Life Insurance Agent Resume Example

This complete guide to a life insurance agent resume will equip you with the tools you need to compete in your applications. The guide will show you practical examples of how to structure your resume to show off your best and most relevant skills and career achievements. It will also show you how to tailor your resume according to the job description and your unique skill set. Read on to access expert insights from Jobseeker that will help you create a winning life insurance agent resume.

Core sections to include in a life insurance agent resume

Although the content of a life insurance agent resume may differ according to your experience and seniority, the main sections will remain the same. If you're lacking relevant work experience, you might choose to add sections that showcase your skill set earlier than in a traditional resume layout. These sections might include projects, education, hobbies and interests, skills and other optional sections.

The order you present these sections can vary according to your career stage, but it's still essential to include each of the following:

Resume Header and Personal Information

In your life insurance agent resume header, list your name, email address, phone number and address or location. You can also add your LinkedIn, if you have one, to help employers better understand your work history and skills. While in some countries, you might include additional personal information or a photo, these aren't necessary. Be aware of the amount of space your resume header takes up. You don't want your contact details to take space away from the main content of your resume, so keep this section as brief as possible.

Make sure your email address appears as professional as possible, and doesn't include anything like nicknames, inappropriate language or personal information. If it does, set up a new email account with an address based on your name or initials, and use that for your job applications. Always double-check your contact details are up-to-date before sending your resume.

Resume Summary

The next section is the resume summary. The section might also be called 'resume objective' or 'personal profile'. This is a brief introduction to you, your key skills and your career achievements and ambitions. While a resume summary focuses on your career achievements and experience, a resume objective typically focuses on your ambitions for the future. However, make sure you keep your resume summary short and snappy, and focused on the skills and experience listed in the job description.

Alternatively, you could use this section to reference your objectives and ambitions, and how this role would fit into your career journey.

A good resume summary is short and snappy, and focused on the skills and experience listed in the job description, with evidence to back it up. It will also help the reader to form their first impressions of you by providing an insight into your personality and unique qualities. Take a look at some strong examples of how to approach a life insurance agent resume summary in the graphic below.

On the other hand, an unsuccessful resume summary is one that mentions irrelevant skills, qualities and achievements and fails to differentiate you from other candidates. In the graphic above you can find some negative examples of how to write a resume summary.

Skills

The skills section is one of the main ways to show employers you've got the skills required for life insurance agent roles. Whether your skills include relationship management, emotional intelligence or any other useful skills for the role, you'll want to list them here. Again, include any skills that match those listed in the job description. Focus particularly on technical skills required for life insurance agent jobs and transferable skills that show your qualities as a life insurance agent.

Showcasing hard skills on your life insurance agent resume

For your hard skills list, include any technical abilities or specific industry knowledge that's essential to working as a life insurance agent. These could be skills gained through work experience or qualifications. Furthermore, these skills are essential for a life insurance agent resume as they showcase your expertise in the field. If possible, add four or five hard skills that reflect the requirements of the job description. These will boost your chances of success in your applications.

The best resume hard skills sections focus on specific technical skills necessary for the job, showcasing skills that you have particular expertise in. There are some examples of valuable hard skills for a life insurance agent resume below.

Adding soft skills to your life insurance agent resume

Soft skills are your transferable skills and personal qualities that make you a good match for a life insurance agent position and the organization. Soft skills tend to be more universal than hard skills, and can often apply to multiple jobs and industries. Indeed, as the nature of work changes, soft skills are growing in importance, so make sure you include them in your resume. In this section, add four of five transferable skills that match the job description.

A good soft skills section would include skills that match the job description, and also reflect your key strengths and qualities. See the graphic below for an indication of what to include in a strong soft skills section for a life insurance agent resume.

Education and Qualifications

Your resume's education section provides space for you to list your highest and most relevant qualifications for life insurance agent roles.

While a degree isn't usually a requirement for a life insurance agent position, it's still recommended to list your highest or most relevant qualifications. If you have a recognized qualification, such as Life Underwriter Training, list these here. Any educational achievements that show financial needs analysis or estate planning knowledge can be useful for this section.

List your relevant qualifications in reverse-chronological order. Add the name and level of the award, the institution, its location (if this isn't obvious from the name) and your dates of study. Include bullet points to show any specialist modules you studied, awards or exceptional grades and achievements that can set you apart from other candidates. These will all contribute to creating a positive impression on employers.

Additionally, mentioning any leadership roles or any societies and clubs you participated in while studying shows proactivity and initiative.

