Pros
You get to set your own hours, and can cancel appointments for things such as illness or poor driving conditions in the winter. I gained a lot of experience working with different types of clients, which is so valuable when trying to figure out the population one wants to work with in the long run. I had an amazing supervisor, which helped a lot as problems arose with clients. The company keeps expanding and creating more jobs, and there seems to be room for growth within the company. They are very willing to listen to worker's concerns.
Cons
I worked at a northern branch, which meant a lot of clients were spread out, leaving me to spend a lot of time driving. Most clients were at least an hour apart, if not more, which made scheduling difficult. A lot of time gets spent figuring out schedules and trying to reach clients. Drive time isn't always paid for. The payscale is confusing. A lot gets thrown at you during training, and none of it really prepares you for helping clients. The branches in the twin cities have a lot more resources than some of the more remote branches, which makes it seemingly impossible to help a client find emergency housing. It is a high stress job, with a high turnover rate. There are meeting 2x a month, that you do not get paid for, which mainly seemed to be a waste of time. What I heard from some of the longstanding employees was that the company was slowly taking away perks and making it a less enjoyable place to work. It is nice to compare notes every now and then, but you are mostly on your own in this job. Most employees choose not to use the insurance plan, because it is not ideal. There were parts I liked about my job, but overall, it was not a good fit for me. It's not that the company is bad, or the job was bad, but it was not suited to my needs. I learned a lot, gained valuable experience, and now know better what I do and do not want out of job.
