Disillusioned Novice

[lifeagent426]

From everything I've read on these threads I'm surprised people even start in P&C.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I was approached by a friend of mine who owned a Nationwide a few miles from me. He offered me a job working his book of business and making calls, mainly for auto.

He told me my commission and expected number of policies sold per week. I worked out the math to about $9 per hour. I'd have been better off busing tables.

 

[Denise509]

Hi everyone-

Let me preface my griping by stating this is my first insurance job, and I'm expecting to eat a fair amount of sh*t before things start to taste good.. but that being said--

I joined a local State Farm agency in the hopes of securing a more stable career for myself. I'm a pretty meticulous person, so my preparations were extensive, including obtaining my 220 p/c license which required continuous classes, exams, and I even took the opportunity to shadow a team member at an agency. I knew that I would need to 'cut my teeth', 'earn my stripes' and 'pay my dues'.. that it would not be fun, and that it would take a long time before any financial relief would be in sight. I was correct.

I've been a team member for just over six months now. The working environment is pretty intense. My agent had bought "several books of business" from retiring agents in the area I have been told, and the result of these purchases couldn't be more evident in the workload we are presented to surmount each day. The phone calls cascade over one another, COI requests are endless and each one needs to have been done yesterday. Constant calls from mortgage companies to simply verify coverage and tie you up on the line while more work comes in. I'm also personally responsible for beginning of day, policy changes, and office activities lists plus outgoing calls like latepays, get UM forms/GSD/SCD signed, requests from regional to get something from the insured. These lists grow well into the hundreds.. and when the phones explode, none of the other employees could give a sh!t that your going to have to stay late because you cant get to your own work. Their responsibilities end the minute the agency closes, meanwhile i finally get to start what I'm responsible for, after a full day of catching the transferred work they sent to me. If I go rouge and get my own stuff done earlier in the day, then theyre pissed that I'm not fielding the incoming calls simultaneously. Plus all the outgoing calls get attached to me, since the insured will call back and request the individual who attempted to contact him. A simple check of his file will show an amount due, and my note stating i attempted to contact him to collect.. but its just a lot easier to email the message to me, and then bitch that I didn't grab the call when it came in. PLUS this is were talking about, so you can imagine the nature of these calls, especially when dealing with HO premiums [from 6 to 18k a year anyone?].

I have 6 agents writing, one who's cpic only, one person to assist the cpic agent, me for the remaining service, and a receptionist who doesn't love to take calls. I fall asleep in my clothes most nights, shoes, tie, and all.

Now I know I should have anticipated chaos, and I did. I'm a good worker, a hard worker.. but i cant even check my work at this pace. I just got my 3 month review like a week ago raising my income to 22k a year.. and its becoming very difficult to remain motivated.

Im not sure what im attempting to gain out of this post.. I guess I just need to vent to people who understand.. most of my friends just say, 'yeah my jobs hard too'.

Thanks for your time. Any words of wisdom are greatly appreciated.

I totally know where youre coming from. Same thing happened to me and I got paid even less than you now that you have experience/ are licensed go look for another job. Trust me, you'll feel SO much better.....I remember the day I turned in my resignation letter it felt like there was a huge weight off my shoulders. I did the same tasks you are doing now, except there wasn't a secretary. Take it from somebody who's been there: get out of there. It sucks to say this but things won't change, most SF agents are GREEDY and will never really give a crap about their employees. You don't need that kind of stress in your life, especially if you are only earning what a minimum wage job would pay you. Think about all the hours you work a week and divide it by what you earn a month.....not worth it. There's a lot of different agencies you can work for, you can even start your own agency (don't work for farmers though lol). I'll say this again.....get out of there before you burn out and end up hating the insurance business.