Insurance sales or Nursing?

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Hi, I have posted before regarding concerns about me going into nursing, but just last week I got an interview to sell car insurance. Ok, here's my situation, since last year I was planning to go to nursing school but haven't had the chance to do it(work, got off track, etc.), and just this year I finally decided I was going to do it! As I said in other posts, my husband got laid off last year and is collecting unemployment and I got a part time job (we barely can make our payments with that). I met a nice guy(he sells insurance) in my part time job and told him I was looking for another job and he told me that his boss was looking to hire someone to sell insurance so he told me to go the next day for an interview with his boss, I didn't have the nerve to refuse (to tell the truth I don't really like sales and I don't know if I am going to like it), so I went to the interview and I have a high chance to get the job, but with some conditions: that in 4 months I have to get the license to sell and after that I have to work for him for a year. If I take this job I won't be able to go to nursing school as this is a full time job. Next week I will be expecting his call to tell me when to begin to work and also next week my CC school begins registration classes for the summer. Before this interview I was/am planning to take A&P I (will have to make a sacrifice and pay it out of pocket as I don't qualify for financial aid because I have a BBA) this summer to get my plan into going to nursing school started. I just asked a nice guy, member of allnurses who used to sell insurance and he practically told me that insurance sales is very unethical and I don't like that much. But what I am really debating is that I really WANT to go into nursing(a nurse friend told me that I would make a great nurse) but we also need a steady income to pay our bills and a mortgage(soon my husband's unemployment will run out and we don't know his chances of getting a job, he is getting stress out and worried about our financial situation). AHH, this situation would be easier for me if my husband were working but he is struggling to find a job. Don't know what to do, any suggestions? I need to decide before this weekend. Thanks.

P.S. I posted this in another thread without realizing it is almost dead in there and I really need some suggestions before this weekend, sorry for the double post.

The only advice I can give you is to try looking at your situation in the "long-term" rather than right now. Sometimes we are often quick to do what will make things better at the "moment", but forget to look at how it will be five years from now.

Is selling insurance going to be a steady career for you?

Is there plenty of room to advance?

Will you be happy doing it?

Will you make enough to support your family if you husband doesn't find a job? etc, etc,

These are the type of questions that you have to ask yourself...

Unfortunately, only YOU can decide what's going to be best for yourself...I know, I know, exactly what you didn't want to hear, but no one can tell you what will be best for your future... However, you are on a nursing website so the opinions may be biased ;) Good luck, I hope everything works out well for ya :redbeathe keep us posted

Specializes in ER, Trauma.

You have a decision to make, and nobody can make it for you.

I don't know anybody for whom nursing school didn't require sacrifice.

Nursing school will make you into a differant person. differant for life.

Look into your heart because nursing school requires a big commitment and returns unspeakable intrinsic rewards.

Or if the sacrifice is too much on your family, go for the insurance. Sometimes nursing school is wrong, or can wait.

Research-REALLY research what it is to be a nurse...I just finished school, and am not working yet, but think I made a mistake. After ignoring my family for the past year (nursing school perk) I realize that it may not have been worth it... I am very anxious and nervous because of all of the things that I have seen can happen to nurses. The nurse to patient ratios are very dangerous, and in the end, it will be the nurses a** if anything happens to the patient. I wanted to be a nurse to help people, but it seems that most of what nursing is, is trying to cover your own a** so you're not sued.

Thanks for your replies, I know I am the one who has to make the decision, just wanted some support, advise, and/or opinion. I think in the long run nursing is the better choice, as I never imagined myself as a sales person (I don't like sales) , I also know that nursing school is not easy and requires a lot of determination and sacrificies, I'm up for that(I don't have children yet so that helps a little bit). Since I was determined to go to nursing school I began researching about what nursing entails: that it is really stressful most of the times and that you do have to wipe butts when there are no aides to do that or just to help, and that the hospital's politics suck, in other words, nursing is not a walk in the park. I have been watching YouTube videos too and I'm everyday log into allnurses. I know hospital nursing is not the only place for nurses to work at, I have considered too dr's offices or community centers (I know that the pay is less but I don't mind that much). The problem are the bills to be paid and the mortgage, I don't want to lose the house, if I take the insurance job I may like it or I may not, if I don't like it I would have lost the chance to take the summer class and that would delay me. But ahhhh why everything in this

life has to do with money!( stupid question I know) I'll keep reading any other comments and I'll talk about it with my husband until I reach a decision. I'll keep you posted.

You can always get financial aid - student loans... Good Luck!

Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

op: what delay are you talking about? i was in a similar situation as you prior to going into nursing. i waited five years to get my finances together before i reduced my employment to part-time work and started completing my pre-reqs. you can always take nursing pre-reqs later. besides, at this time there is no guarantee that even if you start taking courses this summer, you will get into nursing school any time soon. plus, you are acting like when you graduate nursing school (assuming you graduate), you will find a job. at this time, new grads out number the number of available positions open because a number of places are not hiring new grads (especially outside of the hospital setting). not to mention that your posts sound like if you do not take classes now your life will be over. on the contrary, from reading your post it sounds like if you do not find a job to pay your bills, you may put your family in a horrible situation! i agree with the others, this is your choice. my advice to you is to think about the consequences of your actions. be realistic (think worse case scenario) as to where you will be in a year if you make either choice. gl!:twocents:

Specializes in NICU Transport/NICU.

Here's my :twocents:. If you really want to become a nurse, you and your family will find a way to make it happen. I signed up to start taking prereqs when my wife was still in the hospital with our first child. I had also started a brand new construction company in the worst maket in decades. New baby + new company + wife not working = It wasn't easy. But we found a way to make it work because it was what I really wanted to do. I also had a Bach. Degree before starting and Nursing school is no joke. If I wasn't in it 100% at any point in the process, I wouldn't have gone through with it. You can try to find a job in a hospital as a tech and make that work with your hours. If your husband has to take 2-3 part time jobs for the time being, than so be it. In 3 years, you'll be making $40k minimum, and this will all be a distant memory. But, you have got to want to do this more than anything else or you won't make it. Best of luck. I will say a pray for you to have some peace and certainty in your decision.

I was in inusrance sales for 4 yrs, now in nursing school. The benefits of nursing in my opinion outweigh insurance. Flexibility of schedule, overtime, actually helping people and making a difference in their lives, travel, different career paths to take. Yuo have more control over your career in nursing.

it's a tough decision in this economy, getting a good paying nursing job fresh out of school isn't practically guaranteed like is was just 2-3 years ago.

thanks for your inputs. I know it is hard to get a job as a nurse right now (but I am not graduating right now), if I start for nursing school now, it'll take me about 3 or 4 years to graduate (and who knows maybe at that time things will get better, depressions don't last forever). I also want to begin taking pre-req now because the later I take them the longer is going to take me to graduate (I am not getting younger), I don't have any kids now(that's why I am deciding into going to nursing school now) but I do want to have some in the future but not when I am 40 years old. Our mistake was to buy 2 houses when the economy wasn't that bad and we are worried about the other one if we are not able to rent it. There are too many factors that have me in this situation that's why is not easy for me to make a decision. But thanks everybody for your inputs.

P.S. NickB I admire your perseverance.

texasnurse2011 that's my thinking too, and also I hate sales (you are working your a** off to make a commission while the company gets rich. But the sacrifices we have to make sometimes to pay the bills).

I just left my job in the insurance industry... Run for the hills..It can be very unstable, a lot of highs and lows.. It was the most depressing job of my life, and believe me, I've worked a lot of jobs..

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