Customer Stories 
Summary
AmeriLife, a prominent player in the insurance and financial services industry, shifted its hiring strategy from credential-based selection to a skills-first approach. Leveraging Avature’s AI-powered skills parsing capabilities and reports, the organization demonstrated that success in insurance agents depends more on adaptability and transferable skills than traditional qualifications.
About AmeriLife
Founded in 1971 and headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, AmeriLife is a leading provider of insurance, annuities, Medicare and retirement solutions across twelve US states.
With a network of over 300,000 insurance agents and advisors and 50 insurance agency locations, the organization has built its reputation for addressing the evolving needs of retirees and pre-retirees, delivering tailored solutions to help individuals secure their financial futures.
The Starting Point
The insurance industry has long operated under a standardized recruitment model: seeking licensed agents, prioritizing industry experience and maintaining conventional insurance hiring patterns. And AmeriLife was no exception.
Despite conducting 1,000 weekly interviews, only five percent of interviewees are ultimately contracted as agents. In consequence, AmeriLife’s reliance on a recruitment model that focused solely on traditional parameters resulted in a rigid candidate funnel that limited the organization’s possibilities of hiring great potential agents.
Erika George, VP of Talent Acquisition and Business Planning, had long advocated for focusing on candidates’ interpersonal and transferable skills rather than credentials. So, as leader of a recruiting team, she saw an opportunity to challenge the status quo by posing a critical question: What if the best agents aren’t yet in insurance?
Seizing the Skills Opportunity
If she was to lead a true shift that broadened the hiring criteria, Erika George needed to validate what her years of experience in the industry had taught her and get buy-in from senior stakeholders. To demonstrate the validity of her insights, Avature’s AI-powered technology proved crucial.
By using the skills parser to identify skills in candidates, Erika George was able to prove that despite not having formal college degrees or prior industry experience, many of them possessed skills such as adaptability, communication and customer service ―honed in unrelated fields such as hospitality or retail― which are key to the success of insurance agents.
In addition to validating her theory, Avature’s skills parser made it possible for the team to bring this shift to reality at scale, and AmeriLife’s team of 13 recruiters now parses the skills of every incoming candidate’s resume (around 15,000 monthly) with an automatic scheduled action.
Some of our top producers come from different backgrounds. Our president was delivering pizzas before he started working for us. Our VP was selling hot dogs on the beach. We have someone who was a high school dropout. Insurance agents come from various walks of life, and Avature allowed me to show that to the managers.”
Erika George
VP of Talent Acquisition and Business Planning, AmeriLife.
A Vision Backed by Data
Avature’s custom reports played a pivotal role in demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach. By embracing a skills-first strategy, AmeriLife has expanded its talent pool, improved engagement and elevated agent performance—and they have the data to prove it.
Since shifting its strategy, the organization has moved from hiring predominantly licensed agents—around 80 percent in the past—to a near-even split, where 49% percent of hires now come without a license and 51% with a license.
Not only has the hiring mix shifted, but the data also shows that this innovative approach yielded positive results from the revenue and retention perspectives. Erika George demonstrated that hires from non-traditional backgrounds tend to show a ten percent increase in retention in the first year and a five percent boost in the second year. They also earn higher weekly average incomes than their licensed counterparts, further validating the effectiveness of the approach.
AmeriLife’s reliance on data to inform its strategy also revealed regional variations in success patterns, demonstrating the importance of implementing tailored talent acquisition strategies. What works in one region may not work in another, and the ability to customize approaches based on region-specific data provides a significant advantage in ensuring that the organization is able to secure the talent it needs.
Beyond measurable outcomes, AmeriLife’s transformation is also cultural, revealing the organization’s willingness to rethink the traditional profile of an insurance agent.
I made it my mission to encourage the field leadership team to be more open when recruiting. First, I think it’s an amazing opportunity for candidates that didn’t go to college to make a great living; and second, from a business perspective, we have better retention and get better results out of the new people.”
Erika George
VP of Talent Acquisition and Business Planning, AmeriLife.
All in all, the shift has also created a win-win scenario. On the one hand, embracing a skills-first model has helped AmeriLife’s recruiting team identify untapped talent and build a more diverse workforce, unrestrained by traditional hiring biases. On the other hand, this new approach allows the agents to be valued for what they can do and to get an opportunity despite not fitting the formal mold.
We don’t want to hire someone that fits in a box. We are hiring for their drive and personality, not what’s on their resume paper.”
Erika George
VP of Talent Acquisition and Business Planning, AmeriLife.
Lessons In Transformation
Rather than using Avature’s AI to replace human decision-making, Erika George leveraged it to validate her industry hunches. At the same time, custom reports provided the data needed to gain buy-in from hesitant stakeholders.
This approach created an innovative recruitment framework that combines technology with the nuanced understanding only humans can provide.
Avature’s custom reports and skills analysis finally gave me the proof to back up what I’d been advocating to the field for years. Now, I have the data to verify and showcase the success of broadening our hiring criteria. Avature allowed me to show our managers that hiring unlicensed talent works.”
Erika George
VP of Talent Acquisition and Business Planning, AmeriLife.
By making opportunities accessible to a broader range of candidates, the organization proved that prioritizing skills and potential over traditional qualifications can open doors for diverse talent, dismantle biases and encourage an open-minded approach to talent acquisition while driving significant organizational success.
