-Working for national clients is brutal. They pay peanuts and expect the moon. Too much focus on large clients at the national level, while local, better paying accounts suffer or eats into YOUR personal time.
- Can be very long days with little remuneration for it. I don't mind working the occasional long day but it's often to your detriment. Very unpleasant work hours depending on the season or the client.
-The "warranty" they offer for pest control means that customers can summon you to deal with an issue even if it's completely preventable or of their own doing, all for $0. There's no repercussions for clients doing silly things, we just have to smile and take it. Huge con.
-Most resources are accessible, but many more are not. Access to certain pesticides and equipment is restricted, based on whether it's sold to the branch by head office or not. Company is too focused on budgets and numbers some times.
-A lot of paperwork and computer work required for simple tasks. Sometimes takes longer to do your admin tasks than the actual service.
-This is not a 9-5 job, you WILL be working at home - on occasion - after you park your truck. A lot is expected and demanded of employees at the Route Manager level and quite often that eats into your own time when you don't want it to, and there's very little you can do about it.
-Training for entry level staff is VERY limited. There is a huge volume of knowledge and experience required to be effective from day 1, and sadly our industry as a whole is sorely lacking.
-We wear white shirts. Think about that.