Pros
*Somewhat flexible work schedule *Insurance benefits are affordable in terms of premiums *The training program was sufficient to be able to start the job with decent confidence You really do get a "feel good feeling" when you can help get someone money while they are out of work, and most of my co-workers were great. They company tries to do a lot of things to recognize staff and award overachievers, but they are so large their efforts have very little impact.
Cons
The cons of this job are too long to list individually. To start, you will be on the phone a lot, and will likely be dealing with individuals who are yelling and calling you obscene names. Truthfully, I don't blame them. If I was sick and disabled and had to deal with the headache of having to resubmit office visit notes and certification forms when a doctor already advised I couldn't return to work, I would be frustrated as well. To make it even more harrowing, the case loads they place on their Benefits Specialists are completely unrealistic. Some individuals on my team were receiving 10 or more new claims per day, when the average is supposed to be 3. An average claim takes a minimum of 30 minutes to mark up, so at 10 claims that is 5 hours of your day. Not to mention the maintenance required on your additional 160 claims. The big kicker for me came when I was told I had to become salary and that I was so good at my job that they wanted to do it before the year mark, which is standard. Why? Well, it's because they wanted me to work more than 40 hours, as the salaried individuals on my team usually averaged 60-70 hours per week. Truly, you could not complete the work they put on you in an 80 hour week, let alone 40. The real issue is they know morale is bad, but they don't do anything to correct it. Your manager will host meetings and shove the importance of meeting metrics on the regular, and when someone says its impossible or expresses frustration they will likely tell you to be grateful you have a job and weren't fired in the middle of a pandemic. Taking time off can be a nightmare, depending on your manager, and they will often send out e-mails requesting employees to work on holidays. And if you are salary, there is no holiday pay or additional compensation of any kind. It's also important to know that if others on your team are out of work for any reason, you now have to manage part of their desk and case load on top of yours. Meanwhile, your manager won't touch a claim or so much as lift a finger to help. If you are good at multitasking, can handle knowing you will end every day so far in the hole that you will never catch up, and don't mind verbal abuse, then you may be a good fit for this role.