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What kind of claims, Multiline, hail, wind, flood, mold, same carrier, different carriers, cat claims, daily claims, 4 months or two years of two months experience.

Chuck, in this case say I only worked hail claims for two months in 2009 for West Texas Insurance and hail claims for two months for the same insurer in 2010, can I now put on my resume that I have 2 years of experience working hail claims or should it be listed as 4 months. Or does it even matter?

Let me preface remarks by saying, I don't know. The river is deep, dark and wide.

I do know what I do and what has worked for me thru lots of years. My resume lists, in chronological order, with start and finish dates, companies and a description of work accomplished. After 35yrs the job list is substantial.

My opinion is that anybody with 4 months experience as a residential roof jumper handling hail is experienced. 4 months should equate to several hundred residential hail claims and enough experience to see most of the variations. And with little or moderate difficulties encountered, an inexperienced person needs guidance, I would think that 4 months experience qualifys the applicant as "experienced" as experience relates to residential hail roof claims.

Listing, as I do on my own resume, jobs in chronological order shows honesty and allows the employer to assess, for themselves, whether the applicant meets their need for the job at hand.

Your specific question has to do with 4 months experience vs. 2 years experience and which should be listed on a resume. Directly my opinion is that 4 months should be listed. In my experience, as relates to jobs, absolute honesty is not only the best policy absolute honesty is de rigor. If it is stated on my resume you can book it and take it to the bank. If anything I consistently underestimate my lever of experience. Confidence is the only thing that leads anyone to hire another for a difficult assignment.

Four months or two years? It depends on what you did with the down time. Did you spend it getting more training, working on a business plan, getting up each morning and getting on the internet and the phone trying to line up the next job? Or did you do other work or just take life easy? There is, as anyone in the business long term knows, more to being a catadjuster than the actual adjusting of claims. If you were employed by a carrier on staff they would count education and training and the time you spent on the phone unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a settlement as work time. We should too. When I was independent, this was a full time (x 2) job whether I was deployed or not.

Put 5 years experience. No one checks anyway.

What down time? I am working Katrina claims and Ike claims are looming, the oil spill is providing work and then we have a big one coming off of Africa. A flood in Iowa and a flood in Tennessee and North Alabama. Trying to learn how to measure the dome on the Super Dome is taking up time.