WHY…BE AN ADJUSTER?
As I await information I need to close a file, my mind drifts and I wonder. How have I ever lasted 33 years (and counting…) in the claims adjusting business? Because I really, really enjoy it. Kind of hard to believe because my first goal was to teach and coach; however in August of 1980, if you were not STEM trained, it was difficult to find a teaching job. After a short stint at Chrysler Corporation (in the Human Resources Department that was partially C.E.T.A – a Federal Government Program – funded), a great friend and mentor called and asked if I wanted to interview for an insurance adjusting job. After much prodding, I relented and agreed. I accepted the job, primarily because 30 days training was in Pasadena, California; my brother Fred lives in Santa Barbara; I wanted to see Hollywood and the Pacific Ocean! The rest is history.
I grew slowly, consistently, over many, many years to love the business. Why? Being an adjuster, particularly if you choose to be a “field” adjuster, allows you to balance your time between office and out of the office working with and meeting people, traveling to body shops, homes and buildings for inspections; to hospitals to visit insureds or claimants; to police departments to interview investigators or to legal offices to meet with lawyers. It allows you to utilize all of your skills. You have to be able to speak clearly, write clearly and use the tools that you are provided; cell phones, laptops, estimating software and all of the available technological equipment that allow you to prepare reports, spreadsheets, photos, etc. I-Pads, Surface Books, Apples, ‘Droids, e-mail and texting allow you to “speak” to your boss, get your new claims, do your reports (not much need for any administrative assistance!) and smooth from claim to claim, electronically and “seamlessly.” Being an adjuster means you get to work out of your home. Today the large percentage of field adjusting jobs are virtual due to technology
The most important reason to be an adjuster? For all of you millennials who were taught in high school or college to “make a difference” and for me the Number 1 reason I love this job is —- When everyone works together, (meaning the insurance agent, insured or claimant, you the adjuster and all of the vendors associated with a claim), a bad, sometimes catastrophic or tragic property or casualty event is turned into a comforting process that assists people with putting their lives back together.
***Our logo below was created with all of the above in mind and led to our mission: Syn E3 rgy = “working together to produce a mutually beneficial and successful result.”***
