Sunday, October 3, 2010

Starting Out

I am thinking of a new career or adding to my income.

It’s not uncommon for the trainers at the Wardlaw Training Center to hear this from people that have lost jobs, or have realized that the job they are in is going nowhere for them. Even students fresh out of college may realize that a shrinking market for new employees could limit what job they may be employable for.

The path of becoming a successful independent insurance claims adjuster can be a very complex one. The adjusters that are deployed by Wardlaw Claims Service are fortunate because Wardlaw has helped make this life changing challenge an obtainable goal for most people.

Most people hear about these jobs from an adjuster working a claim for them or from knowing someone in the claims business already. Normally these types of resources are great starting points to asking questions and finding out about the job. Often times the people in these positions can give a true life experience as to what an adjuster is about.

The person asking the questions needs to remember that these people will usually tell them of the great money they can earn, all of the travel involved and seeing all the country. These are true facts and will generate quite a bit of interest.

BUT, in reality, becoming an adjuster shouldn’t be for the dollar or the sightseeing. It is a job that requires a great deal of empathy and the ability to handle difficult situations day in and day out. Take as an example, a large hurricane in a very populated area of a state. The claims volumes can be huge for most carriers and every adjuster on the storm site may have a voluminous amount of claims. The adjuster has to remember that every single person only cares about only one claim, their claim.

Given this example most people say they can handle this type of situation and are eager to start a new career. The biggest question now is HOW?

Starting out by gathering information about the job is a good idea.

Most states require that a person have a license to be an adjuster. This can be obtained several different ways but the most common and best way is to take a license class in a classroom setting. The advantage of the classroom course is the interaction with the instructor and other students. Networking is a very valuable resource in this profession. In a classroom course, the course will focus on the requirements set by the state and the contents needed to study for passing the license exam. Along the way, the student will be introduced to terminology to which they have never been exposed.

This is also a good way for students to develop a resume and have the instructor’s insight on the next steps after passing the test and obtaining the license.

Next blog …I have a license, now what?

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