MIS Club meeting - Club Kickoff!

September 26^th, 2007

Cigna was started in 1981 from INA and CGP. Cigna now employs over 29,000 employees, has annual revenue of $16.5 billion and does business in 15 countries. Cigna offers independent life and property casualty insurance plans as well as retirement investment plans.

Four representatives from Cigna visited CCSU this evening to discuss the Technology Early Career Development Program (TECDP), which is a group of approximately 60 employees who are starting their career in information technology. The program offers college graduates with an IT background to develop their technical, leadership and business skills and become IT professionals by providing the environment and experiences to grow. This includes training and job-rotation to acquire common job skills and a network of colleagues with similar work experience.

The Technology Early Career Development Program is three years total with performance appraisals every six months. During these three years essential negotiation, presentation and career development skills are learned. An essential network of colleagues is important to solve various job related problems and seek advice. These colleagues include a mentor, assignment manager, program manager, TECDP leadership team and other TECDP associates.

All associates in the program are ranked; therefore networking, development, community service and willingness to learn business and IT functions of Cigna are essential inputs to performance appraisals. Cigna’s TECDP offers many benefits such as a focus on work and life balance, excellent work experience, competitive salaries, education reimbursement, flexible insurance programs, paid holidays, and retirement savings plans. Associates in the program are also encouraged to speak out concerning the direction of the program.

Cigna also offers a leadership development program that requires 3-7 years of work experience. This program may be entered upon completion of TECDP. The structure is similar to TECDP except associates must be sponsored by management. Completion of the leadership program opens many opportunities to become a corporate leader.

Outsourcing all IT work is a myth. Cigna does outsource work to India for coding purposes only; all other Information Systems work is done in the office. Outsourcing is generally not effective when determining business rules, performing data modeling and systems analysis. There are also careers available in tech systems, application development and project management.

Cigna hires associates as full time through TECDP and also hires co-op students who work for six month blocks. Paid internships are also available from May to August. To apply for a co-op or intern position at Cigna, see Ken Poppe in Career Services, (Willard 100). For more information on Cigna, visit http://www.cigna.com/. For more information on careers at Cigna, visit http://careers.cigna.com/.