Any advice on how to get into this line of work? Pros & Cons welcome...

I have a background in commercial construction management, estimating, consulting, and I'm in the Austin area.

Learn Xactimate and get level 2 certification. The job market is flooded with newbies waiting for the next gold rush. Most firms want 2-3 years adjusting experience. You could start out as an adjuster assistant or in a call center learning the ins and outs of insurance.

Any chance I could pick your brain a bit about the career path? I'd really like to know more about the different types of adjusting and what the day to day is like when it's not "peak season" or the gold rush as you put it.


And if you know of anyone that might be interested in a free trainee, please let me know. I don't really care about being paid while learning.

Be glad to talk to you about it. You have to know and learn the ins and outs of Xactimate first. I have hired several knowledgeable contractors that had no problem with providing a scope of the damage, but when it came time to putting the damages into the estimating program they couldn't figure it out. Identifying damage is the easiest part of the job. Knowing how to present those damages in the insurance carrier approved format is where most people get lost. I have had retired contractors go out and inspect 20 claims during the week then try to sit down on the weekend and write up the estimate and reports. When they can't figure it out, most of the time they just leave in the middle of the night and you never hear from them again. That's why adjusters get bad raps.

I understand what you mean about the software. I plan to start my licensing class soon and will follow that up with the exactimate courses. I'd just like to know what the plan is after that before investing the time and $. Also, I'd like to make sure I have realistic expectations of what the industry is like outside of the "storm chasing".

Please let me know when you have some time to chat. I tried direct messaging you, but that didn't work, so you may need to temporarily post your contact info.