Continuing Education Serves a Positive Purpose

Continuing education is a fact of life for all agents and brokers. Because states require CE credits, it translates into the reality of a continuous, and often repetitive, obligation — a career-long commitment of time and attention for as long as one intends to keep his or her insurance license in force. Yet that is a fairly ominous way to look at CE, a proverbial “the glass is half empty” view.

Fortunately, the glass can be half full. There are several positive ways to look at CE. Not only are there different options for meeting CE requirements, but all are relatively easy and painless. More importantly, CE should be a catalyst for professional and intellectual growth. Everything depends on the attitude of the individual licensee.

For some, CE may seem an imposition compared to “the good old days.” For example, in 1980, the requirements for a property and casualty agent’s/broker’s license were almost ludicrous: three month’s industry experience, the endorsement of a currently licensed agency or brokerage principal and zero classroom requirement. To underscore the lax entry requirements, all prelicensing courses offered by independent vendors focused entirely on how to pass the 100 question, multiple-choice test, while stressing there was no intent to teach a thing about insurance.

That was the state of our industry then, and perhaps might explain the origin of the notion that “anyone can do insurance.” Certainly, the relative lack of academic prequalification in the insurance industry, when compared to other longstanding professions (e.g., legal, medical, engineering), had the unfortunate but understandable effect of subordinating the insurance profession when juxtaposed with other professions. Yet that is why CE is so beneficial to our careers and to our industry: It gives us far more credibility in the eyes of our customers, our prospects and the public at large.

While I do not know whether the benefits of CE are scientifically quantifiable, I sense that CE has had a major impact on raising the bar of public perception about insurance. Internally, CE certainly has served dual purposes of offering opportunities for intellectual growth to all licensees, while serving “… to weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved (insurance industry).” In other words, CE has lent a big hand in separating the wheat from the chaff. For those who have earned and maintain their licenses, that can only be a good thing.

It is safe to assert that most licensees are generally opposed to the idea of additional government regulation of the insurance industry. Yet the imposition of prelicensing and continuing education is an example of regulation that was needed and has proved invaluable since its introduction.

How best to complete the CE requirement? There are at least three primary methods:

1. Correspondence courses, which provide textbook and/or study materials, and which use mail-in examinations;
2. Online courses, including the examination process; and
3. Classroom settings with a “live” teacher are perhaps the most common method. Live courses can be conducted in a variety of venues, and classes are frequently offered at most larger local, regional and national industry gatherings and conventions. Many classes are offered by carriers to their agent and broker-customers. And many for-profit vendors provide CE classes for a fee, which is especially popular with employers with larger licensed employee populations.

Each of the three CE methods has its advantages, and will appeal on an individual basis; and sometimes, be based on timing needs.

Self-study correspondence courses appeal to organized individuals who plan ahead, who wish to take their time, and who enjoy the serenity of individual study at a time and place of their choosing. Studying and test-taking is entirely self-paced, and can be done in an environment that the student controls. If time is not of the essence and human interaction not a necessity, self-study is a great way to go.

Internet courses work very well, and particularly appeal to those who enjoy accomplishing things with their computers. Internet classes are also a good way to expedite the fulfillment of CE requirements when up against a looming license expiration.

One colleague tells the story of discovering, only a day before his license expired, that he needed 30 hours of CE credit. Being a specialist in directors’, officers’ and corporate liability, he quickly pulled up and registered for an online 30-hour class in D&O. He just skipped right to the test — reasoning that if he couldn’t pass the test then and there, he had no right to be in the business — and in 45 minutes, he had passed the test and successfully completed his requirement. There was nothing improper about how he fulfilled his CE requirement. His methodology was aboveboard and in conformance with “the rules.”

Attending a class, however, is the method most people choose, or get herded into. Perhaps the classroom venue is the most popular because it takes the path of least resistance. In theory, a person really doesn’t have to do anything other than show up (on time, please).

Naturally, CE instructors discourage that attitude, because when the class is filled with people who are just showing up, the class becomes more of a boring chore for everybody, rather than becoming something much better.

The “much better” experience refers to when the audience is prepared to at least listen with an open mind and with a willingness to consider, even if passively, the material being presented. Additionally, the much better involves an attempt to assimilate the information by listening to the instructor; to participate by asking questions; and to offer individual insight and ideas. In other words, the ideal scenario is when the audience gets into the subject matter. It’s really a case of “you get out of it what you put into it.”

And if instructors have an expectation of an attentive audience, they in turn have an obligation to try not to be boring, while presenting the material completely.

The very best classes — the ones that seem to fly by and where no eyelids flutter — are the classes that have engaged participants. Fortunately, the brokerage and agency community is not short of extroverts or loquaciousness, so few classes devolve into tedious torture sessions.

Of the three CE venues, the classroom method probably delivers the best bang for your buck, and the best prospects for getting the most back from having to do something that you have no choice but to do. The classroom venue affords the opportunity for close interaction with industry peers so that students can listen to others’ experiences and observations. The classroom environment also allows for networking, which is the heart and soul of the insurance business.

If the course material is presented in at least a semi-lively and compelling manner by a reasonably informed instructor, then the prospects for learning something new, meeting new and perhaps influential people, renewing old acquaintances, and generally “seeing and being seen” among professional peers, all while snagging CE credits, makes this method potentially the most beneficial.

Nevertheless, while the live venue holds the best prospects for eliminating the drudgery of fulfilling a career-long obligation with the added bonus of networking opportunities, each method works effectively, based on individual appeal. And most importantly, all CE serves a much broader and important purpose that benefits all licensees — and our industry as a whole.

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