Have you ever thought about what it takes to be an insurance agent? Let me tell you, it’s not easy stuff. Not only are there many terms and formulas to remember, but there are also a plethora of insurance laws that are created to protect YOU! And as any good agent will tell you, protecting the consumer is always a priority so becoming familiar with these laws is a necessity.
The process to become an agent seems simple at first: do some studying, take a test, and boom—you’re an agent. But as with anything, especially with anything state regulated, there are a lot more steps than meet the eye.
First of all, you need to register to take the test. BUT before you take the test, you need to have a certain amount of hours of education completed. This can either be done through a certified school (such as West Bend Mutual Insurance Company’s class) or through self-study either online or with certified materials.
Before an aspiring agent takes the test, he or she also needs to get their fingerprints scanned in order for the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance to do a background check. You wouldn’t want criminals running around selling you insurance, would you? This is done to ensure that your insurance agent is a trustworthy individual.
After classes, studying, fingerprint tests, and stressing out are completed, it’s time to take the test! Insurance agent candidates gear up to answer over 150 insurance-related questions in a time span of about 4 hours. Then it’s time to anxiously await the results and pray that you don’t have to take the test again.
Having gone through this process these past few weeks, I can tell you that it’s like having a semester’s worth of material crammed into your brain over the course of a week. Luckily I was able to start studying earlier and had some experience from working at Community Insurance since the beginning of summer. The test itself was very difficult, but that’s a good thing; if it was easy, anyone could sell you insurance!
I am happy and proud to report that I passed the test and now just need to apply for my license. My brain feels broken after all the studying and caffeine I consumed last week, but I am excited to use the material I learned in future blog posts and for helping customers like you!
More information about insurance licensing can be found at the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance’s Web site.
-Sam