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Man, you guys...this is disheartening. I, too, was seriously considering getting into this field, but after reading these posts....mmmm, not so much. I was under the (evidently mistaken) impression that if you were willing to work hard, and travel as needed, that the money was there. I am currently working with adjusters daily out here in the Ike clean-up in Houston (selling roofing/GC work), and they seem to still be "rocking"...but maybe that simply isn't true for the majority. One last question...does anyone know if the state of Georgia requires that the licensing class be inhouse vs. online?
Thanks all.

Rick, one of my truisms is that as the water gets deeper the sharks get bigger and in deep water you get damn big sharks. Apply this to the adjusting business. If you have the financing, can go a year without getting paid, could you go two years, have the basic, underlying smarts, go take a Stanford Benet or Millers Analogy's and see what your IQ is, did you do well in school, are you an athlete, success in cat adjusting requires a level of fitness/endurance, did you play sports in school, can you work 16 hours a day for months, are you easily frustrated, do you use mind altering subtances, smoke pot, drink a lot of beer, what about equipment, do you have a vehicle, a place to live, what about family, little kids at home, a pregnant wife, then there is general street smarts, do you have any experience dealing with people, what about insurance experience, outside of buying insurance most people are totally, hole in the ground ignorant, are you educated, can you write a block, 1 page, 3 paragraph letter, what about a report in London format.

Do you mind sleeping in your vehicle for weeks in the Mississippi heat while a major carrier screws around about how to handle a slab claim. Can you handle one large claim for what you think is a life altering fee and then have the company refuse to pay you. Can you travel to Hawaii, have the company go bankrupt and list your vendor as a creditor. I paid for three adjusters to travel back home to Arkansas.

Sure Hurricane Ike has provided an opportunity, but after Hurricane Rita there was about a 2 year hiatus when most adjusters couldn't buy a job. Then Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike. So spread the money made in Hurricane Katrina over three years and see if you think you would have had any capital left to start on Hurricane Gustav and then move to Hurricane Ike.

The truth is that any lasting success in this business is extremely difficult and I think I would be remiss in encouraging people with Apple pie in the sky hopes to jump in.

On the high side, there are those that find a bird nest on the ground.

You will serve yourself well by reading Chuck's comments, as they are real and in the real world. Catastrophe adjusting is not easy for anyone, old or new. I remember many times having to sleep in a car of truck, as no accommodations were available. While working hurricane Andrew my first assignment was at Tami Ami airport with 37 hull losses. After spending hours just getting through to the airport, there were no accommodations to be had. The airport was guarded by the military with live rounds, so getting in and out was difficult. I had a pass from the state of Florida, but still difficult. I had to sleep in the back of a 1989 Chrysler convertible we had just purchased. Being 6'4", it was quite tight, but at least allowed me some place to sleep and rest. There were portable toilets, but no showering or bathing facilities. I used baby wipes to keep myself clean. Meals were scarce, but we did have one of those mobile food trucks that would come around so we could buy their products. There were no cell phones initially, so communication was extremely difficult, but I managed to complete all my inspections and finally get to the local claims office so I could write up the reports and attach the hundreds of photos taken, 35mm.

 

I did not look upon this as a negative thing, but more of an adventure in my life. Would I do it again, darn right I would. I made a lot of friends out there and met a lot of aviation enthusiasts, like myself.  I had traveled from the Tampa claims office where I was the Caribbean aviation manager for a vendor. Janice followed me several weeks later when the cat office was up and running in Hollywood, Fl. She became the office manager, managing over 50 adjusters. We worked 7 days a week, 18 hours per day for a solid 15 months on that storm. That was a 15 month adventure to end all adventures.

I took my licensing class at Wardlaw in Waco, Tx 2 1/2 yrs ago. Shortly afterward, I took my basic property class, also from Wardlaw. The day I got home from that, US Staffing began calling me, trying to get me to come to work with them. The only catch was, I had to take their property class, even though they were aware I had completed the training with Wardlaw. As everyone who got their licenses at about that time knows, there were very few opportunities for new adjusters during that time, because everyone and their mother was trying to get into the industry. I plodded along until Hurricane Ike. I live in Texas City, Texas, and was in the process of evacuating when Wardlaw called. I wound up getting 100 claims from Farmers. My wife was a vendor for Lowe's before the storm. Since we were there anyway, she sat through the 3 day emergency training and wound up helping me work my claims. It was a great experience. We complement each other very well. At the moment, we are working as a sales team for a construction company. That is going pretty well, and is teaching us a lot we need to know as adjusters. We know a lot more about the tricks of the trade and construction techniques than before. I would highly recommend Wardlaw's training to anyone trying to break into this industry. Everyone at Wardlaw was very supportive and helpful. Good luck with your dream, and take any opportunity you can to learn more.