What would be the best way to get my feet wet in the insurance business?

Become a CSR in a small office where everyone must wear multiples hats. I'm the receptionist, the CSR and the agent. Pick either personal or commercial to learn first. Don't try both at the same time, especially if you have no background in the field. Claims in another avenue in the industry and it's very interesting. Yeah, I did that too. But it won't give you the long term relationship with clients you're looking for.

Get a job, summers and breaks, or part time during the school year, at a local agency. Even if you do nothing but sort mail and answer phones, you'll learn a LOT, and get a feel for the business.

Working with an insurance agent and or a CSR is an excellent way to "get your feet wet". I started out on the insurance company side as an underwriter. It gave me a great base of knowledge and I was able to develop relationships with retail agents. That daily contact with agents eventually led to an opportunity to join an agency where I was already very familiar with the principals and the culture of the agency. I would also look into the CPCU designation. For information on CPCU go to this link: http://www.cpcusociety.org/ For a less intense learning experience you might look into the Institutes. They offer an array of designations like an Associate in General Insurance, Associate in Risk Management, Associate in Commercial Underwriting, Accredited Adviser in Insurance. To learn more here is the link to The Institutes: http://www.aicpcu.org/ You will never go wrong by educating yourself about insurance. And never stop learning. Good luck and best wishes for your success.

If you want to get your feet wet obviously you can get a job as a flood site inspector. Only kidding, but I wound up as a private investigator in San Diego working suspected fraud claimants then moved back to NYC doing the same thing (only in more dangerous areas). Then got involved as a legal investigator for a NYS agency investigating workers comp. accidents that became 3rd party lawsuits. Then a fraud investigator for the same agency investigating suspected workers comp. fraud, policy fraud, medical fraud. I'm the guy you see with the camera sitting down the end of the block trying to get pictures of some claimant climbing roofs while out on comp. & all the other business owners cheating on their reporting of employees & investigating doctors & medical professionals for lying about their patients visits & assorted other stuff. If you are good you will earn more as an agent, but I also investigated accountants & brokers too. there is a lot of fraud and abuse in the insurance field.