Mike Esqueda ⋅ Chicago, IL Zurich North America ⋅ 3 years experience

Aaron,

Wow, where to start? Everyone has provided the essential starting points for things to consider when looking for a career. A little more information about your strenghts, interest, and goals would help everyone guide you in the right direction. My company has a handful of entry level positions that can be a great launching pad for a career in the commercial insurance industry.Here are some of the position that do not require a college degree that are currently available in the ATL area.

Processing Technician
Rate Technician
Underwriting Assistant

We also have excellence training programs that are intense and establish a great foundation of industry knowledge but they do require a college degree and some have hard requirements of a certain GPA or above.

If you would like to sit down and talk about these opportunities feel free to shoot me an email and I'll schedule some time to go over these roles, our company's culture, work expectations, benefits, career paths, and any questions you my have for me.

I honestly wish you and your family the best!
Stay positive -Stay strong

Mike-
U.S. Army
mike.esqueda@zurichna.com

Tyler Young ⋅ Lovelady, TX Modern Woodmen of America ⋅ 4 years experience

Aaron,
I would tell you to consider a position in financial services, it has been one of the top industries for the last ten years. Studies show that one in four middle market households do not know how to achieve their financial goals, over 58 million Americans say the either have no life insurance or not enough, and with the thousands of baby boomers retiring every day there is an ongoing need for professional advice for this generation to maintain there standard of living.

Jim Brown ⋅ Slidell, LA Keller Williams Realty Professionals ⋅ 33 years experience

Aaron,

Difficult to answer without knowing some of your background and what your life goals are. But having said I CAN answer based on my retirement from the service and how I created a new career in real estate sales. First my career in real estate sales offered me one of the desires of my life - personal freedom. As an independent sales person I decided how much time I would put into my career. Of course the amount of income earned was proportional to the amount of "smart" time I put in my career.

You can make a lot of money in real estate sales and the market has been picking up very much over the past year. There are a lot of great real estate companies that would probably be more than happy to take you on but I am biased. Having been with a lot of companies (one would buy another one out) and ended my career (33 years) with Keller Williams Realty (12 years). The reasons I chose Keller Williams were many. First there standard was God-Family,and then Business. They have a great training program so once you become licensed you would not be left out in the cold as to what to do next. They profit share so everyone in the office wants you to succeed. The profit sharing part has been tremendous for me. Now I receive my Coast Guard retirement, Social Security, VA benefits because I am slightly disabled and while I no longer sell real estate or receive a salary as the former broker, I do receive a monthly Profit Sharing Check from Keller Williams and that has been fantastic.

I would definitely recommend you contact the nearest Keller Williams office and set up an appointment and talk to the Team Leader. You have nothing to lose by just talking. Give it a shot.

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

Here's the discussion to which Bill refers.

https://acp-advisornet.org/questions/topic/self-assessment

Note the topic-search tool that used to be easily accessible on the front page now takes some extra work to find. After a site re-design, we now need to click on "followed topics" link, and then the "see all topics" link. It's a pretty useful tool, and I wish it was easier to discover.

Bill Nobles ⋅ Basking Ridge, NJ Exxon ⋅ 30 years experience

Aaron, thank you for your service. The experiences of several returning veterans suggest that using Internet available tools to self-assess your strengths and interests is an excellent first step looking for a job. My posting of several months ago--What are best tools for veterans to self-assess their aptitude, capabilities, and interests?-- provides info on several self-assessment tools available to vets at little or no cost, so I suggest you try several of these. The results should better prepare you to answer Samantha's excellent questions. If you run into problems or have questions feel free to contact me thru the list of advisors.
Good luck, Bill Nobles