How To Become A Disability Examiner: What It Is and Career Path

What is a disability examiner and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A disability examiner is a person that specializes in evaluating disability compensation applications. These experts work in the Disability Determination Services or DDA, the office in their state, to decide whether a person has disabilities under the classification of disability by the Social Security Administration or SSA. A very detailed review of each claim is carried out by these professionals. They will determine whether you meet SSA's qualifications.

Disability examiners usually work with medical and vocational experts. Together, they will assess the seriousness of the disability. When the examiner concludes that you meet the conditions to be treated as impaired, SSA will decide the amount you will receive as benefits. Furthermore, it is very likely that disability examiners will request more information during the evaluation.

Typically, disability examiners have two to four years of experience in the field. Most professionals in this profession have a bachelor's degree or equivalent. However, it is possible to become a disability examiner with only a high school degree or GED. The annual average salary for this role is around $40,955 as of January 2021 or $21.33 an hour.

ScoreDisability ExaminerUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $40,180

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.3

Growth rate -6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.50%

Asian 5.00%

Black or African American 14.39%

Hispanic or Latino 15.92%

Unknown 4.38%

White 59.82%

Gender

female 70.04%

male 29.96%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

8.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a disability examiner

Explore disability examiner education requirements

Most common disability examiner degrees

Bachelor's

68.6 %

Master's

18.1 %

Associate

7.7 %

Start to develop specific disability examiner skills

Skills	Percentages
Social Security Disability	23.61%
Supplemental Security Income	9.25%
Social Security Administration	7.97%
Disability Determinations	5.70%
Medical Terminology	5.46%

Complete relevant disability examiner training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New disability examiners learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a disability examiner based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real disability examiner resumes.

Research disability examiner duties and responsibilities

Manage a number of cases dealing with veterans' requests for claims and education benefits.
Provide comprehensive written and verbal reports to broker-dealer executives and FINRA management.
Interact extensively with senior management of securities firms to discuss their procedures and any weaknesses and/or findings regarding their processes.
Collaborate with FINRA enforcement on taking official on-the-record testimonies of register principals and register representatives.

Prepare your disability examiner resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your disability examiner resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a disability examiner resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable disability examiner resume templates

Build a professional disability examiner resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your disability examiner resume.