rhode Island. She has been working with the company since July 2004 after graduating from St. Lawrence University. Her job involves risk analysis, sales promotion, and service for existing customers. As a manger, Johnna works closely with a team of five to seven people and reviews all of their casework. She is also responsible for helping to achieve branch management growth goals and for coaching sales staff in developing new business leads.
Math on the job:
- Johnna is currently working on on a project to review all high value homes (homes worth $800,000 or more) that the company currently insures in Rhode Island. Inspections are completed on each home and there must be a thorough review of the value of the dwelling and evaluation of any concerns noted on the inspection. She then must determine what the appropriate value of the home is and insure it for the correct amount.
- She is also developing a new formula for benchmarking - establishing a reference point to serve as a standard for comparing or judging each representative’s performance. She uses mathematics and statistics to develop and implement a different formula for each unit within the department based on past data. The performance of individual representatives can then be evaluated by comparing to the benchmark formula.
Johnna's background:
- Johnna received a Bachelor of Science May 2004 with majors in Government, Economics and Mathematics and minor in Statistics from St. Lawrence University. She is working on receiving her Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation. The most beneficial classes for her were Probability, Mathematical Statistics, and Quantitative Methods in Economics. She uses skills developed from those classes, as well as verbal, writing and computer skills (especially Excel) on a regular basis in her job. She was always interested in working in insurance because all of her immediate family works in the insurance industry.
Advice for students:
- While in college, it’s hard to determine what field to work in. Johnna suggests keeping all of your options open. By interviewing and looking into different fields it becomes clear that mathematics majors have the ability to work in many areas and that many companies need the skills of mathematics majors. Start looking at jobs early. Internships also help individuals gain experience needed for the business world and see how math can be applied.