Need Advice and Direction

[Mark]

Time are tough on everyone. It is sad that having a master Degree does not do more for you out there.

Lots of people are getting out of college with Degrees and then going to work for a fast food place.

Insurance can be a good career, but it just takes a lot to be successful and you won't make a lot of money anytime soon.

 

[CaptiveGuy]

I'm assuming I'm at somewhat at a disadvantage because I don't have a business degree. However, are there any companies that would be willing to train me?

Liberty Mutual pays a base salary while they train and license you then when you start selling you get a base salary + commission. Not a bad place to start for p&c if you need a salary.

 

[Newbie11]

Liberty Mutual pays a base salary while they train and license you then when you start selling you get a base salary + commission. Not a bad place to start for p&c if you need a salary.

That sounds more of what I'm looking for, thanks. How do I go about trying to get into that company or companies that have that same approach? Do they have recruiters that I can contact?

To Markingriffin: I live in New Jersey, but not too far from New York City so there's a lot of big insurance companies out there like Metlife and New York Life to name a couple.

 

[CaptiveGuy]

That sounds more of what I'm looking for, thanks. How do I go about trying to get into that company or companies that have that same approach? Do they have recruiters that I can contact?

To Markingriffin: I live in New Jersey, but not too far from New York City so there's a lot of big insurance companies out there like Metlife and New York Life to name a couple.

Just search for the sales rep job near you:

Insurance Careers and Opportunities at LibertyMutualGroup.com

NYL, MetLife, and the captive life companies always seem to be hiring and recruiting on Linkedin.

 

[Newbie11]

Just search for the sales rep job near you:

NYL, MetLife, and the captive life companies always seem to be hiring and recruiting on Linkedin.

Thanks, I appreciate your help. Could someone fill me in on some of the things I can expect as an insurance agent? I'm also interested in underwriting. Does anyone know how I can get started w/ that? I looked for underwriting internships, but couldn't find any.

 

[zeo]

Hey Newbie11,

I am all for higher education. I graduated as a non-traditional student with my BS in Computer Science recently. My focus in my career was web development. Moved to GA to work in Atlanta from San Antonio hoping to make good on my education. Had great jobs as a contractor working for the likes of Turner Broadcasting and WebMD. But as a contractor, you never know how long the contract will last or if they will choose to let you go. After 3 years of yo-yo'ing with contracting, I decided to throw in that towel. Even though I love development, I couldn't keep steady work. And freelancing is mostly for those overseas with expectations of earning $5/hr. Not what I had in mind. While the IT field has great potential to make great money, keeping up with the new skill requirements and trying to hold a job was more than I bargained for.

I recently decided to go into insurance. While I love development, I am not so much a cubical kind of person. I need to mix it with people. So I am anticipating having lots of fun in this field.

I said all that to say this, from experience, I can understand the disappointments.

Since you have studied and were interested in counseling, I could see potential in the insurance field for you. Especially as you consider the psychological aspects of selling and working with people. With your graduate degree, I am sure you have started to learn to do research. And as such, you can use those skills to find the right value for your clients. Having worked as hard as you did to get your degree, I am sure you are not afraid to work for what you want.

So be encouraged, you could likely do well with Insurance. Stay the course if you should so choose to do so. Don't expect the immediate income you stated. But set goals, and reach them. In the end, you will either find this too to not be what you expected, or you might fall in love with it.

Your first step if you should so choose, is to get licensed. I studied through Kaplan Financial. I did mine online. It was alot of work. Then, find products you feel you might be interested in selling (Life, Health, Medicare, Property & Casualty). And then get appointed by the insurance companies or work as a captive agent.

My two cents...

Zeo

Oh yeah, and stay connected online here...you will learn ALOT!!!

 

[DFWinsurancedude495]

You should pay more attention to what is said because if you had, you would have understood that I never said I do not like what I received my master's degree in. Rather, what I said was that it is simply not working out. On another note, can you honestly say that you have made a decision, only to later find out that it hadn't gone according to plan? By the way, don't respond to that since it was rhetorical. Thanks to all those that defended me; I appreciate all the feedback I've been getting. I'm interested to learn more about going captive as a career agent. How do I get started with all that?

talk to liberty mutual. apply for a position as a sales rep. the masters shows you have the drive to get things done, with a little personality you could most likely get a job at a local sales office. you will be captive selling p+c and life with virtually nothing for renewals but i know a lot of reps making 50k without breaking a sweat even in their first year. hope this helps