Depending on the school, training to become an insurance clerk takes different lengths of time, but usually between six months and a year on the job.

Experience in the insurance industry is not necessary for most insurance clerk training courses. However, a commercial apprenticeship or comparable qualification is an advantage for further training.

A qualification recognized by the Swiss Commercial Association as an insurance clerk or social insurance clerk edupool.ch enjoys a certain reputation, but is not comparable with a federal qualification. However, such a course, as well as other courses without this association certificate, serve as good preparation for a federal examination, such as the Social Insurance Specialist with Federal Diploma of Higher Education.

The content of the individual training courses for insurance clerks can vary greatly. On an edupool.ch-certified social insurance clerk course, for example, you will learn the basics of social security, everything you need to know about the 1st pillar as well as maternity compensation, social assistance and income compensation, the 2nd pillar and health insurance as well as unemployment insurance and the 3rd pillar. You will also receive information on salaries and wages as well as the interfaces with employment law.

The Insurance / Social Security Clerk course is not vocational training leading to a federally recognized qualification, such as a Federal Diploma of Vocational Education and Training (Vocational Certificate) or Federal Diploma of Vocational Education and Training (Vocational Certificate). A certificate course also does not entitle the holder to further education, further training leading to a federally recognized qualification, such as FPE (Federal Professional Examination) or AFPE (Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE)). Before attending a certificate course, you should therefore always first have a vocational apprenticeship or a comparable qualification.