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edrowe330, reality is the point, I admit that I am one of those that repeatedly point out the extreme difficulty involved in being successful as a cat adjuster.
If you do not have a degree most likely you will never be a staff property adjuster, if you are lucky and highly experienced you might get on as a staff auto appraiser, but the odds are still bad.
You mention call centers, would you hire someone with "upper management experience" to answer the phone in your call center.
You talk about pay, that is the question that is on everybody's lips. I am sitting here looking at a contract, a paragraph says,"Payment for work performed will be made on a bi-monthly basis as payment is received from the client." Does that mean I am going to receive payment for claims handling, no it does not. What it means is that I get paid if the client gets paid and the vendor then pays me. Reality is that I might be owed thousands of dollars for work performed and monies expended and never get paid. Can you take that chance? Reality is that on the front end I have to have a computer, read 2,000 dollars worth of equipment and Xactimate 27 read 2,000 dollars before I can start a job that I may or may not get paid for.
By the way, I get paid for "cleaning up after boobs" so that is not the point. All of us, me included, just hate to see a guy like you jump in head first and drown.
Also, there is a hurricane forming in the Eastern Atlantic, so send your resume to all the vendors on this site.

edrowe330,

I commend you for being realistic. Chuck did a great (as usual) job on describing the cat world. Most staff jobs begin aroung 25-30k for a trainee adjusting slot with call centre jobs paying less. Call centre jobs and adjusting jobs can be found if you look on Indeed.com and enter insurance and the state you reside in. Crawford is a great place to learn as well as GAB and Cunningham/Lindsey. It is possible that you could get a supervisor job in a call center of a carrier if you have experience in call centers. Call center reps have it pretty tough as they catch the first blast from the world. Get out the applications to everyone and that means carriers, IA firms whoever.

Good luck

"I have a very very very strong back ground, in client relations, negotiations, problem solving,time management, and most areas of construction, leaning heavy to res construction. I am extremely detail oriented, and will do what it takes to succeed. I have for many years put in 12 to 16 hour days so, its just another thing to me. Ive worked with both micro and non management. I do have a good clear picture of whats about to happen..lol did some stuff for Ike, and have developed an extreme interest in this field, the more I look into it the more I want into it." - edrowe330

Seems you have zero experience as an adjuster? Realistically speaking, no one is going to hire you in the middle of a storm for a call center or elsewhere: because you have nothing to offer and there are (these days) thousands of folks in line ahead of you. If, by chance you get hired (now) in a storm situation to handle claims, I can guarantee that person or firm that hired you is not reputable. As for making $700/day in a call center, you admittedly know nothing about what is involved but are willing to start there; again, no reputable person is going to hire you based upon your claims adjusting experience (and FYI $700/day is a pretty good gig generally available only to available to well-qualified insurance claims professionals or, someone who knows someone that doesn't know anything about claims and is not reputable).

You indicate you have read through the various threads which have answered the same newbie question over and over 'how do I become a claims adjuster'. Among those threads are recommendations and reviews of reputable claims training centers (Vale Tech, for example). If you are serious about a claims career then do the necessary work, investigate reputable training, save up your money to attend (even if that means out-of-state); study hard, demonstrate your worth to a mentor, put in the years of work in preparation, pay your dues, keep learning always.

If you think you cannot afford to obtain the required training then make your money elsewhere and save until you can. As it stands at this moment, you are unemployable in a (reputable) claims environment. However, if you manage to get hired (in a claims environment) without the necessary preparation, you should expect to be out-of-pocket many times over what you would have spent for the cost of reputable training.

I will end with this one question to you: What kind of claims person do you want to be; a reputable one or something less? Your answer to that question will dictate what you do from here on out. I will give you two hints - the answer is simple and no, there are not any shortcuts.

Ed,
these folks are really trying to let you know just how it is in the adjusting field. Everything they have told you is the very truth. When you have been in this business
10 years or more you will see so many new guys show up at 1 storm and never see them again.
We were all new once and there are no short cuts to success in this business.
I am amused when I hear ,to be a staff adjuster you have to have a degree. You won't find anyone with a degree that know how to be a successful adjuster just starting out.. The time spent learning this position is immeasurable compared to four years of a college setting.
As for signing on for a 6 month contract,Adjusting is different. You get deployed and stay at an event until you are finished with all the claims they will assign you.
Then go home if there is no more work and wait to be called for the next event. nobody can give you an exact amount of the pay you will earn as everyone works different and some make more or less than the next adjuster. events are never exactly the same as far as pay. It is a negotiated item betweem the carrier and vendor.
hope this helps just remember these ol' timers didn't even have to reply to your questions but instead they told you how it really is!

It,s marketing in this biz. A new person has a IA that will hire him if he rides with someone for two weeks to train him. This person who wants to learn the nuts & bolts, should pay the person who field trained him for two weeks some % of his income on the first 100 files he closes, when he trainee is making $ instead of costing the trainer time.

I said on another forum and got laughed at, but I will ride with any newbie if the money is right, a daily rate and the Conus per Diem rate for the area. Your claims, your equipment, your gas and your vehicle.

After a year of me riding with you and coaching you 18 hours a day, 6 days a week for a year you will be ready.

My guarantee is that you will learn something.

I use my own safety equipment. I don't smoke and I don't drink beer or the hard stuff.

I will need to be paid in cash in advance.

Chuck, I admire this whole turn-it-on-it's-ear concept of training. If the new folks don't want to pay their dues in a legitimate fashion, make 'em pay in another way. Which, of course, will always be the more expensive way! I am particularly proud of your Cash Up Front business model.

Will there be any kind of Certificate awarded at the formal graduation ceremonies at the local Appleby's? Will you take your turn at the Kareoke microphone that night? If you need a teaching assistant, I'll be glad to ride along in the back seat.

Ol' Ghost

Hey, Ghost, you and I both know that with two long time successful, adjusters coaching a focused, attentive student, that student is going to have a damn good chance of being successful over the long haul. And, actually, over the long haul the price would be reasonable compared to the $600T somebody said they made handling Katrina claims.

No need for a certificate. No Appleby's I will just cook a scratch banana puddn'.

My other idea is a bi-weekly conference call. You pay me a fee, get Skype and on a regular basis we conference claims advice. Once I have about a hundred enrolled my price will be affordable. Should you want to try this my Skype name is Dolittle52.

Now we will see who will really want to learn.

I though the name of the game was earn not learn, knowledge can get in the way of churning and burning files. Damn the endorsments and full speed ahead!

Chuck, that was me that said I made $ 600,000 on Katrina, and that is no lie. Actually is well over that, but like most people have a hard time believing me. You can make as much as you want as long as you work your ass off.. It was spread across 5 different vendors over 9 months. Those days are long gone when you can juggle multiple vendors, but then again, it might possible again if there is mutiple US landfalls this year.

Remember..you get what you put in it.

BTW, that was working as a I/A too, not as P/A.

Good luck everyone, its gonna start soon !