Pros
Benefits are great, training is exceptional, pay is decent, co-workers are friendly, clientele is mostly nice, they pay for training and for licensure. Great way to start in the industry and see if it's for you before taking the plunge and going into business for yourself.
Cons
Overtime is expected, sick time is unusable, major micromanagement, high sales expectations with "bonuses" instead of solid "commissions" so that they can say their agents don't work off commission, which makes it look like they are less biased to the clientele, but it also means the pay is more commensurate with a CSR than an insurance agent, and little opportunity for advancement. Zero flexibility with scheduling, no part-time positions and the way the bonus structure is rigged, the same agents get the best opportunities for new business and sales (there's a separate queue where some agents get only new business calls, so they get the most sales and it's set up so that the people with the most sales get into that queue, so it's a vicious cycle) that's extremely difficult to crack through. There is only opportunity for advancement if you can spend 7 weeks in Rhode Island and then be willing to immediately move wherever they send you, so only young single people get promoted to management rather than seasoned agents who have been on the front lines and know the business. The majority of new underwriting managers have no previous experience in the industry and are fresh out of college. They only get that 7 weeks training before being assigned, so there is a major learning curve in management and very little consistency among the answers you might get depending on which manager you go to. Upper management is out of touch with the front lines.
