How to Get a Job as an Insurance Broker
If there's one thing that's certain about life, it's the number of uncertainties that can turn it totally upside down in a heartbeat. Whether it's a traffic accident, the loss of a home and/or possessions or a devastating health prognosis, an insurance policy represents a promise that some or all of our hardships will be covered as a result of paid premiums. Helping individuals navigate the "what if" scenarios and identifying the best type of coverage for their needs is the job of insurance agents and brokers. This article tells you what you need to know to enter this lucrative career field.
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Instructions
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Determine whether you have the aptitude to become a successful insurance professional. While graduation from college isn't required, you do need to have great communication skills, an outgoing personality, perseverance, the resilience to handle rejection and a clean record with state and federal law enforcement.
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Research what kind of insurance professional you want to be. Specifically, do you want to be an agent who works for one specific insurance company and only sells its product(s), or do you want to be a broker who either specializes in a particular area (i.e., pet insurance) and/or hires a team of agents who sell a variety of personal and commercial policies? Insurance brokers not only have more flexibility in terms of their scope of services but also the potential to make a lot more money in commissions.
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Complete the classroom education required to take your insurance exam. The instructional hours you need to put in depend on whether you plan to broker personal or commercial lines or both. States also vary in terms of the number of hours of instruction they require for health and life insurance coursework or classes that are specific to investments.
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Acquire your insurance license since you will not be able to do business without one. The website for your state's Department of Insurance will walk you through the steps of applying for a license and paying the appropriate fees. After you pass your insurance exam, send the results to your Department of Insurance.
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Get hands-on industry experience working for someone else first before you branch out and open your own brokerage firm. This will also allow you to save the capital necessary to cover the overhead of leasing an office, purchasing equipment, advertising and hiring staff.
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Join community and civic organizations that will regularly bring you into social contact with large numbers of people.
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Join your local Chamber of Commerce.
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Join insurance industry associations and get your name known as a speaker or panelist at seminars.
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Build a professional website that will establish you as an insurance industry expert and apprise readers of the services you provide. Include a Q&A component so that prospective clients can ask you questions.
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Take up golf. This seems to be the sport of choice of insurance professionals because it not only attracts the kind of clients who can afford you but also provides a leisurely venue in which to talk shop.
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Tips & Warnings
If you're interested in getting your classroom tuition paid for by someone else, consider taking an entry level clerk position with an insurance company. Since many of them are enthusiastic about recruiting prospective agents to their fold, you may want to mention early in your tenure that you're thinking of pursuing insurance as a career. In the meantime, you'll be picking up the vocabulary, familiarizing yourself with the forms and asking questions of the agents who already work there.
Stay abreast of insurance trends, products and regulations by taking continuing education classes throughout the year.
Never go anywhere without your business cards.
Never lie on your application to become an insurance professional. Whatever you're trying to hide--especially felonious behavior--is going to turn up in the background check.
If you go to work for another broker to get experience before opening your own firm, respect the non-compete clause she probably had you sign at the time of hiring. This means that any clients you fostered a relationship with as a direct result of that employment are not yours to steal away. While they may certainly like you enough to follow you anywhere, word travels faster if you pilfer a contacts list or are aggressive in using company time and resources to spread the word of your departure.
