Where to begin? Because this industry operates around the clock, you're expected to as well. They make an attempt to clarify this during the interview process but it doesn't sink in until after you have signed on. As a district manager there is zero work life balance. Manpower is at levels that corporate calls "efficient" but in reality it means when someone calls out you're the one running a route. Because you have a team that begins work early in the morning, you too will do so but then still be expected to work late hours. Typical hours for someone that wants to actually be successful at this role are 65-75 hours a week. This is a basic concern from district managers, not enough time to get all your work done yet you're working all the time.
When you're hired they will tell you that basically you are a small business owner running your district as you see fit. This is completely false. You will be micromanaged on all fronts from how products are distributed to how many of each item you put in. Basically you are executing the direction of the company, which is fine, but do not believe the hype that the district is yours to run.
You will have a team of 8-12 salespeople who are working long hours and doing a great job for the most part. As their front line manager though all punishment will fall on you. If you have a member who misses stops, does a poor job on his route or any number of other things then your are to blame. A favorite tag line is "coaching and developing". This is great to do but when there is a bad hire, it falls on the district to coach them for a while before any action can be taken. You end up spending the majority of your time working with one individual and forsaking the rest of your team.
Empowerment is none existent in this role. Your team has the opportunity to say whatever they like about you and your zone will take it at face value and you will be given a write up. Vacations will be interrupted, weekends will be lost and holidays forgotten all in the name of getting more chips into the market.
Your zone sales leader has the ability to make or break your career. If there is a personality conflict, forget about promotion. As a college hire you are only expected to be in the role for 3-5 years, after that you will get laid off if you are not promoted. The zone will usually say they left for other opportunities but in reality the person was given a severance and told to leave. In Tampa where I worked the zone had zero people skills and would sacrifice her entire team to ensure her own promotion. Morale plummeted while I was there and one major reason is no one felt like corporate had your back on anything.
This company is still a resume builder but it was also some of the worst years of my life professionally. Since the sales cycle is weekly you are just waiting for Friday to come around and then start the brutal cycle all over again.
