Insurance Agents

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2002, insurance agents held more than 380,000 jobs in the United States.  As recent as 2005, the community of insurance agents showed a significant increase in the number of insurance agents.  Becoming an insurance agent requires time, educational accomplishments and adeptness towards basic interpersonal skills and management qualifications to be among the successful insurance agents in your community.

Education
As of this writing, doing a quick research on the internet for insurance education will yield almost one half of a million search results.  Colleges and universities throughout the country have begun offering careers in insurance sales.  Some schools are now offering students the opportunity to major in insurance.

Whether or not such courses are available at your school, obtaining an education through an online institution will have you working in the vocation in less than a year.  Obtaining an insurance license on the web is not as far fetched as it may sound.  Online education is big business and there are several schools that would vie for your education dollar.

If neither of these options is available, don’t fret; most agencies are open to hiring individuals who have backgrounds in some of the following areas: Communications, Public Relations, Accounting, Business Administration, Sociology.  Some agencies and companies will hire non-college graduates; however, you'll most likely need proof of a lengthy and successful sales career to be considered.

Industry Qualifications
While the requirements to become an insurance agent vary from state to state, all states require agents to have an insurance license to sell policies of any kind.

To obtain an insurance license, you'll likely be required to enroll in and complete a set of pre-licensing courses, after which you'll have to pass a state examination regarding the fundamentals of insurance and insurance law in your state.

Upon passing the state examination and obtaining your license, you'll be responsible for staying abreast of changes in insurance and consumer law, tax regulation and federal regulations in order to maintain your license, often through the form of continuing education. This can be very exciting as many forms of continuing education might take you (and your significant other) to exotic locations.  In most cases, your agency or company will likely subsidize the cost of courses for their agent employees.

Interpersonal Skills
Outside of educational and industry qualifications, your personality will play a large part in your success as an insurance agent.
Because you'll be responsible for finding your own clients and maintaining business relationships, it's important that you're comfortable talking to people, outgoing and enthusiastic about your line of work.

It’s not uncommon for agents to find potential customers by making small talk with someone at the bank or supermarket.  Sharpening your phone skills will also be critical to your success as an agent.

What to do Next
A career as an insurance agent can be both exciting and rewarding. You can find your niche in the insurance industry by contacting your state's department of insurance and learning the specifics on agent qualifications.