Pros
The benefits are excellent and start from day 1. They do not require a triggering event like other companies I've interviewed with. The compensation is OK; you can get a paycheck from your draw account, but if that account runs dry, you end up in the hole because you still owe for your benefits. Overall, management support is pretty good. Managers are available to assist you with cases and so forth, as are veteran agents. The training and career development is outstanding. The first 10 weeks are spent getting trained and licensed. There are also abundant opportunities to earn free continuing education and support to earn professional designations. There is a culture of joint work, which means you see clients with senior agents to learn how they do things. Most of the time, commissions are shared, as is credit toward the mandatory checkpoints. The atmosphere is pretty good, too. FSAs tend to get along with each other and are supportive. The rest of the office staff is available to help solve problems and is also supportive of our goals.
Cons
This is not an easy job. The checkpoints involve a certain amount in annual premium, which are not always easy to make when you work with a veteran agent who takes a significant cut. Also in terms of veteran agents, some of them will use FSAs to do their prospecting and client service. Granted, sales from prospecting are generally shared, but service is not and it can take a lot of time and aggravation. Some of the veterans won't return client phone calls, so you're stuck taking them, getting an earful of yelling, and helping them anyway. This is also not an easy job if you have a family. Most of the successful FSAs tend to be single people, or if they're married, they have no kids or a stay-at-home wife. You are expected to work as long as you need to to make sure you've got your required minimum appointments, many of which tend to be in the evenings and on weekends. If work-life balance is important to you, this won't be a good fit. Management also tends to take ideas from other offices, which is fine, but there's little, if any, follow-through or troubleshooting if those ideas don't work out. FSAs are also expected to contribute financially to these projects, which is fine, but the return on investment is kind of low. For example, I spent $180 I didn't really have on mailing campaigns that netted no usable leads and lots of abuse. Then the focus went away from mailings and onto something else.