After being out of college for 19 years I was actually nervous about going back to school to become an independent insurance adjuster. Its not that I haven’t had to continuously learn throughout my career in Information Technology, attend classes, get certified on software and the like. There was something different about this, first off it is a 15 week program at the Insurance Education Centers of America. The program is more of an apprenticeship program where we learn book smarts, then go out and ‘do’. The doing is writing claims, interpreting coverage, assessing damage and role playing to get the people skills down.
I’m guessing here, but most people out of college don’t ever consider becoming an insurance adjuster. I know I didn’t. But with life comes experience and that seems to be what this career is all about. Most of the other people in my class are in their 30′s or better and come with those life experiences. They have purchased insurance, and owned homes. They have worked other jobs and know generally how to interact with people, especially when they have had something bad happen to them. Keep in mind, you generally only get to see a insurance adjuster when you make a claim which means your house, property or you have been damaged.
My first 2 weeks of class have been incredibly interesting. I have learned enough about insurance policies to be very dangerous. I also know a lot of people need to talk to their insurance agent and re-evaluate their policies! I have learned to take a more analytical look at structures and damage and dig deeper. A concept re-enforced for me was to keep asking questions, sometimes the same question a different way to gain further understanding.
If there are two things that seem to be portable between all careers its your people skills and your understanding of technology. For those over 40 like myself, the people skills are either there or not. If not, then you need to seek some other type of training or counseling. However the technology skills are huge for any job/career. Some advice, do some on-line tutorials basic computer skills if you need to. It WILL help you out.
I am going to continue to chronicle my transition to a new career. The next several posts will include some topics on how my kids are dealing with daddy going back to school.
