American Agent & Broker seems to have inadvertentlystirred up a hornets' nest with our January story on salestraining programs (“Trainyour producer,” Jan. 2011 AA&B).

First, a clarification: in focusing on the two schools inthe article (The NationalAlliance and The Hartford School of Insurance), in no way did I mean toslight the AICPCU orotherwise infer that the CPCU designation was nota worthy goal for any insurance professional to achieve.

But while failing to point out the value of the CPCU designationmay have had the negative effect of making me look foolish, it alsoignited an interesting discussion of just how qualified abare-bones-licensed insurance producer should be.

Insurance education icon Bill Wilson was niceenough to weigh in with an article last week (“40hours and I'm an insurance agent!”) that pointed up theabsurdity of manicurists,hairdressers and other people whose services wemight take for granted having far more stringent licensingrequirements than insurance agents.

In Illinois, for example, a resident licensed producer must have 20 hours of educationper line of authority, part of which must be completed in aclassroom setting, before taking the exam. Compare that withIllinois licensed plumbers,who are only eligible to take the state exam after completing a48- to 72-month apprentice program. Louisianarequires fledgling plumbers to have at least 5 yearsor 8,000 hours of work experience before he or she caneven take the journeyman exam.

The subject begged the question of what other professions havemore training than an insurance agent. (And there must be somethingin the zeitgeist, as the Wall Street Journal did an article on the subject justthis week.)

Turns out there are many, including:

Massage therapists: Variesby state, but most require between 300 and 650 hoursof professional training; some also require several years ofprofessional experience as well as continuing education.

Florists: Not all states require licensure, butsome, including Louisiana, must pass a test to be licensed.(The Louisiana law is currentlybeing litigated.)

Cosmetologists: In Texas and Tennessee, acosmetologist needs 1,500 hours to qualify for a license and 6hours continuing education every 2 years.

Manicurists: In some states, 600 hours oftraining are a prerequisite to licensing. Other states, includingTennessee, require at least 1,500 hours of training at a certifiedbeauty school.

Pet groomers: Although no vocationallicensing exists, most groomers participate in a year-longapprenticeship under an experienced groomer, and there are 50state-approved dog grooming schools offering programs that lastfrom 2 weeks to several months.

You can make the case that some of these careers requirestringent training because the practitioners are in intimatephysical contact with the client. But it seems to me there's darnlittle more intimate than a professional charged withprotecting a person's most valuable assets.

So what do you think? Are licensing requirements for massagetherapists and plumbers too stringent? Or are agent licensingrequirements too slack?