The months following graduation are some of the most exciting of your life, and the perfect opportunity to explore your employment options.
Maybe you’re unsure of what company you’d like to work for or which industry you’d like to start your career.
When you imagine what your first job out of college will be, selling insurance may not be an obvious choice. But there are many reasons to consider becoming an insurance agent!
Insurance Agents Are Needed
Careers as an insurance agent are growing, on average, faster than careers in most other industries. Employment in this sector is expected to grow four percent through 2034. The median annual income for insurance agents is $60,370, with the highest earners making upwards of $135,660.
While agents can be “captive” to one carrier, independent insurance agents who sell a variety of products from many carriers have a truly unlimited earning potential, with no pre-determined salary or commissions limitations!
The median annual income for insurance agents is $60,370, with the highest earners marking upwards of $135,660.
Valuable Skills
Any college major, especially those with business, marketing, finance, or similar concentrations, will prepare you with transferable skills that are beneficial for insurance sales. Such skills include:
- Understanding basic marketing principles and trends
- Financial knowledge
- Customer service skills
- Generally being business-oriented
Anyone who is motivated, responsible, and charismatic can become an agent. So, if you consider yourself to be sociable, entrepreneurial, and with a desire to have a positive impact on your community, insurance sales could be the career for you!
Any college major will prepare you with transferable skills that are beneficial for insurance sales.
The Appeal of Independence
Perhaps you’ve always found the idea of owning your own business and operating on your own schedule to be appealing, but you aren’t quite ready to take a big risk right after graduation.
Selling insurance products as a licensed agent can provide you with all the perks of being an entrepreneur, but with products that have years of demonstrated revenue growth and stability!
Best of all, you can rest assured you’ll have the backing of large, credible companies, such as field marketing organizations and insurance carriers, to help you the entire way.
Growing Industry, Growing Demand
As the insurance industry has slowed in its growth, it has become a stable staple for college grads looking for a life-long careers that can help seniors get the coverage they need. In addition, roughly half the insurance professionals aged 55 and older will be retired by 2030, opening the doors for new talent to come in.
As an independent agent, you could be the agent to assist a variety of customers. Only you decide how high you’d like your ceiling to be!
Another way to look at this is: everyone has multiple insurance needs, which means there’s a huge amount of sales opportunities near you!
One type of insurance that’s expected to see a lot of growth (sales potential) is health insurance, especially in the senior market. Medicare enrollments are expected to continue increasing, with the entirety of the Baby Boomer generation turning 65 by 2030.
This means that approximately 72 million Americans should have an agent to make sure they’re receiving the best Medicare coverage they’re entitled to!
While the federal government offers the standard Original Medicare coverage for seniors, which covers hospital (Part A) and medical (Part B) costs, many insurance carriers offer Medicare Advantage (Part C), private alternatives to Original Medicare that often offer additional coverage, including:
- Prescription drug benefits
- Vision coverage
- Hearing services
- Dental benefits
The total number of MA enrollments has reached over 35 million, an increase of 1.1 million people since February 2025! As a result, the market is growing rapidly, and the need for insurance agents to sell these products will undoubtedly grow the same.
Getting Licensed Is Pretty Straightforward
Breathe easy! It’s a lot simpler, and much less time-consuming to become licensed and able to sell insurance than it was to earn your college degree!
Licensing, certification, and continuing education requirements for insurance agents vary from state to state, but there’s always at least one training and a test. Each type of insurance you sell (e.g., property and casualty, life, or health insurance) may have different tests or prerequisite course requirements.
Some types of insurances can be sold after passing one exam that would encompass multiple kinds of insurance in one swoop, sometimes life and health, depending on the state.
Upon the completion and passing of your exam(s) and any other requirements, you will simply need to pass a background check. The depths and requirements of which can vary by state. Then, you pay any applicable fees and you’ll be a licensed agent!
It’s a lot simpler, and much less time-consuming to become licensed and able to sell insurance than it was to earn your college degree.
Did you know that you don’t have to just sell in the state where you live? With the increased usage of internet marketing and remote sales tools, it’s easier than ever to operate as a well-rounded insurance agent with clients in a range of states or territories throughout the U.S.
However, it’s important to note that, if you plan on selling in more states, you must be licensed in each state that you plan to do business in. This could mean you have to take additional exams or training requirements. Refer to each state’s requirements for the most specific information.
Get Free Training & Support from Ritter Insurance Marketing
If you’ve decided you’re ready to become an insurance agent, Ritter Insurance Marketing can guide you through getting licensed, creating a sales portfolio of health and life insurance products, tracking your clients, and commissions, all the way through making a retirement plan!
As a field marketing organization, we offer independent insurance agents competitive contracts with national and regional insurance carriers.
At no cost to you, we’ll give you the connections, training, and tools you need to write more business and earn more commissions. This is the kind of support you wouldn’t necessarily get if you were captive to an insurance company or completely on your own without any FMO support!
Ritter can guide you through getting licensed, creating a sales portfolio of health and life insurance products, tracking your clients, and commissions, all the way through making a retirement plan!
State-of-the-Art Tech
At Ritter, we have industry-leading, state-of-the-art enrollment, organizational, and CRM-focused tech, aimed at making our agents more efficient, more knowledgeable, and, ultimately, more profitable.
We offer tools such as PlanEnroll, a free consumer-facing platform where your clients can quote and enroll online, and you get credit. We also offer the the Ritter Platform for tracking insurance commissions and contracting online through Contract Now*!
*Newly registered agents must speak with their sales specialist to unlock Contract Now.
These modern amenities we offer have helped usher in a new era of agent-client relationships, removing the guesswork and time consumption that accompanied insurance enrollments
Once you get your degree and decide you’re ready to learn more about beginning your professional career as an independent insurance agent, reach out to us. We would be thrilled to help get you started!
Ready to begin your journey as an agent? Start with our completely free resource, Your Step-By-Step Guide to Getting Started in Insurance Sales
Ritter is here to support your insurance career every step of the way. Register with Ritter and get access to exclusive resources to help you grow in the industry.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Medicare or any government agency.
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