r/InsuranceProfessional

I'm a career switcher bailing from the clinical research industry, I was previously a statistical programmer. I'm having trouble getting any interviews, so I'm trying to figure out if it's a problem with my resume or just the job market.

I welcome any advice or insight.

Hey everyone,

I’m a young underwriter early in my career and could really use some perspective.

Lately I’ve been dealing with a few brokers who have 15+ years in the industry, and the interactions have been… tough. They can be pretty abrasive, impatient, and at times outright dismissive. A couple have tried to go over my head (which hasn’t really worked since my managers are supportive), but there’s definitely a pattern of them pushing hard and testing boundaries.

I’ve earned a lot of trust from management in my work and have been given more authority than most at my level, which helps me stay confident in my decisions. That said, it often feels like some brokers still prefer to work with someone more senior or with a bigger title, regardless of the quality of the work.

For those who’ve been through this:

How did you handle experienced brokers who tried to bulldoze you?

Where do you draw the line between being collaborative vs standing firm?

I don’t know why this happens but I always seem to get multiple interviews and offers at the exact same time, and now I'm stuck.

For context, I have about 3 years of solid experience in personal lines at an insurer as a direct agent, plus some high net worth, governance and controls, and risk event experience.

2 years ago I moved to a different city for my wife’s new job. The market here is super limited, there’s basically only one main insurer and two mutuals in the entire province. I’m currently at a brokerage doing a mix of product, underwriting, and sales. I’m good at multitasking, but wearing so many hats leaves me unfocused and doing way too many different things, I get zoned out.

I’ve been applying to that one main insurer for the last two years with zero response. Finally, things moved and they proactively reached out, but now I have two very different options in front of me:

Offer 1: Underwriting Assistant at the main insurer (Local)

They finally offered me a spot, but it's a UA role. The salary is $20k less than what I make right now, and I am definitely overqualified. The only reason I'm considering it is because senior roles here are always hired internally. I feel like if I just get in, I'll have great opportunities to move up within 3 years.

Offer 2: Product role at a small mutual (Remote)

This is the only remote position I’ve seen so far. The pay matches what I make now, so no pay cut. The huge red flag is that this company has been having management issues (3 ceos in 5 years) and bleeding losses for the last 3 years.

I’m honestly leaning toward taking the UA role. It sucks to take a $20k pay cut and do a job I'm overqualified for, but getting into the only major player in my area feels like the smarter long-term move.

Am I totally wrong for wanting to take the UA role? Has anyone else taken a step back and a pay cut just to get inside a specific company?

I currently work at middle market for medium carrier doing UA job. I got an offer for the UW job at a smaller carrier. The pay bump is not much. About $7k increase. Both jobs are remote. I would say similar benefits. My only reason that I have been applying for jobs is to become an UW, which I think would help my resume more. I can't move up at my job at the moment because there is no role available. The new job is more commercial insurance but probably for smaller insureds. Please let me know your opinions

Just took my course and passed the P&C exam recently with no background in insurance and am beginning to prepare for the job search. I’m planning to work on my LinkedIn profile this week as it seems to yield more results and opportunities than Indeed/job search websites do.

Wanted to see if anyone has tips for how to make a Linked In profile appealing when you don’t have experience in the field (I’ve spend most of my adulthood in machining/ aerospace technician trades). Before getting licensed I was casually applying but it seemed a lot of places using AI would

kick my application out just based off qualifications alone.

For reference I’m a 33 y/o male in Indianapolis looking for ideally a commercial underwriting assistant role, but am open to whatever gets my foot in the door! I’m confident in my personality and interviewing skills but feel like I need to position myself better so my resume even gets considered.

Any help is appreciated!

3 Weeks ago from today, I had my final round interview for a Small Business Underwriter Trainee position that starts in May. I drove 2.5 hours from my university for the interview. I thought the interview went really well and they are hiring 10 candidates for the position. They said they would try their best to let me know their answer within a week. Two weeks after my interview (last Monday), I wrote a follow-up email seeing if there was any update on the hiring process and they still have not responded.

I get things get busy but why couldn't they at least respond to my follow-up? Is this a bad sign for me? They even knew I was coming 2.5 hours from my school to interview and I feel like not to even respond to my follow-up is a bit rude.

If you had to pick one product line to stick with for the next 5-10 years what’s more advantageous? I currently have two offers to be an UW trainee in these lines. The market is soft for both currently, but certainly won’t be forever. Cyber seems to have more opportunity for growth/upward mobility than D&O which is more niche.

If I can’t go wrong with either, that’d be good to know as well! Looking to specialize in one of the two down the road. The cyber UW role is cyber only so no Tech/E&O with that one.

