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Posted on 17 Oct 2008

In today's real estate market, certain shifts have been occurring, for as home sales drop, the need for pre-sale inspections drops as well. This certainly doesn't mean that home inspectors are not needed, as is evidence by the continuing availability of home inspection training. However, many current inspectors and home inspection small business owners have been shifting the focus of their skills or business to meet the demand for new types of inspection.

Therefore, if you're researching or considering a career in home inspection, you ought to know to what they're shifting to, so you can make an informed decision about just what type of inspection training you wish to receive. A good number of current inspectors are shifting focus onto the field of casualty adjustment. According the the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for Claims Adjusters, Appraisers, Examiners, and Investigators is expected to rise slightly.

However, it's pointed out that new job openings will arise more from the have to replace workers who retire or change careers rather than industry growth. According to the Bureau, competition for investigator jobs will be stiff, and those with a college degree possess the best chance of finding employment, as this career will attract highly-competent individuals. So what to do if you don't have a college degree, or don't want to incur the time and expense to obtain one?

Many of the businesses and inspector mentioned in the first paragraph of this article have chosen instead to go into the field of claims adjustment, as it doesn't require much further training if one is already a certified home inspector, and the competition may be less than for investigation occupations.

So, what is a Claims Adjuster then? An Adjuster is normally employed by an insurance company (usually property or casualty) or sometimes by an individual. Their job is to weigh the viability of each claim and report their findings to the insurance company, which will then decide how much to pay or to honor the claim.

Further, many individual holders of insurance policies decide to hire an public adjuster that doesn't work for their insurance institution. This adjuster will help their client gather the necessary information and then submit it to the insurance company in the hopes of working out a just settlement for damages incurred.

A third type of adjuster is an independent contractor, who may be hired by insurance firms that don't wish to retain full time adjusters. Ok, we've covered all the info on the what of claims adjustment, but what about the how? you've determined this is what you want to do.

Well, first it will depend on whether you're just entering the industry, or if you're already home inspection certified and simply want to shift focus or diversify your business.

In the former case, check out the article home inspection courses to learn all about good sources of instruction to become certified. If you fall into the second group, you can obtain your claims adjuster license in as little as four days (as advertised by Kaplan Professional Schools) and for as little as $189.95 (as advertised by Insurance Schools, Inc. - in addition they offer certification for every U.S. state).

Nathan Warren owns and operates http://www.real-estate-school-and-courses.com - Inspector Courses Visit this site to learn even more about getting training to jump into a career field that is recession proof. Learn how many local governments hire salaried assessors for real estate tax purposes. Visit today!