Albeniz Alvarez, Manager
Seguros Cordillera
Mérida, Venezuela

At work the first thing I do is, I am the administrator of an insurance branch, right? What we do as administrators is first of all to watch over, to control and review everything that is done in insurance. This is the main duty of an insurance administrator, right? To watch over all the documents or see that all areas are carried out correctly, that everything functions as it ought to function, so that everything goes well, right? To control, to see that all goes better, that everything be functional, right? And another responsibility, I sign the checks, along with the manager, one always has to be careful with this, right? I believe that in describing in detail the responsibilities that you have at work, I believe that we've taken care of this.

Describe in detail the activities of a typical work day. Since I always arrive early, I read the newspaper to know what is going on, not only here in Mérida but also in other places. And after that, I begin to do my work as administrator which is to review what is due for today, what has to be paid today, to take care of the insurance agents, you have to ask them for a list of drafts or receipts that they have pending. And other problems related to the job. In this part I believe all this is part of a typical day, right?

What is the part of work that you like most? Well, to visit the other agencies. We have another agency in Vigía. So I like to visit there because, that way we can control things better, because by phone it is more difficult. So we directly take care of the person there, that runs the agency in Vigía, right? He used to be an independent agent, but now we have an agent, a person who was employed by us in the agency and we're trying to make things work out better.

What is the most difficult part of this job? The most difficult part of this job is controlling these people. To control the personnel here too, because there are a lot of people who find it hard to get here so early. So, you have to control this, but it is a little tough, there are a few who have little kids and such. So it is always a little difficult to control. And the independent agents, who are the middlemen of insurance, you have to control them in that they always have their little problems that they get into, they sell many receipts, right? and don't collect all of them. So you have to be on them trying to get them to collect and see that they have things up to date so that later things don't get too difficult, on what you have pending, right?

Describe the training skills or knowledge that you have that are necessary to do this work. Well, you know I have been working in insurance for eight years, it was my first job, and I study at the university still. What's happening now is that I'm taking a little break, right? from the hassle and all. But I study business. I believe that the skills for this job is that of wanting to learn. Wanting to learn a bit. It is necessary to have some knowledge, university level, particularly in business, right? about business administration, which is what I study. But, really, what is most needed to know about this work is to want to learn every day. This is the foundation I believe for everyone who wants to learn can do it.

The work experience with foreigners, yes I have had a some because I have worked in nearly every area of insurance. In these eight years I have been working in lots of areas. There is a branch of insurance called claims or accidents, as we call it. And I have worked with some foreigners. We had a foreign manager as well. Two foreign managers. One was Peruvian and the other was Argentine. People that talked to us a lot about taking care of others, right? when they were here. And directly with them we have had some good experiences, right? We learned a lot from them. And with others, as I mentioned before, from claims. There were people who insure their cars or their property and end up making a claim because they have had an accident, right? So, we have had some contact (with foreigners) and it has been favorable. That is, people who know what goes on in insurance.