First I would like to say Hello, and say thank you for taking the time to read this. Let me give you a little history about me. Straight out of High School I joined the fire department and became a firefighter. A few years into that I became an EMT, then a medic. I spent 15 years in Emergency Services and it took a toll on my body. Tore up my knees and my back really bad. I've had a rough few years getting my body back together. In that time I have done work managing food service, and even became an Insurance Agent. I spent 2 years selling Insurance, and do not wish to go back to that any time soon, also it barely keeps the lights on.
Here is my situation, I've been an agent for a couple years working for an independent agent. I do not enjoy selling P&C/Life/or Health however I do like working in the field, and I have very intimate knowledge of the inner workings of insurance policies. I live in GA, I've already passed the P&C test to become an adjuster, I've already applied for my adjusters license. I've applied to every field adjuster position I can find in GA, State Farm, Progressive, Nationwide, Farmers, Geico. I have not heard back from Geico, or Farmers yet, but the others have turned me down for not having any experience. Now the consensus on the forums is to do staff work first in order to to learn the how to of the business then progress into CAT work. However Worley has expressed interest, and a few other big independent agencies. Now I know being part of the pool of adjusters doesn't guarantee a deployment or assignments or even successful completion of assignments once deployed. BUT if they're the only one willing to give newbies a chance what other options are there?
So in order to prepare I have decided to get the Xactware training on their product and get at least Xactimate level 1 certified so I can at least be proficient with the software. Now this is all good and well, but I have so many questions regarding software. Do I need to fork out a few hundred dollars up front on Xactimate before I get deployed, or when/if I get deployed. Or will the agency I'm working for provide me with the software?
Is there a good way to get your foot in the door and become a staff adjuster? Am I better off just taking all the training I can from one of the big independent firms and just jump into the deep end? Of course I know that isn't the best situation possible, but it seems like that is the situation that is going to present itself here in the near future.
As far as income goes, I'm not hoping to get rich, I truly want to make a career out of this. All I'm trying to do is make more than $35,000 a year, from everything I read that is a very easy figure to reach doing any kind of adjusting. I understand that CAT adjusting is a hit or miss business, literally, and strong budgeting skills will paramount to survive. Also I'm working a temp job between now and my first assignment, so I don't go hungry waiting for the next big one.
Like most people that have said "I want to be an adjuster, now what do I do?" I truly don't know what the best steps are to take, or if the best steps are going to even be an option. So I'll see if I can bullet point the most important questions I have and we can work from there.
1. If I end up getting a CAT placement job before I get a staff adjuster job, what is the best way to get prepared?
2. In the big 4 independent agencies, what is the way adjusters get paid? Is it per claim, a percentage, or per day rate? I've seen articles saying all 3 are options. How fast do you get paid? *trying to figure out how much $$ will be needed to get through the first deployment*
3. What OTHER things should be brought with you on assignment. I've read most of all of the other help me posts and found some good stuff. Obviously clothing tools, etc are covered ad-nauseam. However one thread someone mentioned a George Foreman grill to cook in your hotel cheaper and healthier than eating out. That was a brilliant suggestion I can say I would not have thought of before heading out. So other than the standard gear what other items do you suggest packing along?
4. Realistically what should be expected on a first assignment? How many claims are normally given out, how many are you expected to do a day? How many can you realistically do in a day being new?
5. If you went back to the beginning knowing what you know now, are they any companies you would avoid, and are there any companies you wished you worked for sooner?
Thank you for your input.