Where to begin...
1. You ARE a 1099. Taxes will not be withheld. Uncle Sam will want his cut and AIL, at least the office I was at did not train or teach rookies how to handle being an independent contractor. You are responsible for your travel (gas), your business expenses (cards, yes, your business cards), paying any recruiter/administrator to work for you, PAY FOR NEW AGENTS' TRAINING AND LICENSE WHEN THEY GET ASSIGNED TO YOU, travel to conferences are on YOUR DIME (yes, you pay for flights to conferences you "qualify" for), and more. More importantly, because taxes are not withheld, that means that the income, which is 100% commission, isn't truly all yours. You need to put at least about 20%-30% to the side for taxes. You must be a good bookkeeper.
2. This is multi-level management. My office even admitted, "We are a recruiting agency that happens to sell life insurance." Instead of trying to perfect hires brought on, the pressure is to always have newbies coming in. There are bonuses for the first six months, then it hits the fan and the company really restricts its bonuses; as if the company stopped caring (which is almost true since agency retention is based on six month tenures).
3. You will be traveling. Live near a city, you will be ghetto crawling. Live in the middle of nowhere, get driving! You see potential clients at their residence.
4. Just as in many other MLM companies, the atmosphere is very cult-ish. Ra-ra sessions and "kool-aid" drinking is a major part of meetings and conferences. Plenty of "if I can do it, so can you" figureheads speak at leadership meetings. Also, any deviation from "the path" is met with harsh criticism, dismissed instantly, or "stirs the hornets' nest." They want sheep, not shepherds.
5. The amount of times I had to bail out someone struggling with finances was astonishing. Just because you are doing well, does not mean in the slightest that your agency is. Many power suit-wearing folks in these agencies are past broke and in the red.
6. Pressure/impulse sales result in cancellations and charge backs. That's right, that money you earned is technically an "advance." If a customer cancels before, I believe, six months of their policies have been accepted, you will be charged back the difference. In many cases, money is owed to AIL with this system.
