Claim Adjuster Resume Review: How to Turn Resume Claims Into Better Interview Questions
I’m not a big fan of resumes. They are too often just a way for candidates to pad their qualifications and make themselves sound more impressive than they really are.
A strong resume signals that the candidate is able to investigate claims, verify their merit, estimate what will happen, and handle claimants. It’s about showing that the person can do the job. But people who know how to write good resumes focus on wording rather than real readiness for the job. So I want to look at resumes in terms of what they might mean when we’re trying to hire for an insurance company.
If you're looking to hire for a position, start by matching the resume against the job description before the interview. A good candidate will mirror the language of the posting. If it asks about investigating claims or estimating property damage, your candidate will use those words. If it says “negotiate settlements,” your candidate will say “negotiated settlements.” When you see the numbers in the job description, like 20+ claims per month or a 25% reduction in payout, you’ll see them in the resume, too.
Then, as the hiring manager, you need to figure out whether the candidate actually did the work she says she did. Start with the experience section. This is where many people put filler. Candidates list every job they've ever had, going back decades, and then talk about claims only in passing. The key here is to take the information from the job description and match it against the resume, making sure the candidate has done exactly what the job requires. You can do this by reading the resume in reverse chronological order, removing older jobs that aren’t relevant, and highlighting only the most relevant claims experience.
Once you have a short list of the candidate's claims experience, read through each bullet point. If the candidate lists her experience in the job description language, that’s good. But if she doesn't, you should ask her about her claims experience. For example, if she filed 100 claims a month, you should ask how long it took her to file a claim, how accurate her reports were, how many claims she handled a month, and so on. In particular, you want to find out whether the numbers she included in her resume were under her control.
When you get to the technical skills, be sure you understand what she means. Is she familiar with claims handling procedures? Does she know the difference between collision and comprehensive coverage? Is she aware of the regulations governing her state? Has she worked with fraud detection software? Can she handle multi-party claims?
Also, does she know how to use Xactimate? Have she reviewed medical reports or police reports? What kind of training has she received?
For entry-level applicants, who may not have much direct experience as adjusters, think about what proxies for being a good adjuster she might bring to the table. Many people learn on the job, after all, and some come from customer service, administration, or data management. As a founder, you can ask questions that test her ability to investigate, document, and communicate with clients even without direct experience.
Behavioral interviews are supposed to help you evaluate a candidate by asking about past behavior, but it’s important to remember that the STAR structure—situation, task, action, result—should emphasize the action, which makes up about 60% of the story. Situations and tasks make up about 20% and 10%, respectively, while results make up another 10%. Don’t ask about upset clients, disputes over claims, high-pressure situations, or competing priorities unless you’re prepared to ask for specific actions.
Finally, check for professionalism. Is she licensed? Did she research the company before the interview? Did she ask thoughtful questions? Was she clear about what success would look like? And did she follow up after the interview?
If you’ve done all of these things, you’ll be able to go back to the resume and create a simple checklist of the items you verified during the interview. That checklist will give you evidence-backed conclusions rather than impressions based on the resume.