Insurance agents need to complete continuing education credit hours to maintain their license, and the summer is a perfect time to finish these hours. This important investment in yourself and your business can sometimes feel like a chore, and insurance continuing education courses are sometimes boring and feel outdated.
But with a little creativity, you can find better ways to knock out your CE credits this summer while having fun and learning some helpful information. Read on to learn more and plan to finish your insurance continuing education for the year soon.
Creative Ways to Complete Your Insurance Continuing Education Credits
Each state differs in its CE requirements, but many require licensed agents to complete 24 hours of CE credits every two years. You cannot usually repeat the same course for credit during that two-year period.
Try some of our creative ways to meet your CE credits.
Take interesting or trending courses.
You can always take another course about commercial insurance fundamentals or the basics of property insurance, but a course about cyber risks or underwriting the gig economy may be more interesting. Look for trending topics or new course offerings to find some different options beyond the tried-and-true classes.
Use your CE credits to focus on a specialty.
Niche down with your CE credits and focus on an area you’d like to learn more about. For example, there are lots of courses you can take about flood insurance, the NFIP, and flood risk if you wanted to become a master of flood insurance. Decide on an area of interest and use your continuing education hours to drill down and become more of an expert on your topic.
Use your discounts for CE programs.
Insurance continuing education courses can be costly. Make sure you check for all the discounts you’re eligible for when shopping around for a CE course provider. Members of the American Agents Alliance receive a 20% discount on courses from FastrackCE, a nationwide provider of CE courses.
Grow your career intentionally with CE courses.
Many people neglect to plan their continuing education and end up taking any course that is available as they run low on time to complete their credit hours. But if you plan your courses intentionally, you can use them to fill gaps in your education or ready yourself for a career move. For example, if you want to start selling a new product line in the future, taking CE courses about that product can give you valuable basics when you start working with that product. Plan your insurance continuing education strategically at the start of the year to be intentional with your learning.
Develop regional knowledge.
Build more awareness of specific programs, risks, and legislation in your region by taking regional or state-specific courses. Florida agents may wish to take courses focused on hurricane mitigation or coastal underwriting where California-based agents may benefit from earthquake-specific courses. Search for state-specific courses available from your CE course provider to direct your learning.
Tips to Make the Most of Your Insurance Continuing Education Courses
It’s tempting to take easy CE classes to just check the box on ongoing industry education. But taking it seriously means you’ll learn something valuable and helpful for your career. And since you have to put the hours in, you should benefit from it. Try our tips to make the most of your courses:
- Focus on learning something new from each course. Try to find a unique or helpful takeaway from all the classes you take.
- Reduce the distractions by turning off your phone and blocking enough time on your calendar for CE classes.
- Partner with other agents in your network or at your agency to take a class together. Plan to meet up after the course to discuss your takeaways over coffee or cocktails.
Become a Member of the American Agents Alliance
Join the American Agents Alliance for more helpful discounts like the 20% off CE courses offered by FastrackCE. As a member, you’ll have access to resources and networking in addition to valuable discounts to help you run your business.
Become a member today!
