Jackson National Life in Aggressive Hiring Mode

This morning a highly valued colleague called to say he was leaving our organization for a job opportunity that will present new challenges and higher compensation. My colleague's good fortune may be a sign of general economic recovery but it's just as likely that it simply shows that there will always be some job opportunities, even in trying economic times.The news reminded me of a recent conversation with Mark Clark and Laura Prieskorn of Jackson National Life. While other life insurance companies were tanking and laying people off, Jackson was holding course and hiring. In fact, hiring will be a high priority for Jackson's IT and operations organizations in the coming year.

Clark and Prieskorn were recently promoted to their senior vice president officer positions, and the company announced a raft of other senior promotions in their organizations last week. As these folks are moving up, Jackson is aggressively hiring within IT and ops, as a visit to the company's careers page will show. The page's search function shows three pages - about 30 entries - of open positions, a large proportion of which seek IT-related expertise.

The page is worth a look for job seekers and even CIOs who may have had to let valuable people go without being able to point them to a suitable engagement. However, applicants should bear in mind that Jackson's standards are high. The company has a rigorous hiring process that includes an aptitude test. And, as CIO Clark said to me recently, "We'd rather leave a position open than fill it with a subpar individual." The sentiment may be daunting to many, but it will be good news for the highest quality applicants.While other life insurance companies were tanking and laying people off, Jackson was holding course and hiring. In fact, hiring will be a high priority for Jackson's IT and operations organizations in the coming year.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio