Maximizing Your Potential: the Benefits of Continuing Education in the Insurance Industry

You have a lot of things to do in the insurance industry. You help your clients navigate the waters and advise them of risk factors that they can encounter. Once you get your license, it’s a never-ending world of learning for you too. This is why you should google things like “insurance continuing education Utah” if you practice in that state, for example.

There are a lot of benefits of taking continuing education courses. Here are some of them:

You Will Learn More About the Industry

There are a lot of things that are constantly changing in the insurance industry. New policies are always coming out or current ones are being re-written, for example. There are new products released all the time, too.

You can also learn about things like how consumers view the current insurance market and if there are any products that you could tout to them to get their attention. Think of it as a great way to master your craft.

You Can Take Your Classes In A Variety Of Ways

In the past, you basically had one choice – to go to an in-person class. The only real variety was if you could do it after work or if you could give up a weekend day for a while. That’s no longer the case, thanks to technology.

You have the option of doing online classes. Some of them are pre-recorded so that you can go at your own pace, while others have a live component. Just find the ones that best fit both your schedule and your personality. You may also have the choice of attending a webinar.

The self-paced class requires you to be a self-directed person. That means that you have to get the motivation to sit down and work on the videos, otherwise you will not do well on any tests. Also, it can be hard to get some answers since there’s not really an instructor that you can reach out to if you are confused about any part of it.

The online one or in-person lets you get some interaction with others. You will be able to talk to classmates or you can ask the instructor questions.  While you may have to do some juggling with your schedule, it can be a much better thing for those who also like the social aspect of any continuing education.

Other Benefits

You can always get stronger in the basics of your business. Continuing education will help you solidify that initial base of knowledge. Although it’s a requirement, management will often also take note of your bettering yourself and you could possibly find yourself getting a promotion and salary boost down the road.

When you take these continuing education classes, especially the in-person ones, you could network with the other insurance professionals that are attending. As a result, you might find an opportunity to work with them down the road. Always keep your eyes and ears open.

Requirements

Each state usually has its own requirements when it comes to continuing education hours for people in the insurance industry. If you’re not sure about what you need for your state, then you can find the information online. That way, you can make sure to stay current with your license.

Most of the time, you only need to take a certain amount of hours no matter how many different licenses you have. For example, if you have two of them, you would only have to take 15 or so hours, not 30. That can save you from wasting any time that you don’t have to.

There are different types of insurance, with varying terms, and all of them require continuing education. They include:

• Health Insurance – You can learn about annuities, disability, health insurance policies, insurance ethics, long-term care, and social security. Your instructor may also cover other things like law-related things that pertain to both health insurance or insurance. Most of the time, just learning about one of the topics will satisfy your yearly requirement.
• Life Insurance – There are a variety of things that you can learn about. The topics include annuities, family insurance needs, group life insurance policies, insurance ethics, and traditional life insurance policies. You will usually just have to pick from one of these topics
• Property and Casualty Insurance – You can typically pick from one of these topics: Business insurance, car insurance, homeowner’s insurance, insurance ethics, liability, or other property and casualty insurance topics that you want to learn about.

As you spend more time in the insurance field, you will know what areas that you want to strengthen yourself in and then devote yourself to those topics year in and year out.  If you’ve found a niche in the industry that you’re passionate about, then continuing education can help you maximize that.

When you are finished with the continuing education classes, you will have to take an exam. The good news is that you can do that at home, which means you won’t have to travel to any testing center on a weekday or weekend. In most states, you will have to complete all of your classes and take the exam up to 30 days before your license expires.

You don’t want to become stagnant in your field – plus you need to do this each year so that you can keep your license.  It’s a great opportunity to always expand your knowledge base, which is something that your customers will also appreciate. Don’t think of it as being a class that you have to get out of the way. Think of it as an investment in yourself and your career.

It takes a lot of work and study to be able to get your insurance license in the first place. You want to do whatever you can to keep it. It’s worth that roughly 15 hours a year that you have to devote to learning what you have to stay current. Then you can focus on being the best insurance agent that you can be.

#sponsored post.