Working at an insurance company or agency is a great career option with both immediate benefits and a lot of long-term opportunities. The simplest and quickest way to enter the industry in Florida is to obtain your 4-40 Customer Representative License. In this article, we’ll look at the top 5 reasons you should consider getting your 4-40 insurance license and joining one of the country’s most reliable labor markets.
1. Low Cost + Few Barriers to Entry
Unlike many jobs today, a college diploma isn’t required to join the insurance industry. To work in almost any insurance office in Florida, you simply need a 4-40 Customer Representative license.
Getting the Florida 4-40 license is relatively simple, quick, and can be done in just a few weeks. With an investment of just a few hundred dollars, you can get your license online and be ready to work at an insurance agency or carrier. Compare that to the thousands of dollars you’d have to spend to get a college degree or even a degree from a trade school.
2. Work in a Recession-Proof Industry
Over the past few years, we’ve seen how quickly companies and industries can be turned on their heads. Global health issues, changes in regulations and political leadership, and even the weather can alter job availability and corporate profitability.
While no industry is truly recession-proof, one of the few industries able to successfully weather the ups and downs is insurance.
We insure almost everything today. Demand for insurance and insurance claims don’t stop for the aforementioned reasons. People will still need insurance, file insurance claims, and require assistance for both regardless of any economic changes or downturns. Holding a 4-40 license gives you access to jobs in one of the most steady and reliable job markets in today’s economy.
3. Wide Variety of Job Options
Getting your 4-40 license is the quickest and easiest way to break into the Florida insurance industry. But once there, the opportunities are endless!
Insurance companies offer jobs and positions in a wide variety of fields. No matter where your skills or passions lie, there is something for everyone. Many new insurance employees spend time learning the industry and then pursue an area they enjoy such as:
- Finance
- Customer Service
- Claims Adjuster
- Data analytics – an important piece of insurance
- Human resources
- Technology – another growing area
- Marketing
- Sales / Insurance Agent
4. Career Advancement Opportunities
Once you are in the industry, the opportunities for advancement are as wide open as the types of jobs available. Insurance companies prefer to promote from within their own ranks so, for example, when a carrier is looking to hire a supervisor, they will often search within the company first.
Many companies also offer training to help advance your skills and knowledge, hoping you’ll continue to have a long and successful career with them. Some larger companies even offer programs that help employees pursue a college degree part-time while working, so they may increase their chances of advancing higher within the company. Some employers may even offer to pay full or partial tuition for their employees.
5. Transferable Skills & Jobs
Holding a 4-40 license and working in an insurance office gives you the opportunity to learn useful and helpful skills that will transfer to a host of other jobs and industries.
- Customer service skills
- Effective communication
- Understanding and explaining complicated concepts and/or contracts
- Multi-tasking
- Problem-solving
In addition to transferable skills, the sheer size of the industry means that there are insurance jobs in almost every city and state across the country.
That means that the experience and knowledge you gain from holding a 4-40 license and working in insurance can help you go wherever you want, or need, to go. From the biggest cities to small towns, from beach-fronts to mountain ski resorts, insurance jobs are available.
BONUS
One of the most popular reasons to get your Florida 4-40 license is how easily it allows you to transition to a fully-licensed 2-20 insurance agent.
The standard process to get your Florida 2-20 license is arduous to say the least. The pre-education takes over 200 hours, and many companies only make the courses available for a limited amount of time. Successfully completing a 200-hour course in 60 days is almost a full-time job.
But once you have a 4-40 license and have worked in insurance for one year, you can take a much shorter course, such as the All-Lines 2-20 Conversion Course, and get your insurance producer license in 40 hours. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll be able to work, earn money, and gain experience for your future career while you earn your 2-20 license.
