Pros
401k match Pension Low deductible health insurance Generous PTO, new employees begin with 22 days
Cons
Despite the name, Account Managers are at the very bottom of the underwriting totem pole and treated as such in the office. The culture was very segregated; underwriting or sales would not mix with the Account Managers. Imagine walking down the hallway and being lucky to receive a smile or a greeting from an underwriter or sales executive in your own department. I truly felt unwelcomed in my own workplace during my time there. During the interview process, I was told this was a great position to jump-start your insurance career and most people in the position move up into underwriting or sales. Although many of my peers interviewed for a higher position, no one received a promotion and thus remained in the role until they ultimately left or became frustrated and stopped applying. We often mentioned to each other that we were ‘stuck’. It seemed as if management would rather choose external candidates for those positions than capable and hard-working internal employees. Despite the generous PTO in the benefit package, you are lucky if you can use it. My manager only let two people off at a time even though there were many more of us available in the office. If you needed time off but already two people have scheduled PTO, tough luck. Be ready to schedule PTO months in advance to be sure you get the days off you need throughout the year. Account Managers are also not given laptops and go without the luxury of working from home like most of the office can. When bad weather rolls in but the office remains open, we are still expected to commute while everyone else instead opts to work safely from home. The workload is very heavy and continues to pile on. Micromanagement at its finest here; management will monitor your calls and emails to determine if you need to increase your workload. Despite sometimes assisting 3-4 underwriters at time, Home Office is trying to give Account Managers more underwriting authority to free up the workload of the underwriter. So ultimately the position is changing into more underwriting responsibilities without the training or pay increase. Speaking of pay, I did not realize how little Travelers paid until I moved to a new company. Few people can get a very small spot bonus during the year, but it is really hard to get. You are also very lucky to receive even a 3% increase/bonus at the end of the year. Very few people are awarded raises and your salary is capped very quickly.
