Step 1. Go back to your last employer and beg for your job back. No, seriously!
Approximately 7% of people entering the Insurance adjusting field will actually make it to a long-lasting career. The other 93% quickly realize that it takes a lot of insurance adjuster education, patience, determination, and will to be successful and quickly return to another profession that isn’t as demanding.
Step 2. So, you couldn’t get your job back and are refusing to listen to sound advice, proceed to step 3, but don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Step 3. Get your insurance adjuster license.
There are many ways to go about getting your license. We went through AdjusterPro for ours and it gave us plenty of resources and training that helped us pass the in-person test on the first go round.
Step 4. Get an insurance adjuster education.
Most people coming into this field have a gold rush mentality. If you get your license and a ladder you think you are about to go out and make sacks full of money. The harsh reality is, that without knowing how to scope and write a claim, all you will ever have is a license and a ladder. Education can come from someone you know that is an adjuster and willing to teach you, or in the form of a formal education. See the Education tab if you do not know any adjusters.
WARNING: Do not take any training advice from an adjuster that is also trying to sell you their Cougar Paws, Goat and ladder. Trust us on this one.
Step 5. Purchase basic adjuster equipment.
In order to be a successful adjuster, you will need a few things. There is a ton of cool “guy” equipment out there that is awesome, but you will only need a few things to get started. The essential basic equipment we recommend for adjusting is a laptop, shingle gauge, pitch gauge and ladder. See our equipment list for some of the basics we use.
Step 6. Seek out and apply to Independent Adjuster (IA) firms.
This part will not only be frustrating, but downright depressing. The biggest challenge is that you have no experience. We see a lot of brand-new adjusters on social media complaining about the fact that no one will hire them because they do not have any experience. New adjusters are asking how are they supposed to get experience if no one will hire them? See Step 4, it is crucial. Most of the formal adjuster schools have partnerships with IA firms and assist in getting you employment after you graduate their training. If you had success finding a mentor, then your mentor should be able to point you in the right direction of IA firms. Either way, patience is a must for this step, some people wait years before they actually hear from an IA firm, let alone get claims.
Step 7. Take any work that anyone offers you.
We see new adjusters make it through all of these steps, get some claims, and then complain about everything under the sun. You are literally the bottom rung of the new ladder you just bought. It takes time to establish yourself in this industry and you must never quit chasing knowledge and experience. When we first started, we called and emailed multiple IA firms, asking every couple of days if they had any claims. One day we were told by one IA firm that they had 3 claims they could possibly give us. The condition was that we stop calling them every day, but the claims were 4 ½ hours away. We jumped on this opportunity, even though in the end we probably came out of pocket. It didn’t matter to us though, we gained experience and knowledge. This particular IA firm realized that we were serious about making insurance adjusting a career. We still do work for that IA to this day.
Step 8. Never stop learning your craft or growing as an adjuster.
We see plenty of adjusters that stop continuing to grow and adapt at insurance adjusting. This industry is continually changing, from the way inspections are being completed, technology upgrades to fee schedules. If you are not willing to change with the industry (See Step 1), at some point you will be left behind.