Pros
Leads are provided to you out the gate that you do not have to purchase, often times recycled leads but leads to call nonetheless. Would have to earn the right to receive fresh new union leads for an initial contact with a prospect. Schedule for new rep: Monday - 10-11 am (Agency meeting In Edison,NJ) 12-7pm (Booking appts.) Tuesday - 12-9pm (Field hrs, yes the 9pm appts are the best time, at least @ AIL) Wednesday - 12-9pm (Field hrs, '' '' '') Thursday - 12 - 7pm (Booking day) Friday - 12-9pm (Field Time) Saturday - 8-3pm (yes the 8 am appt is the best) * Keep in mind that while these hours are tech not mandatory, don't expect to receive any special favor from managers if you consistently dip out of the field prematurely, managers keep track of this and will attempt to hawk your supervisor (my job at time), and in turn the supervisor will hawk you for it until the point that you choose fight or flight at AIL. These hrs DO work as they worked for myself, however I did not have a family nor any other obligations for my time during my stint with AIL so with that being said this position is not for everybody. It is VERY lucrative if you are strong willed, and dedicate time to master your craft. As for compensation structure check out Con's. Compensation structure (New Agent-as of 2016 when I departed) - Term or Whole life Policy - 40 % Commission with a 75% advance* World's Greatest Bonus (This applies when you sell $1,800 ALP/week) -* 7.5 % of $1,800 - (First week) 12.5% of $1,800 - (Second week consecutive) 17.5% of $1,800 - (Third week consecutive) * The 'ALP' stands for Annualized Life Premium, so for example if someone you sell pays exactly $150/mo for their policy, that would qualify you for this bonus which in the first week case would be an extra $135 on your 75% advance for a grand total of $675 for that week. However I have not addressed the 'training salary', so just tack on an extra $200 to this amount as well which leads me to the next part of this structure. 'Training Salary' - Do not be fooled by the phrase salary, as this position is 100 % commission based, the reason why it's advertised this way is because within your first 2 weeks of passing the NJ state producer's exam, it is your supervising agent's responsibility to 'code' or write business for you. Their job is to simply write a minimum of $1,200 ALP/ week, NOT $1,800 for the bonus, the 1,200 ALP is to ensure you receive that extra $200 training bonus. Keep in mind this training bonus only lasts for 90 days after you pass the exam, after this period, you're best shot is to aim for that $1,800 every week to survive financially. Recruiting Bonuses- The most lucrative thing you can do to promote your future not only at AIL but in the life insurance industry is bringing others along for the ride with you. As of 2016, the payout for recruiting others into AIL is: WITHIN first 6 months of contract assignment: $500 per person (AFTER they pass exam and write first piece of biz) * 5% of override for biz written in first 6 months under same agent's name AFTER first 6 months of contract assignment: $250 per person ('' '' '') 5% of override for biz written in first 6 months under same agent's name While some of the entry level benefits seem attractive, the big payouts are much more appealing when promoted up the hierarchy. I only made it to the SA position due to my college schedule often conflicting with my field time but it's entirely possible to soar to the Master General Agent position within your first year at the company, those guys often average between 150k-300k/ yr as long as you have a moderately motivated team underneath you writing good biz. That term good biz is used loosely because writing poor business that constantly falls off the books (stops paying), will negatively affect your retention rating which if it ultimately dips below (I believe 72% if I recall correctly?), your commission payout of the 40% will be reduced accordingly and you can be sure you just lost your lifeline of the bonus privileges as well, so yea start job hunting ahead of time if it comes to that point.
Cons
Promotion Structure - To be honest the promotional structure at this place changed 3x within my first year while I was there, mainly due to managers having their retention ratings (because they are based off their writing team), being massacred by a few bad seeds that are looking for a quick payout and do not care about their retention, or their tie downs just need some work. With that being said the opportunity is absolutely there for advancement but be sure to really absorb your local office's atmosphere and the culture that you are surrounded with because you don't want to be working toward your success with a MGA, GA, SA, and local agents all in a bad mood because nobody is making money. As of 2016, the promotional structure looked relative to this: Entry level to SA - Write 24k of ALP w/in first 90 days of writing first biz app SA-GA - Have 2 reps on your team write 24k each and both be promoted to SA GA-MGA - Promote 2 SA's to GA with both each meeting min. req in step 2 There is also a 'RGA' and 'SGA', which stands for Regional General Agent and State General Agent above the MGA, forget how you get there but from my recollection you better be sure to have built a solid rep and team to be promoted that high up. Interview Process - All of the managers recruit on a daily basis, that is our #1 job function aside from developing our existing team, mainly because the turnover ratio in this business is about 90% last I checked due to the commission only payout. As of 2016, this was the recruiting process: First Stage - Manager/recruiter likely calls you to setup a group interview (group because only 30 % of group are expected to accept the offer) Second Stage - All of the members of stage 1 are called back for a second individual interview (yes it sounds desperate because it is), and are then offered the position if they have a pulse, no criminal record, a driver's license (note how I didn't mention if it was valid or not), and the $250 'tuition' payment that is needed to 'enroll' in thein house pre-licensing training class which last I checked is still being held ONLY in the Edison, NJ location under a seasoned instructor named Steven Liberto, it last about 2 weeks. To give you a headsup, DO NOT expect to be paid a dime until you are licensed and submit your first piece of biz under your name (Typically your SA's job, wasn't the case for myself as my SA quit right after i got done with class, it was a good thing for me in the long run of things anyway) To recap this opportunity has the potential to be extremely lucrative or it is simply just not the right gig for you and you got some good experience out of it. If you plan to pursue a career in sales regardless of the industry I guarantee that the recruiter will immediately identify your insurance position as a key experience builder. But again if you get skiddish with cold calling, door knocking, or in home appointments with clients, these are all traits you would need to master to survive financially at this gig. From my personal opinion alone, I would recommend the West Orange office managed under a guy named Corey Helley, he receives an abundant amount of resources/support due to his leadership as well as the potential for strong business economically speaking in the area. Be sure to consider everything I've written if you are serious about this opportunity because reflecting back on it now I likely would have dropped out of school and pursued a higher position due to the infrastructure my local office held.
