This is a review of the Sarasota, FL office, not Banker's Life as a whole.
In short, this is not a place I would want to “hang my hat,” or trust my professional reputation with.
I have been in the Banking, Insurance, and Financial Planning professions for a little while now. This group was one of the most disorganized I have come across over the years. There were so many red flags during this interview you would have thought it was a May Day Parade.
A recruiter from the Sarasota, FL location found my resume online and called to schedule an interview. She was rather robotic, scripted, and seemed to be in a rush to get off the phone. She answered all of my questions regarding the position and the firm with, "That will be discussed in the interview."
When I arrived for the interview I told the receptionist who I was, why I was there, and asked for the recruiter by name. The receptionist seemed puzzled and told me she would go see if that recruiter was even in the office today. A moment later the recruiter came out and asked me who I was and why I was there, seemingly oblivious to the interview she scheduled with me. After presenting my resume and explaining I was there for our previously scheduled interview the recruiter brought me back to an office. She offered to get me some coffee, tea, or water. I kindly asked for some water, she left and never came back.
It seems communication in this office is extremely lacking. The recruiter gave me the impression I was meeting with her. So I was very surprised when a gentleman came into the office 10 minutes after she disappeared. I felt like I was in the wrong office and was interrupting someone’s work. I was never informed I would be speaking with this gentleman, who apparently was the Managing Director. He had no clue who I was, why I was there, and it was very clear by the interaction he had never read my resume.
The resulting “interview” quickly devolved into a poorly planned sales pitch and 15 minutes of patting himself on the back for his trophies and accolades. There was no explanation as to how his trophies would benefit my career. There was no Feature, Advantage, and Benefit within his poorly presented pitch.
The Interviewer briefly touched on their training, their steps for advancement, and additional licensing opportunities as a perk of their firm. They would not provide me with copies of information on the company, training, licensing expectations, or their pay structure. Instead, I was told to take pictures of these documents with my phone.
His “favorite perk of working here” is, “the women in this office are absolutely beautiful.” Clearly he thought it a major perk as he repeatedly made the comment to try and entice me. It came off very creepy and unprofessional.
He tried to dictate when and how I took notes during the interview. He seemed to get flustered when I took notes he did not direct me to take. It seemed contradictory since he told me I wouldn’t be micromanaged at his office.
The Managing Director was very condescending. He made a point to tell me I would never be successful unless I worked for his firm and that he was the only person who could possibly make me money. He dismissed my previous experience and my abilities to network, prospect, and generate referrals from clients and COIs. He argued the non-qualified leads that he provided (a list of random people turning 65 in your area) were better than my vetted and qualified referrals.
He laughed and balked when I explained my disability and travel limitations, the result of a major accident I was in. He would not make reasonable accommodations and expected me to knock door-to-door at people’s homes instead of phoning for appointments.
When the Managing Director asked me questions, he rarely allowed me to reply. He would talk over me, answering his own questions with a “canned response” to fit the direction he wanted the conversation to go.
At one point, the Managing Director tried to introduce me to his new top performer, but he couldn’t remember the advisor’s name. Even after the advisor introduced himself by name to the both of us.
Toward the end of the interview, the Managing Director brought me over to the recruiter’s office so we could discuss licensing. She again asked who I was. Even though they both had copies of my resume with my name in big bold print on it, I had to remind the Recruiter and the Managing Director of my name 5 times throughout the interview. At the time I was the only candidate in the office, so it’s not like they had a bunch of interviewees to confuse me with. I don’t even have a difficult name.
First impressions mean a lot and this place was an absolute mess. They seemed like a “Pump and Dump,” or “Turn and Burn,” Firm. All I could think was, “if this is how poorly they are prepared for new hire interviews, just imagine how poorly prepared they are to advise their clients. Just imagine how poorly prepared they are to train you.”