Any insight is appreciated! Starting with no insurance experience. Mainly worried about having to do math/financial stuff. How difficult is the job to pick up and what do you find most challenging? I like investigative research and finding problems so wanted to explore this career path.

Midwest LCOL. I have offers for both companies and I’m considering leaving my current role because I feel like the new business goals are insane! I want work life balance and I don’t want to worry about my work “when I close my laptop” for the weekend. Any insight is helpful

Hey All,

I fished my AFSB designation today and I was just curious as to when I should get my certification of completion in email form. I got the certificate saying I completed the CPCU 540, but nothing yet saying I’ve completed the AFSB designation. If anyone has been through this, lmk and thanks!

Could you tell me if in your company you use:

1. Some sort of decision engine

2. Developers code it all

3. Something else?

The reason I'm asking is because I'm interested how insurance underwriting is being done at scale... In my experience it's a decision engine...

Follow up is in a perfect world (lol), what would you like to see?

I’m 14/18 months into my trainee program and I tried to enjoy it and make it work, but I know this career isn’t for me which sucks because I genuinely like my team and manager which is why I don’t know what’s the best way to resign.

Do I put in my 2 weeks? I don’t have a book of business so would it be fine to resign the day of?

I know my manager will be very surprised and blindsided so I don’t know the best way about this. This is also my very first job out of college.

I feel terrible because they think I’m enjoying this job and I think my manager thinks I am farther along than I actually am because I still don’t understand much.

Even when brokers email me questions I don’t even know how to respond so my manager usually jumps in for me. And I feel like I’d want to pursue operations or a back office job since this one is very market facing and requires lots of travel and schmoozing.

Im currently an UW in group insurance but the challenge just isnt there where im at. E&S or even re-insurance sound like challenges id like to take on. The issue for me is that im at the midpoint of my working career, not necessarily in insurance, and ive had quite a bit of of instability due to layoffs and just not knowing what to do. Since getting into insurance underwriting ive found that im good at it and enjoyed it at a prior carrier. The problem was the pay at the old carrier and the new carrier work is just so meh. So, as ive treated thru this sub I wanted to see what I could focus on to pivot out of where im at.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

I have an interview this week for a risk management position at a fine arts company (yay!) and I am wondering how it differs from insuring small businesses? For context I have been at an agency for several years and primarily work on commercial property, BOP, work comp, etc.

I love art and this line of business is going to be new to me so I would love to hear about peoples experiences and if they like it or have any advice!

Hey guys,

I am from Canada making 60k as a commercial broker writing new business, account management, and renewals. I am not getting commission on my new accounts making me not pursue them as I would.

Is it normal to not get commission when writing new business? I feel like I am going to have to find a new job that does because I am not meeting my salary goals or reaching my potential.

Tips are appreciated.

I’m still pretty new to commercial insurance brokerage, so maybe this is a dumb question.

But how normal is it that after a first call with a client, you realize later that some important details are still missing and now you have to go back, ask more questions, and delay the quote / submission process?

Is that just how this business works, or is it one of those problems everyone quietly hates but deals with anyway?

A broker gets on a call with hr
HR says employees are confused during enrollment, the current setup creates too many questions, leadership is frustrated with rising costs, and the current broker is not proactive enough

So there is clearly a real problem

But after the call, the follow up often turns into plan options, pricing, and a generic recap

The deeper issue gets blurred

The broker heard it
The client said it
But somehow it still does not carry cleanly into the next step

Feels like the hardest part is not getting the meeting
It is making sure the actual pain survives the meeting

Is that a real problem in this space, or not?

Hi Everyone,

I’m hoping to get some insight into the Cyber Insurance job market. I recently left WTW to become a stay at home mom however it has definitely not been what I thought it would be. I am absolutely dying to get back to work just for my sanity.

I don’t see many open roles on LinkedIn and a lot of my connections just recently hopped jobs to other brokerages or carriers. I’m not even sure how to connect with my network anymore since I haven’t worked since May 2025.

I know the job market is so tough right now and I don’t even really see many postings to apply for. I think I’m over qualified for account executive rolls since I’ve specialized in E&O and Cyber for the past 6 years.

Im not sure what I’m looking for here - maybe some solidarity idk. I feel so much regret for quitting my job but at the same time working at WTW was so emotionally exhausting.

I currently work in the large commercial casualty space and don’t have a much experience in loss sensitive underwriting. Any recommendations on materials or training that you’ve received would be greatly appreciated! I write GL, WC, & Auto in both GC & LS so I’m hoping to improve in both.

Thanks!