How to Write a Resume for an Insurance Agent

An insurance agent plays a critical role in helping individuals and businesses protect their assets, manage risk, and plan for the future. Whether you specialize in life, health, property and casualty, commercial lines, or personal lines, your resume must show that you can sell policies, build relationships, and navigate complex regulations. A tailored insurance agent resume highlights your sales performance, product knowledge, client service skills, and licensing—helping you stand out to agencies, carriers, and brokerages in a competitive market.

This guide walks you through how to write a strong, targeted resume for an insurance agent role, including key skills, formatting tips, and job-specific strategies to showcase your value.

Key Skills for an Insurance Agent Resume

Your resume should make it immediately clear that you have the technical knowledge and interpersonal abilities needed to sell and service insurance products. Focus on a balance of hard and soft skills.

Hard Skills

• Insurance product knowledge (life, health, P&C, commercial, personal lines)
• State insurance licensing (Life & Health, Property & Casualty, Series 6/63 where relevant)
• Underwriting basics and risk assessment
• Needs analysis and coverage recommendations
• Policy quoting and binding
• CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot, Applied Epic, AMS360, etc.)
• Lead generation and pipeline management
• Cold calling and prospecting
• Sales presentations and product demos
• Claims assistance and policy servicing
• Compliance with insurance regulations and documentation standards
• Cross-selling and upselling
• Data entry and policy administration
• Microsoft Office (Excel for tracking, Word for proposals, Outlook for client communication)

Soft Skills

• Persuasion and negotiation
• Active listening and empathy
• Relationship building and client retention
• Clear verbal and written communication
• Time management and organization
• Resilience and persistence in sales
• Problem-solving and objection handling
• Detail orientation and accuracy
• Integrity and professional ethics
• Adaptability to new products, markets, and regulations

Integrate these skills into your professional summary, work experience bullet points, and a dedicated skills section to reinforce your fit for the insurance agent role.

Formatting Tips for an Insurance Agent Resume

A clean, professional format ensures hiring managers can quickly see your sales impact, licensing, and experience. Keep the layout simple and easy to scan.

Overall Layout

• Length: Aim for one page if you have under 10 years of experience; two pages is acceptable for seasoned agents with extensive production history.
• Margins: Use 0.5–1 inch margins on all sides for readability.
• Spacing: Use consistent spacing between sections and bullet points to avoid clutter.

Fonts and Style

• Use professional, easy-to-read fonts such as Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman.
• Font size: 10–12 pt for body text, 14–16 pt for your name and section headers.
• Use bold and italics sparingly to emphasize job titles, company names, and key metrics.
• Avoid graphics, images, and complex formatting that may not parse well in applicant tracking systems (ATS).

Essential Resume Sections

Header

• Include your full name, phone number, professional email address, city/state, and LinkedIn profile (if relevant).
• Optionally include a link to a professional portfolio or online profile if you have one.

Professional Summary

• Use 2–4 concise sentences at the top of your resume.
• Highlight your years of experience, product lines, client segments, and standout achievements.
• Mention your licenses and top sales strengths.

Example: “Licensed Property & Casualty Insurance Agent with 5+ years of experience selling personal and small commercial lines. Proven track record of exceeding sales quotas by 25–40% annually through consultative selling, targeted prospecting, and cross-selling strategies. Skilled in CRM-driven pipeline management and building long-term client relationships.”

Professional Experience

• List positions in reverse chronological order (most recent first).
• Include company name, location, job title, and dates of employment.
• Use bullet points focused on achievements, not just duties.
• Quantify results wherever possible (policies sold, premium volume, retention rates, revenue growth).

Education

• List your highest degree first (e.g., Bachelor’s in Business Administration).
• Include school name, location, degree, and graduation year (optional if more experienced).
• If you have limited experience, you can add relevant coursework (e.g., finance, marketing, risk management).

Licenses, Certifications, and Skills

• Create a dedicated section for insurance licenses and certifications so they are easy to find.
• Include state, license type, and status (e.g., active, multi-state).
• List industry designations (e.g., CIC, LUTCF, CLU, ChFC) if applicable.
• Add a concise skills section with your most relevant hard and soft skills.

Highlighting Insurance Sales Performance and Production

For insurance agents, your sales performance is often the first thing hiring managers look for. Your resume should clearly showcase your ability to generate revenue and grow a book of business.

Quantify Your Sales Impact

• Include concrete numbers: annual premium written, number of policies sold, revenue generated, or percentage of quota achieved.
• Highlight growth: year-over-year increases in book size, new accounts, or cross-sell ratios.
• Mention rankings: top producer awards, sales contests, or recognition within your agency or region.

Strong bullet point examples:

• “Generated $850K in new annualized premium within 18 months by targeting small commercial accounts in construction and retail sectors.”
• “Consistently achieved 120–140% of monthly sales quota, ranking in the top 10% of agents in the region for three consecutive years.”
• “Increased personal lines book by 35% over two years through proactive cross-selling of auto, home, and umbrella policies to existing clients.”

