What’s Wrong With Being An Insurance Agent?

Talk about a profession that has received a raw deal.  Insurance agent has been on the butt end of more jokes than it has been on job applications.  Remember the scene in Groundhog’s Day?  “Watch that first step! It’s a doooozy!” 

I am currently recruiting Benefit Representatives for one of the world’s largest and most respected supplemental insurance companies, and I cannot find people to fill the positions!  I talk to people all day long who respond to our job postings on the Internet.  After a short phone interview, half of them say, “Eh…I don’t really want to sell insurance.”  First off, I want to ask, “Well, why did you respond to the ad then?”  But what I really want to ask is, “What’s wrong with being an insurance agent?”  This is one of America’s most important professions, but often disregarded.

This will not be a popular statement amongst my law enforcement friends, so I will preface it by saying that I have more respect for police officers, firemen and EMT’s than any other occupations.  With that being said, I receive more protection from my insurance agent than I do from my local police department.  And guess what?  So do you!

Think about it.  If someone breaks into your house and steals all of your jewelry, it is very unlikely that the police will recover and return the property.  Your insurance claim, however, is likely to pay off.  If you are attacked on the street and unable to work, the police might find and arrest your assailant, but there is no guarantee.  If you have been paying your disability premiums, there’s a guarantee that you will not have to go without income while you are out of work.

Seriously, it’s not only time to pay a little more respect to our insurance agents, financial advisors, benefit reps, etc., but it is also time to start rethinking career choices.  This is a respectable and profitable position.  So many people pass on the opportunity.  Meanwhile, I am surrounded daily by blissful human beings working at the supplemental insurance office.  Happy to be working a flexible schedule…thrilled to be making a ton of cash!  Perhaps someone should create a TV show about insurance reps.  Then maybe more of our young people will want to get into this business instead of overpaying for criminal justice degrees with the hope of becoming private investigators.