Job Responsibilities
Heavy customer services and carrier relationship in marketing and
remarkting renewal insurance policies. Detailed oriented work.
Overseeing staff. Lot of meetings and changes because a "better
way" is always being found.
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Job Requirements
A high school education is all that is needed. The insurance
industry has professional designations that circumvent the higher
education road. It has its good and bad. Bad because without the
higher ed, you can't advance unless you are in sales. If you have
the designations, you can command good amount of money but limited
in your career path. Higher ed is just not as valued as in other
industries. Unfortunately, it shows.
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Uppers
Good pay. Some people are very appreciative. Professional satisfaction. Deal
with all kinds of people. Some companies have very good benefits. Depending on
the companies, there can be a lot of wine and dining (ie kickbacks, bonuses etc).
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Downers
Detailed oriented, intensive routine work & problem solving.
Dealing with sales people who think the rules do not apply to
them. Clients who blame everyone else for their problems. People
job hop because it can be tough and people get burnt out.
Employees are viewed as disposable. Formal traditional education
is not needed. Uneithical behavior. Most companies really do not
care about their customers because if they did, they would not
treat them like they do (ie charging a client fees on top of their
comission, not sending out policies, holding refunds, etc). If
each state's department of insurance ever started doing their job,
it would make the accounting scandles look like a minor problem.
For the most part, insuring agreement are a little more than a
handshake. Look at the world trade center and you will see a tip
of the iceberg.
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Lifestyle
Work hours are intense. A inolves people doing favors and who you know can
really help you get far. Must be willing to put in extra time because all
companies require it. Only know through AON and Farmers insurance are overtime
issue is being addressed. A few more lawsuits are needed in order to bring back
the mandatory 40 hr work week.
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Compensation
Good pay but you have to fight for it. In down times, it gets
worse and you can be viewed as an expense. Reviews done in about
3-6 months past the anniversary date.
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Advice to Jobseekers
You must really like to be a people person and solve problems. If
you want to go far, you will eventually need to go into sales. The
industry loves you if you have sales but once you stop, then you
are looked at as an expense. Must be willing to "bend" the rules
(my biggest problem) and accept the fact that this is the way that
people do business.
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