Showcase Prospecting and Lead Generation

• Describe how you find and nurture leads: cold calling, networking, referrals, community events, digital marketing.
• Include tools and tactics: CRM usage, email campaigns, social selling, seminars/webinars.
• Quantify outreach where possible: calls per day, appointments set, conversion rates.

Example bullet points:

• “Prospected 50–70 cold and warm leads weekly, converting 25% into qualified appointments and 40% of appointments into new policies.”
• “Developed referral partnerships with mortgage brokers and real estate agents, generating 60+ new home and auto clients annually.”

Emphasizing Client Relationships and Retention

While sales are crucial, insurance is ultimately a relationship-driven business. Hiring managers want to see that you can retain clients, provide excellent service, and manage a long-term book of business.

Demonstrate Client Service Excellence

• Highlight your role in policy reviews, renewals, and claims support.
• Mention client satisfaction metrics if available (e.g., NPS scores, survey results).
• Showcase your ability to explain complex coverage in simple terms and advocate for clients.

Example bullet points:

• “Managed a personal lines book of 450+ households, achieving a 92% retention rate through proactive annual coverage reviews and follow-up.”
• “Guided clients through the claims process, resulting in a 4.8/5 average customer satisfaction rating on post-claim surveys.”

Highlight Relationship-Building Activities

• Include networking, community involvement, and participation in local business groups or chambers of commerce.
• Mention any mentoring or team leadership roles that show your ability to collaborate and support others.
• Show how you maintain ongoing contact with clients (e.g., newsletters, check-in calls, policy review campaigns).

Example bullet points:

• “Built long-term relationships with small business owners, resulting in 60% of new commercial accounts coming from client referrals.”
• “Organized quarterly educational workshops on life and disability insurance, strengthening client loyalty and generating upsell opportunities.”

Tailoring Your Insurance Agent Resume to Specific Job Descriptions

To get past ATS filters and impress hiring managers, customize your resume for each insurance agent position you apply to. Small adjustments can significantly increase your chances of landing interviews.

Analyze the Job Posting

• Highlight keywords related to product lines (e.g., Medicare, group benefits, commercial auto, workers’ comp).
• Note the target market (individuals, families, small businesses, large commercial accounts).
• Identify specific skills requested (e.g., cold calling, B2B sales, bilingual communication, cross-selling).
• Pay attention to performance expectations (quotas, new business targets, retention goals).

Align Your Resume Content

• Mirror key terms from the job description in your summary, skills, and experience sections.
• Move your most relevant experience and achievements to the top of each section.
• Emphasize the product lines and client segments that match the role you’re applying for.
• If the role is heavily new-business focused, prioritize lead generation and sales metrics; if it’s more account management oriented, emphasize retention and service.

Customize Your Professional Summary

Adjust your summary to reflect the specific role:

• For a commercial lines role, highlight B2B sales and risk management knowledge.
• For a life and health role, emphasize consultative selling and long-term planning.
• For captive agencies, show your ability to represent a single carrier’s products effectively.
• For independent agencies, emphasize multi-carrier quoting and solution flexibility.

Common Mistakes on Insurance Agent Resumes (and How to Avoid Them)

Certain errors can quickly undermine an otherwise strong insurance agent resume. Avoid these pitfalls to present yourself as a polished, results-driven professional.

1. Listing Responsibilities Without Results

• Mistake: Writing generic bullets like “Responsible for selling insurance policies” or “Handled customer inquiries.”
• Fix: Focus on outcomes and numbers—premium generated, policies written, retention rates, or client satisfaction.

2. Hiding or Omitting Licensing Information

• Mistake: Burying your licenses in a paragraph or leaving them off entirely.
• Fix: Create a clear “Licenses & Certifications” section. Include license type, state(s), and status.

3. Overly Complex or Flashy Formatting

• Mistake: Using graphics, tables, or unusual fonts that can confuse ATS systems.
• Fix: Stick to a clean, text-based format with standard fonts and simple headings.

4. Failing to Target the Right Product Lines

• Mistake: Presenting a generic sales resume without clarifying your insurance specialties.
• Fix: Specify your primary lines (life, health, P&C, commercial, personal) and highlight related achievements.

5. Ignoring Non-Sales Strengths

• Mistake: Focusing only on production numbers and ignoring service, compliance, and relationship-building.
• Fix: Balance your bullets to show you can sell, retain, and ethically advise clients while following regulations.

6. Typos and Inconsistent Formatting

• Mistake: Spelling errors, inconsistent dates, or mismatched bullet styles.
• Fix: Proofread carefully, use consistent formatting, and consider having a colleague review your resume.

A strong insurance agent resume is clear, metrics-driven, and tailored to the specific role. By showcasing your production history, client relationships, licensing, and product expertise, you position yourself as a high-value candidate ready to drive growth for your next agency or carrier.