Pros
-$45,000 base for first 12-18 months (Can earn above that if commission is higher than $3,750 monthly) -Company actually wants to hire people. The turnaround time from applying online to getting interviews scheduled is within a week or two sometimes faster than that. Plus, once interviewed, the time to hiring is within a few days. Most training groups for new hires are once a month and sometimes twice a month. Very refreshing to have a company so pro-active about hiring people especially in this day in age! -Reduced Cruise Fare or sometimes no cruise fare (taxes only) for select sailings offered from cruise lines at different times throughout the year. -Ability to go fully remote within 2 years of hire date ((must hit minimum metrics to qualify which are: 21-22% closing ratio over the course of a 90-day window, 2.0 sales per day over the course of a 90-day window) -Ability to go hybrid (2 days remote, 3 days physically at work) after 6 months of employment (must hit minimum metrics to qualify which are: 21-22% closing ratio over the course of a 90-day window, 2.0 sales per day over the course of a 90-day window) -Relaxed dressing attire at work (it is a non-customer job, phone-to-phone interaction) -Ability to hit certain 30-day and 90-day cumulative bonuses -Ability to become an all-star (get the ability to plan own 40-hour work week for being a top seller) -Since the metrics are what they are (21-22% close and 2.0 sales per day over a rolling 90-day period), some employees choose to go in on days off or work early or late on days scheduled to obtain said metrics or surpass said metrics (There are of course employees that work more than the scheduled 40 hours a week, because at the end of the day it is a sales job and the commission is un-capped, so the more hours you work in theory, the more potential to make more money is a possibility. -The previous bullet point can be a pro or a con based on how one looks at it. -Since this is a ocean cruise agent job, there will be a certain learning curve, as most have not worked as cruise travel agents in the past, however, this is a great pro as you get to learn an inustry inside-out and it seems like you are always learning and getting better.
Cons
-Great sales volume when it's during wave season (January-March, and Black Friday-Cyber Monday) -For the rest of the year (really have to have to base deposits built up throughout the year, for April-December to be good sales months). -Call Center Job (however, no cold-calling. Leads call into you, so I feel this one can be a pro and a con). -On the commission part of things, most cruise lines give about 15-16% of cruise fare as a commission (Of that said 15-16% commission: 25% goes to agent, 75% goes to company). This point can also go both ways (pro or con) as since there is no cold-calling, that is a plus, for that plus, there is a commission percentage cut to account for marketing for said leads. -Metrics (21-22% closing ratio over the course of a rolling 90-day period and 2.0 sales per day), can be easier to obtain during wave season and a little more difficult the rest of the year when it is slower sales wise market wide. -With ability to go hybrid within 6 months (with proper metrics) and fully-remote within 2 years, it seems like although it is not written in stone, once fully-remote there seems to be an underlying message/vibe that you have to still live around the Greater Houston area or within a few hours of Houston. The reason for this theory, is that there are certain in-person things like continuing training (called immersions) that are in person periodically throughout year. So the underlying message is although if one is fully remote, that you can't live out of the state of Texas even if one has great wi-fi.