need job hunting help (Tulsa, May: insurance, student loans, home)

[angela10]

[SIZE=3]Hi, my name is Angela and I am seeking some help with my job search. I have a background in insurance and annuities. I administrate annuity accounts; these are accounts like IRAs or retirement accounts. I do everything from address and beneficiary changes on these accounts, to more complex matters like paying death claims, working with estates and trusts, performing cash outs and withdrawals, etc. I am series 6 licensed—that is a securities license. Since some of the annuities I handle are variable— meaning some of the funds are invested in securities, that license is required.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Anyway, to make a long story short, earlier this year, management informed my department that we are all being laid off. My company is restructuring our annuity operations department. Some of the simpler transactions, like the address changes, are moving to the operations center in India. The more complex transactions are going to Des Moines. There is no possibility of relocating to Des Moines since they already have enough associates there, they won’t be doing any hiring, in fact they are having some layoffs as well.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]So I am stuck looking for another job. My last day will be August 15th of this year. I am getting a pretty good severance package, so I will probably be ok for a while, but I am having a very difficult time in my job search. I have been looking for a few months now and cannot really find a position that fits my skill set. My bachelor’s degree is in journalism and broadcasting with an emphasis in business communications, so it is not much help really. Most of what it entails is writing press releases and advertising copy, that sort of thing.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]I live in the Tulsa area, so I am searching for employment here. I cannot find another employer that deals with annuities, if anyone knows of anything or anyone and they are hiring, please let me know. I have also tried applying with banks, but they want banking and loan experience that I do not have and therefore I do not get hired. I have also thought about working for a law firm since I have estate, trust and insurance knowledge, but most want paralegal degrees or people with experience. I do not really want to go into the property and casualty or medical claims side of insurance, that is not something that really interests me, but I will if that is my only recourse.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it. I make over 30K a year (sorry to just blatantly post my salary), so it would be hard for me to work at call center or as a receptionist or something—that just wouldn’t pay the bills. I am single and don’t have any kids, but I do own a home that I would like to keep and have student loans and other bills to pay :+)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Thanks guys,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Angela[/SIZE]

[briansgi]

Since your background is in insurance, I'd suggest State Farm, they have a huge facility east of Tulsa off the BA expressway.

[hubris]

In addition to State Farm, there is Community Care located in downtown Tulsa.
Maybe check out what the local energy companies are up to, e.g., OneOk and Chesapeake.

[angela10]

Thanks for your reply. I did actually speak with an HR representative from State Farm a few months ago, but it was for an adjustor position in P&C, I wasn't really interested in that, but I do continue to check back with them. Adjusting involves a lot of travel and sometimes you will find yourself in physically demanding situations, such as climbing on roof tops, etc, to examine property damage, its just not something I am interested in if I can help it.

By the way, I am at MetLife if anyone wants to know. They are really undergoing a lot of changes here at the Tulsa office, some of the call center and processing jobs are relocating. Most are going to either India or Costa Rica.

I would definitely be interested in making a switch to an energy company, but can't seem to get my foot in the door with them. I've applied with Oneok, AEP, Williams and Baker Hughes, but have not gotten any interviews. I'll just have to keep trying to find the right job for me.

Thanks again
Angela

[Synopsis]

Try using Job Search | one search. all jobs. Indeed for job searches. I've found it to be a very useful site as it combs all of the search engines (google, yahoo, etc) for jobs.

Good luck.