by turbocalibur » Tue Jan 26, 2010 07:43 am
I have been unemployed for 6 months. All I have is a completed certification of completing the auto mechanic and auto body courses at my community college. I have no job experience whatsoever.
Are my chances of being an auto adjuster slim to none if I don't carry a bachelor degree? Are there really many laid off auto adjusters that I may be competing with right now in this economy?
Are my chances of being an auto adjuster slim to none if I don't carry a bachelor degree? Are there really many laid off auto adjusters that I may be competing with right now in this economy?
Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 02:15 pm Post Subject:
To be honest, the majority of the major auto insurance companies require some form of a degree to be considered. They will qualify someone who has experiance only, but in most cases they are not at the top of the list. From the information that I have gathered over the years from employees/ former employees of a few companies, is that a likely canidate that has little to no experiance is a better choice since the company feels training comes easier for an inexperianced person with an educational background, rather than someone with no educational back ground and some knowlegde. Much of this doesn't make sense to me either, but from what I have been told-the success rate with these individuals is high. I have a good friend of mine who is a senior staff appraiser with a major company for at least 8 or 9 years. He does not have a degree, but he has years of experiance. He even trains new appraisers. He has tried to apply to other companies without much success because of having no degree. I am not saying you can't get a job as an appraiser without one, but it seems it's very difficult these days. My advice would be to keep applying and possibly look for an independent adjusting firm. Many times these companies are looking for good people regardless of experiance. Good luck.
Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 04:53 pm Post Subject:
The only company I know of that _requires_ a 4 year degree is Farmers. This is for their liability adjusters only (stupidest thing I've ever heard). I don't know of any others that require it but it would not hurt.
Auto adjusters for most companies don't inspect vehicles, they adjust claims. Most work from a central office. In these cases carriers also have appraisers who only inspect the vehicles and don't adjust the claims. Some carriers have their adjusters handle the claim and inspect the damage to the vehicle. These usually require some type of experience but not all.
If you are brought on as a trainee (no experience), don't expect to be making a lot of money starting out.
Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:22 pm Post Subject:
The company's I'm aware of require a four yr degree without any experience, and really you don't have any experience.
I personally do not have a four year degree, but I do have 23 years experience, so that translates to a degree, i guess.
You might also see about working at a shop, as an estimator, (in training)...There is NO substitute for experience.
Good luck to you.
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 01:03 pm Post Subject: Claim adjuster
Yes, most of the insurance companies require its adjuster to have a bachelor's degree or have an experience of 3 - 5 years in the auto insurance industry. If you do not have a degree yet want to join this industry, you can check out for entry level positions like claim processor which requires you to do jobs like ordering police reports and sending out correspondence mails. Once you gain experience you can apply for the post of a claim adjuster.
Add your comment