“Welcome to the profession no one planned to join,” a member ofour senior management once greeted a new adjuster trainee class.Many claim personnel do enter our field without a conscious plan tomake adjusting their careers. Once employed, however, a decisionmust be made as to which course to follow: a rewarding career or anacceptable job.

Insurers and independent adjusting firms normally use one of twopaths (perhaps both) to provide new claim personnel with the basicknowledge and skills required for entry-level positions, on-the-jobtraining or a company sponsored basic course, after which theyusually settle into handling property, liability, or workers'compensation claims under the watchful eyes of supervisors.

At this point, unfortunately for some of these recruits, thecompany-sponsored training path ends. From here, the drive or pushneeded to move from entry-level knowledge and skills to the higherlevels of professional expertise will need to come from within theindividual.