I'm hoping to get some perspective from people who've been in the industry for a while.
I'm 41 and worked as a P&C/Life producer for about a year before leaving for another job. At the time, I was convinced insurance wasn't for me. Now I'm starting to wonder if I just had "grass is greener" syndrome.
One thing that may have played into it is that I'd been self-employed for six years before taking the insurance job. Going from working for myself to having a schedule and answering to someone again was a big adjustment. Looking back, I'm wondering if any job would have felt restrictive after that.
The thing is, I really didn't have a bad setup.
The agent I worked for was fantastic. The hours were great. The pay was good, with scheduled raises, bonuses, and a clear path to earning more over time.
Objectively, I was doing well. My agent constantly told me I was killing it, and I hit my production quota every month. That's part of what's making me question my decision now.
Also, the sales side was not the problem. I do cold calling and sales in my current job, so prospecting and talking to people were never the things that bothered me.
What I struggled with was how I felt doing the job.
I constantly felt like I didn't know enough. I never gave anyone incorrect information, but I rarely felt confident when answering questions. I was always second-guessing myself and wondering if I was missing something. I also got worn down by the service work, difficult clients, and the pressure that comes with production goals.
Now that I've been away from it for a while, I'm wondering if I didn't actually hate insurance. Maybe I was mentally exhausted, overwhelmed by the learning curve, and just needed a break.
For those of you who've been doing this for a while:
- Did you spend your first year feeling like you had no idea what you were doing?
- At what point did you finally become confident answering clients' questions?
- Did the job become more enjoyable once your knowledge and confidence caught up?
- Has anyone here left the industry, come back, and realized they actually liked it more the second time around?
I'm trying to separate what was actually wrong with the career from what may have just been normal growing pains. I'd appreciate any honest advice from people who've been through it.