Project Y, a new initiative to recruit young professionals to the insurance industry, is looking at New Jersey high schools and colleges for potential “high-quality hires.”

Kim Voelker

“Students need to know that even in a tight economy, there’s always money available for high-quality hires,” said Kim Voelker, director of Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey, in a statement.

Project Y, a joint effort between the Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey (PIANJ) and the New Jersey Young Insurance Professionals (NJYIP), recruits high school and college graduates in hopes of connecting interested students with insurance agents and potential employers. Representatives from the organizations attend college and job fairs, and collect resumes to add to a searchable database to help agents find “new talent.”

The goal of the program is to project the image that the insurance industry can be a field with endless growth potential and exciting opportunities, according to the NJYIP.

“That’s why Project Y is essential—to spread the message to the next generation that insurance is a field that’s lucrative and with many opportunities,” Voelker added in the statement.

The program is already seeing results for Riverton, N.J.-based Barclay Insurance Group, who hired recent Richard Stockton College graduate Matthew Rosenhoover as a commercial-lines account executive as a result of its participation in Project Y.

“There is something for everyone in this industry, whether you majored in marketing, accounting or management,” said Rosenhoover in a statement.