Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Is Insurance Continuing Education Really Necessary?

Is Insurance Continuing Education Really Necessary?The insurance and financial industry is a very highly regulated industry. The state legislature controls all of the power. They grant licenses and revoke them at will. They set all of the standards for the licensing exams and continuing education requirements. For instance, The Florida Department of Insurance oversees insurance agents, adjusters, title agents, and financial advisors to name a few. The FDI regulates these professions very closely and watches over their agents like a hawk in the sky. Their job is to limit insurance fraud and make sure their agents are following the rules and abiding by the law. In this article we are going to talk about the insurance industry and their continuing education requirements.
Insurance agents have a lot of responsibility to their clients and the companies they represent. There are a lot of independent brokers selling insurance. They are able to sell insurance for multiple insurance carriers and are not captive to just one company. Many of these agents have had their license for a number of years. Without insurance continuing education they would probably not be up to date on new products available or rules and regulations that have changed over the years. They would be doing their clients a huge disservice. In order to protect themselves many states require any licensed agent to have Error and Omissions Insurance. This will help prevent any personal loss if the agent is ever sued by a client or insurance company.
Continuing insurance education is mandatory in every state and meant to help the agent stay in compliance with state law. Continuing education also enables them to serve their clients as best as they can. They can offer their clients the latest products and services available and help fit their individual needs. Clients are happy because they know their agent knows what they are talking about when they are giving them advice. The insurance companies are happy because the insurance agent is acting ethically and making the right decisions. Everyone wins when the agent completes their required continuing education training. Courses can be done online or in a classroom and usually do not take more than a couple of hours. Check with your state or an approved provider for a list of required courses and your compliance deadline. Try not to be late or the Department of Insurance can suspend or even revoke your license. That is of course the worst case scenario.

Monday, June 25, 2012

The Importance of Continuing Education

The Importance of Continuing EducationWhile these 23 million individuals represent the very core of an emerging society that is more inclined to studying and learning, the remaining individuals are excluded from these learning experiences due to reasons of time, cost, or even personal issues.
Over the last few years, the number of adults who are continuing with their education has increased tremendously. This term "continuing education" describes the opportunity and process of learning new skills and acquiring knowledge that is far superior to what we are taught during our formal schooling years.
Most people opt for continued education to further their knowledge base and even their employability.
Continuing Education vs. Traditional
Usually, what we learn in all of those long, arduous years of our formal schooling are just basic skills that are good enough to help us start working, but not good enough to take us further in our careers, especially with the rapid changes and advancements in technology that demands for a more sophisticated and educated workforce.
Students who participate in continuing their education are generally working professionals who seek to further advance and promote their intellectual capabilities while still working. Since their time is divided between studies and full-time work, they have to be extremely motivated in order to succeed. One of the biggest characteristics that distinguish students who are participating in continuing education is their tendency to relate the lessons that they learn in class to their work experience.
Instructors must have the proper and appropriate practical experience and knowledge in order to address the issues and concerns of these special students. Students involved in continuing education can be very selective when it comes to choosing their courses. The courses that they choose have to be in some way relevant to their work and should be able to benefit them. If the right course is chosen, it can benefit you a great deal both educationally and professionally.
More and more adults are now engaged in continuing education that leads to formal qualifications that provide them with the adequate knowledge pertaining to a certain area of study. Furthermore, continuing education also provides us with a certain pride of accomplishment as we take our courses.
Offering an affordable, faster, and definitely more focused means of acquiring career or personal objectives, continuing education credentials can be put on resumes and presented anywhere as evidence of the individual's professional studies.
The Importance of 'Continuing Education' in the Workplace
A skilled workforce will always result in increased economic productivity. Here is how continuing education benefits the working force:
o A more skilled workforce is always more productive - These days, skills and education are seen as the most important elements of the employability and income potential of a candidate. Since the economy has shifted to one that values an educated workforce more than an uneducated workforce, employers are now seeking both educated and skilled workers. The demand for continuing education has thus increased twofold.
o Continuing education helps employers retain better employees while remaining as competitive as ever - A more educated employee will always be more productive, so companies have now started hiring employees who are continuing with their education. Continuing education can be seen as a way to retain the better, more educated employees.
With the rapid advancement of the information technology sector, continuing education will not be confined to only physical space. Distance learning through interactive media will form a major part of continuing education. The internet will also play a huge role in delivering the course materials to the students.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Why Social Work Continuing Education

If you just started a job in the field of social work, continuing education might be the furthest consideration from your mind. Perhaps you do not even know why it is necessary for you to take the yearly courses that may be required by your job in order to keep your certification. Many people may not completely understand this field. To some individuals, the people in this field are the bad guys in a manner of speaking. It is true that they often have to carry out difficult tasks that others do not like.
If you are in this field and have not been in it for long, perhaps you are just getting to the point where you see the broad spectrum of knowledge that you are going to need to handle the cases you run into. At a nursing home, there might be questions of power of attorney with children and their parents. At hospitals there may be questions of the mental state of a patient and whether they should go home to their children. At schools, there may be a student who needs emotional counseling. There are so many scenarios that could possibly come up. You will not likely run into all of these unless you travel to various places for your job, but they are all options for areas where you can increase your knowledge for social work continuing education.
As the time draws near for you to look into getting in those required hours of social work continuing education for your job, you will want to consider a few things as you look at various institutions. Time will of course be a factor if you work a full-time job. Learning style is another consideration, and you will also want to consider the course topics available at the various locations.
You may not have time to attend courses at the actual college. It may be out of your comfort zone not to have a teacher right in front of you, but with new technology today it can be almost like they are. You can choose from webinars and online courses that will help you to have more flexibility in your schedule. You may even be able to take reading courses.
Your learning style should also be something that you take into consideration when pursuing social work continuing education. If you are not an auditory learner then you will definitely want to have a course where you can at least see the teacher on your computer as they teach. If you do well with just listening then you might do fine with some type of mp3 course.
Choosing the courses that you want to take might be difficult. If you are just doing your courses to get them out of the way then perhaps it will not seem a difficult choice, but you really should take the opportunity for expanded learning seriously. Look for an institution that offers courses in areas that you believe you need the expanded knowledge.