Pros
Salary and paid health insurance. Good introduction to insurance. An office and paid start up expenses while you build your agency.
Cons
Force to travel at your own expense for home office training - If you were an independent contractor I would understand however, as an employee this is unfair. Make you think you that its your business but its not. Whenever someone else is holding the purse you don't control anything. You are unable to use your creative entrepenurial spirit because their favorite word is no while they spend money which they think is helping your agency on marketing industry known mediums that fail and are a waste of resources such as direct mail. Their validation program requires you to report 300 x-dates and sell 5 life policies per quarter. Although the premise is not bad and actually doable the problem is that your business is measured in quarters rather as a semi-annual or annual basis. In insurance you may work on people for several months before they commit. You are constantly either working on P&C or Life, not very easy to work on both when you have no book of business. On top of that they put very heavy demands on participating in the life campaigns which they have three back to back each year. The only time there is not a life campaign is during the holiday season...so you have have drum up enough life prospects to last the rest of the year. I like contests but eventually the well dries up, you contract does not say participation is required but they hold things over head and play guilt trips. This can also depend upon your district manager. If you like working independently, then go independent and not shelter. I would highly recommend going independent, most people I know gave up GREAT salaries for a huge paycut at shelter in the HOPES of creating a big agency. Most just end up having disappointment. Once you get into shelter you begin to question if so many District managers and home office staff members had successful agencies then WHY did they give up that opportunity of unlimited income potential, having their own office, agency staff, and pretty much working on their own schedule to having to report to corporate goals? I beleive most DSM's and office staff got "promoted" because they werent good agents or didn't have success. The computer and reporting system as well as the CRM "SALES" are archaic and unfortunately you HAVE to use them.