Pros
+ Good resume builder<br> + Decent pay for those fresh out of college who can't get a job in their field.<br> + Teaches you a lot about credit, mortgages, student loans - stuff applicable in day to day life<br> + Flexible hours<br> + PTO on par with state jobs. 19 days/yr starting and +5/yr after 6 years.<br> +/- Best pay of any call center job I've worked, worst pay of any finance/accounting job I've worked.
Cons
- Talk with a current employee before accepting a job here. It's common knowledge to many counselors that some of the 5 star ratings are fake, done internally.<br> - No opportunity to move up. Pay was frozen for a while and team leaders/mentors were all demoted. So now when there is an opening, you have 10 people to compete with who have prior leadership experience in the company. Though many departments are being reduced so even if you get a promotion, how long would it last? They may give you manager responsibilities but your pay will be the same.<br> - No job security. Vital, higher up staff at Greenpath are jumping ship and being let go, as well as us bottom feeders. <br> - Call center environment means you are timed on everything you do. It took 6 minutes to walk to the bathroom and back? Your 15 minute break just dropped to 9. Go over a few times and you'll have a sit down with your manager. <br> - Quality? You will talk to people crying, screaming, at wits' end because they are about to be foreclosed on/file bankruptcy/suffer some other financial devastation. You have a time limit for your call. You are required to show empathy and build rapport initially but any further contact you make counts against your stats. Basically "thanks for your life story, but now that we get money from the DMP fees or HUD grant let's never talk again". <br> - Integrity? Odd for a non profit, prepare to have ethical conflicts. Debt management plan? We'll charge you $75 a month for something you can negotiate on your own and often does not save you money. Someone lost their job? You have to tell them to sell their home because they can't afford it without income and you can't assume they'll ever get back to work. A returning client has questions- you can either do the right thing and help them and spend 10-30 minutes with them or say you'll have their counselor call them back and take 2 minutes. Either way, you get the same amount of credit. <br> - Teamwork? We're segregated into teams, sure. There is "teambuilding" stuff but there is no collaboration aside from "follow up on my leads while I'm out of the office". I'm the only one on the phone with my client. I'm struggling to think of any time there's been a group project. Teamwork internally means "take as many calls as you can so other people don't have to". <br> - Benefits? Better than retail, worse than many comparable finance/accounting jobs. <br> - Many managers just do the bare minimum to appear competent, but have their employees do the work for them or won't take the time to help employees with potential who are struggling.