Licenses and Certifications

In your certifications section, list any professional certifications or licenses that are relevant to working as a life insurance agent. You could list accreditations for certain professional roles or licenses for certain activities that help to make you a strong candidate. Therefore, list any official licenses and certifications, along with their dates, so employers can assess whether you've got the necessary qualifications to work as a life insurance agent.

Read on to see some relevant example certifications for a life insurance agent resume:

Employment History

In the next section, list your employment history focusing on the most relevant previous roles and achievements that showcase your life insurance agent skills. Add each previous employment in reverse-chronological order. This means starting from your current or most recent role and working back in time from there. Include your job title, the company name, the location of the job and your dates of employment.

Add some bullet points under each job entry, explaining your achievements in the role, so the reader can see how you contributed towards success for the company. Provide evidence of your impact and make sure each point addresses a requirement listed in the job description.

A good resume work experience section includes your most relevant previous jobs and highlights your key achievements in each role. To make the best possible impression on hiring managers, make sure each entry in your work experience section references skills and experience listed in the job description, and shows how you added value to each role with quantifiable evidence and outcomes. See below for some good examples of what to include in your resume work experience section.

See above for some of the pitfalls to avoid with your resume work experience section. A bad resume work experience section might fail to address skills and achievements that relate directly to the job description. Falling back on clichés, vague descriptions and basic responsibilities, rather than showing the impact you made, is likely to disengage the reader.

Optional Sections

There are several additional sections you could add to a life insurance agent resume, to improve your chances of success. Add any of the sections below that help you showcase your key skills and experience.

Hobbies

Including your hobbies and interests can be a valuable way of showing your key skills and qualities. These are particularly useful for your resume if you're short of work experience and need to showcase a particular skill or experience. Don't include hobbies and interests in your resume unless they showcase a specific interest or aspect of your personality. You'll want them to add something to your application that you can't add elsewhere.

Volunteer Work

Voluntary work can help you develop useful skills, so it's a valuable addition to your life insurance agent resume. Write your volunteer section in a similar format to your work experience, including your role, the organization name, relevant dates and the details of your contribution.

References

It's not typical to include references in a life insurance agent resume, but some employers might ask for them. Don't add references unless requested by the employer. Before adding any referees to your resume, ask them for their assistance and prepare them for contact by the employer.

Best action words for your life insurance agent resume

Start each bullet point in your work experience section with a strong verb to show actions you took. Choose from the list of words below to make the best possible impression.

Jobseeker's clean, attractive resume formats can help your applications make a strong impression on employers. Check them out for help designing a winning resume, and see our cover letter templates to help win over recruiters and hiring managers.

Example resume for life insurance agent applications

The life insurance agent resume example below incorporates all the information from above into a full-designed resume template, so you can see how a final resume will look:

Tips on creating an ATS-optimized resume

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is just one of the tools employers and recruiters can use to streamline their hiring practices. This typically includes screening candidates by scanning and ranking their resumes based on their likely suitability for any vacancy. There are several things you can do when writing your life insurance agent resume, to give yourself the strongest chance of ranking highly in the ATS stage and progressing through the recruitment process.

Follow these guidelines to create the best ATS-friendly resume:

• Choose a resume structure that matches the traditional, reverse-chronological layout or alternatively, the functional resume structure. This should make your resume more readable for ATS applications.
• Include keywords throughout your resume that align with the job description. ATS software tends to compare your resume to the job description for points of similarity, so careful, considered use of keywords should help your chances of success.
• Using clear, simple headings makes it easier for an ATS application to scan your resume, as it can easily identify what's in each section of your document.
• Use a resume design that includes clean, professional design elements to give your content space to breathe. This might include clear, readable fonts, subtle color accents and simple design elements.
• Use concise language to keep the length of your resume to between one and two pages. This will make it easier to scan for ATS applications.

Key points for your life insurance agent resume

The best resumes focus on your skills and the value you've added to previous roles, rather than focusing on your duties and responsibilities. Choose the most suitable resume format for your experience levels, and focus on tailoring your resume based on the requirements listed in the job description.

Remember, Jobseeker resume templates and other tools make it easy to create a resume and cover letter that leaves a positive impression on hiring managers. Sign up now to start building your perfect resume. To make the best possible impression with your applications, write a cover letter with the help of Jobseeker. You can also find plenty of expert-designed cover letter examples for inspiration.

Sources:

(1) Writing a Resume, California Department of Human Resources: https://www.calhr.ca.gov/employees/Pages/resume-tips.aspx

(2) Resumes, Cover Letters and Job Applications, New York State Department of Labor: https://dol.ny.gov/resumes-cover-letters-and-job-applications